"Bad Girls" is a song by American singer

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her musi ...

from her 1979 seventh studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

of the same name. It was released as the album's second single on June 23, 1979, by

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label current ...

. The song was produced by Summer's regular collaborators

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the " Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music. His work with synthesizers had ...

and

Pete Bellotte Peter John Bellotte (born 28 August 1943)Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916–2005 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Index ...

, and co-written by Summer and the members of

Brooklyn Dreams ''Brooklyn Dreams'' is an American comic book limited series written by J. M. DeMatteis and illustrated by Glenn Barr. It was published by the DC Comics imprint, Paradox Press in 1994 and later collected into a trade paperback, published by DC u ...

Bruce Sudano Bruce Charles Sudano (born September 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, noted for creating songs for artists such as Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire and his late wife, the Grammy Award-winning singer Donna Summer. Sudano is t ...

, Edward "Eddie" Hokenson and Joe "Bean" Esposito. "Bad Girls" became a worldwide success, peaking within the top-ten in seven countries, including Spain and New Zealand. In the United States, it spent five weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, from the weeks of July 14 to August 11, 1979; and sold over two million copies, simultaneously becoming, alongside " Hot Stuff", her most successful single. The single helped the ''Bad Girls'' album to reach multi-platinum status in the United States. Summer placed three songs in the top 12 of the ''Billboard'' 1979 Year-End chart, "Bad Girls" at number 2, " Hot Stuff" at #7, and " MacArthur Park" at #12. Additionally," Heaven Knows". Summer had 3 additional songs released in 1979 and they all made the ''Billboard'' 1980 Year-End chart, "

Dim All the Lights "Dim All the Lights" is a song by American recording artist Donna Summer released as the third single from her 1979 album '' Bad Girls''. It debuted at number 70 on August 25, 1979, and peaked that year at number two on November 10 and November 17 ...

", "

No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" is a 1979 song recorded by American singers Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer. It was written by Paul Jabara and Bruce Roberts, and produced by Giorgio Moroder and Gary Klein. The song was recorded for Streis ...

" with

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

and " On the Radio".

Background

The inspiration for Summer to write the song came after one of her assistants was offended by a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

who thought she was a street

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

. A rough version of the song had originally been written a couple of years before its release.

' founder

Neil Bogart Neil E. Bogart (born Neil Scott Bogatz, February 3, 1943 – May 8, 1982) was an American record executive. He was the founder of Casablanca Records, which later became Casablanca Record and Filmworks. Life and career Born Neil Scott Bogatz in t ...

, upon hearing it, wanted Summer to give it to

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

for her upcoming album. Summer refused and put it away for a couple of years. "Toot Toot! Ah! Beep Beep!," the chanted vocal refrain in the song originates from the

Latin boogaloo Boogaloo or bugalú (also: shing-a-ling, Latin boogaloo, Latin R&B) is a genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly among teenage African Americans and Latinos ...

track "Bang Bang" by the

Joe Cuba Joe Cuba (April 22, 1931 – February 15, 2009), was an American conga drummer of Puerto Rican descent widely regarded as the "Father of Latin Boogaloo". Early years Joe Cuba (birth name: Gilberto Miguel Calderón) was born in Harlem, New York ...

Sextet (1966). The chant in "Bang Bang" was incorporated into the song after a gig Joe Cuba's sextet played for a black audience that wasn't particularly receptive to

mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particula ...

or cha cha cha; the audience started chanting as the pianist in the group played a riff. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' called it a " brassy disco track, which features party sounding production embel lishments like hems and whistles." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record W ...

'' said that Summers' "sultry reading is perfect for the threatening street theme." A 12" version of the song was released as a medley with "Hot Stuff". Although "Hot Stuff" was extended for the 12" version, "Bad Girls" remained in the four minutes, fifty-five seconds album version. A demo version of the song was released on the "deluxe edition" of ''Bad Girls''.

Awards and nominations

The song was nominated and won the award for "Favorite Pop/Rock Single" and "Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist" at the

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Pro ...

in 1980. Summer was also nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording The Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording was an award presented at the 22nd Grammy Awards in 1980. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in and originally called the Gramophone Awards, are presented by the National Academy ...

at the

22nd Annual Grammy Awards The 22nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 1980, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1979. This year was notable for being th ...

in 1980.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

Cover versions

Jamiroquai Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in th ...

regularly performed this during live sets.

Jay Kay Jay Kay (born Jason Luís Cheetham; 30 December 1969) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of the acid jazz and funk band Jamiroquai, which was formed in 1992. Early life Jay Kay was bo ...

also performed a live version with Anastasia. British singer Juliet Roberts also did a cover version in 1998. American rapper

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and reality television personality. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, she lived much of h ...

and American singer and drag queen

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series '' RuPaul's Drag Race ...

recorded a track titled "Bad Girls" for Kim's album ''

The Notorious K.I.M. ''The Notorious K.I.M.'' is the second studio album by American rapper Lil' Kim. It was released on June 27, 2000, by Atlantic Records and was her first album on her new label Queen Bee Entertainment. It debuted at number four on the US ''Billbo ...

'' (2000), interpolating Summer's song; it was, however, leaked before the album release and consequently scrapped.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Girls (Song) 1979 singles 1979 songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Donna Summer songs Songs written by Donna Summer Casablanca Records singles Song recordings produced by Giorgio Moroder Song recordings produced by Pete Bellotte Songs written by Bruce Sudano Songs about prostitutes Disco songs