MANUSCRIPT LYRICS FOR 'ON THE RADIO' - photo 1
MANUSCRIPT LYRICS FOR 'ON THE RADIO' - photo 2
MANUSCRIPT LYRICS FOR 'ON THE RADIO' - photo 3
MANUSCRIPT LYRICS FOR 'ON THE RADIO' - photo 4
MANUSCRIPT LYRICS FOR 'ON THE RADIO' - photo 5

MANUSCRIPT LYRICS FOR 'ON THE RADIO'

Lot 6
29.06.2023 16:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 12 600
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 977551
Lot 6 | MANUSCRIPT LYRICS FOR 'ON THE RADIO'
Estimate value
$ 3 000 – 5 000
SUMMER, Donna (1948-2012). Manuscript for 'On the Radio', with autograph penciled corrections and emendations, Hollywood [1979].

Five pages on Rusk Sound Studios stationery (minor soiling to one page).

Manuscript lyrics for 'On the Radio', which became Donna Summer's tenth top-ten hit in the United States on its release in February 1980. Giorgio Moroder had composed the underlying music the previous year and had given it to Donna Summer to compose the lyrics. For guidance, she asked Moroder if he had any thoughts on song's theme, and she recalled him replying, "something with the radio." Over several weeks she made numerous attempts to compose the lyrics, but with no luck. One day in the studio she was sitting at the piano working on another song when she noticed that "Stephen Bishop's record was on the top of the piano." She recalled the writing they had done together in the past, and she asked herself, "how would Stephen say this? What line would he come up with - he's so clever. And all of a sudden, this one line came to me, and it was must have fallen out of a hole in your old brown overcoat, and it was like a lightning bolt. OK, that's it. I knew who the person was. I knew who the person was in the song, I knew who she needed to be, I knew what she was going through, I knew what had to be said. And so as soon as I got all of the personal information on the character, I was able to go into the studio, stand on the microphone and sing the song pretty much verbatim, the way you hear it. That is - you know, I don't know how many takes I did that day, but I don't think I did very many, and I think I got most of the song in the first take, so, you know, it was about having that story in my psyche and being able to go on there and sing it from that person's perspective, and once I got the perspective, I was ridin'." (Interview with Terri Gross on Fresh Air, NPR, 2003).

The body of the text (in red ink) was accomplished in an unknown hand—likely by an assistant at the studio transcribing what had been recorded during the session. Donna Summer made emendations in pencil to form a near-complete copy of the published lyrics.
71/8 x 51/2 in. (18.2 x 13.9 cm.), each page
Place of origin:USA
Auction house category:Letters, documents and manuscripts
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
15.06.2023 – 29.06.2023
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>