Cats Without Claws

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

title: "Cats Without Claws" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1984-albums", "donna-summer-albums", "albums-produced-by-michael-omartian", "geffen-records-albums", "new-wave-albums-by-american-artists"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cats_Without_Claws" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]

FieldValue
nameCats Without Claws
typestudio
artistDonna Summer
coverCats Without Claws.jpg
releasedSeptember 11, 1984
recordedOctober 1983–June 1984
studio* Lion Share (Los Angeles)
genre* Pop
length
labelGeffen
producerMichael Omartian
prev_titleShe Works Hard for the Money
prev_year1983
next_titleThe Summer Collection: Greatest Hits
next_year1985
misc{{Singles
nameCats Without Claws
typeStudio
single1There Goes My Baby
single1dateJuly 5, 1984
single2Supernatural Love
single2dateOctober 23, 1984
single3Eyes
single3dateMay 14, 1985 (UK)
::

| name = Cats Without Claws | type = studio | artist = Donna Summer | cover = Cats Without Claws.jpg | alt = | released = September 11, 1984 | recorded = October 1983–June 1984 | venue = | studio = * Lion Share (Los Angeles)

| rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = | rev2 = Robert Christgau | rev2Score = B

Cats Without Claws is the twelfth studio album by American pop singer Donna Summer, released on September 11, 1984. Summer had achieved monumental fame during the disco era of the 1970s, and in 1980 was signed to Geffen Records. She had had some degree of success with them, although her previous album had been released on another label. Cats Without Claws peaked at No. 40 on *Billboard*s album chart, failing to attain the success of its predecessor which peaked at No. 9.

Her previous studio album, She Works Hard for the Money (1983), gained more fame and success since the disco era, and as a result, its producer Michael Omartian was asked to produce the next studio album as well. Again the majority of tracks were written by Summer and Omartian, though a few other writers were credited including Summer's husband Bruce Sudano. As with the previous studio album, Cats Without Claws was pop and dance oriented but included soulful ballads. The album also contained a cover version of "There Goes My Baby", originally made popular by the Drifters, which became the first single. Although Summer requested "Oh Billy Please" as the first single, again Geffen and his executives rejected her request. A gospel song written by Reba Rambo and Dony McGuire entitled "Forgive Me" would win Summer a Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance.

Cats Without Claws produced three singles: "There Goes My Baby", "Supernatural Love" (also released as a 12" Single) and "Eyes". The song, “There Goes My Baby" reached No. 21 on the pop chart. This album also included 12" dance remixes included "Eyes" and "I'm Free". A 40th Anniversary re-issue was released April 18, 2025.

Commercial performance

Cats Without Claws peaked at number 40 on the Billboard 200 chart and spent only 17 weeks on the chart. The album failed to attain the success of its predecessor, She Works Hard for the Money, which peaked at number 9. It reached a peak of number 69 on the UK Albums Chart, and was commercially unsuccessful.

The 40th Anniversary edition of the album was released on April 18, 2025.

Track listing

| all_writing = Michael Omartian and Donna Summer, except where noted. | headline = Side one | title1 = Supernatural Love | writer1 = | length1 = 3:33 | title2 = It's Not the Way | length2 = 4:22 | title3 = There Goes My Baby | writer3 = | length3 = 4:05 | title4 = Suzanna | length4 = 4:29 | title5 = Cats Without Claws | length5 = 4:20 | headline = Side two | total_length = 44:36 | title1 = Oh Billy Please | length1 = 4:55 | title2 = Eyes | length2 = 4:45 | title3 = Maybe It's Over | writer3 = Summer | length3 = 4:43 | title4 = I'm Free | writer4 = | length4 = 4:29 | title5 = Forgive Me | writer5 = | length5 = 4:30 | headline = 2014 Demon Music Group bonus tracks | title11 = Face the Music | writer11 = | length11 = 4:14 | title12 = Eyes | note12 = Jellybean 7" Remix Edit | length12 = 3:46 | title13 = Supernatural Love | note13 = Extended Dance Remix | writer13 = | length13 = 6:12 | title14 = Eyes | note14 = Extended Mix | length14 = 6:58 | title15 = I'm Free | note15 = Extended Mix | writer15 = | length15 = 6:18

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the Cats Without Claws liner notes.

Musicians

Production and artwork

  • Michael Omartian – producer, arrangements
  • John Guess – engineer, mixing (1, 3, 5, 7–10)
  • Jürgen Koppers – mixing (2, 4, 6)
  • David Ahlert – second engineer
  • Larry Ferguson – second engineer
  • Tom Fouce – second engineer
  • Ross Palone – second engineer
  • Steve Hall – mastering at Future Disc (Hollywood, California)
  • Ronnie Puccinelli – production coordinator
  • Chris Whorf – art direction
  • Jeffrey Fey – design
  • Harry Langdon – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

::data[format=table title="Chart performance for ''Cats Without Claws''"] | Chart (1984) | Peak position | Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) | European Albums (Music & Media) | Italian Albums (Musica e dischi) | Japanese Albums (Oricon) | Spanish Albums (AFYVE) | US Cashbox Top Albums | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 91 | | | | | | | | | 22 | | | | | | | | | 25 | | | | | | | | | 33 | | | | | | | | | 12 | | | | | | | | | 38 | | | | | | | | ::

Single

::data[format=table]

YearSingleChartPosition
1984"There Goes My Baby"US Billboard Hot 10021
"Supernatural Love"US Billboard Hot 10075
::

References

References

  1. {{AllMusic. Ron. Wynn
  2. Christgau, Robert. "''Cats Without Claws'' > Review". [[Robert Christgau]].
  3. John Joseph Thompson Raised by Wolves: The Story of Christian Rock & Roll- 2000 "Her song "Forgive Me" was an enormous Christian radio hit and won her another Best Inspirational Performance Grammy. Critics blasted her for it, and she did see a drop in sales and popularity for several years..."
  4. Encyclopedia of recorded sound -Frank W. Hoffmann, Howard Ferstler – 2005 Volume 2 – Page 1079 "She won Grammy awards for Best Inspirational Performance in 1983 and 1984, for "He's a Rebel" and "Forgive Me," respectively."
  5. "The Official Donna Summer – Timeline – Facebook".
  6. "The Official Donna Summer – Timeline – Facebook".
  7. (1984). "Cats Without Claws". [[Geffen Records]].
  8. Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970–1992". Australian Chart Book.
  9. (October 8, 1984). "European Top 100 Albums". Music & Media.
  10. Racca, Guido. (2019). "M&D Borsa Album 1964–2019". Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print US.
  11. (2006). "Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005". [[Oricon.
  12. Fernando Salaverri. (September 2005). "Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002". Fundación Autor-SGAE.
  13. "Top 100 Pop Albums". [[Cashbox (magazine).

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1984-albumsdonna-summer-albumsalbums-produced-by-michael-omartiangeffen-records-albumsnew-wave-albums-by-american-artists