Cats Without Claws

Cats Without Claws
Cats Without Claws
Studio album by Donna Summer
Released	September 11, 1984
Recorded	October 1983–June 1984
Studio	Lion Share (Los Angeles); Rhema (Beverly Hills); United Western (Hollywood);
Genre	Pop; synth-pop; dance; post-disco; rock; new wave; gospel;
Length	44:36
Label	Geffen
Producer	Michael Omartian
Donna Summer chronology
Singles from Cats Without Claws
	"There Goes My Baby"; Released: July 5, 1984; "Supernatural Love"; Released: October 23, 1984; "Eyes"; Released: May 14, 1985 (UK);

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Robert Christgau	B^[2]

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 couple of other writers were credited including Summer's husband known as 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 The album also contained a cover version of "There Goes My Baby", originally made popular by the Drifters, which became the first single.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.^[3]^[4]

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 tracks are written by Michael Omartian and Donna Summer, except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Supernatural Love"	Omartian Bruce Sudano Summer	3:33
2.	"It's Not the Way"		4:22
3.	"There Goes My Baby"	Benjamin Nelson Lover Patterson George Treadwell	4:05
4.	"Suzanna"		4:29
5.	"Cats Without Claws"		4:20

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Oh Billy Please"		4:55
2.	"Eyes"		4:45
3.	"Maybe It's Over"	Summer	4:43
4.	"I'm Free"	Omartian Sudano Summer	4:29
5.	"Forgive Me"	Dony McGuire Reba Rambo	4:30
Total length:			44:36

2014 Demon Music Group bonus tracks^[5]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Face the Music"	Sudano Summer	4:14
12.	"Eyes" (Jellybean 7" Remix Edit^[6])		3:46
13.	"Supernatural Love" (Extended Dance Remix)	Omartian Sudano Summer	6:12
14.	"Eyes" (Extended Mix)		6:58
15.	"I'm Free" (Extended Mix)	Omartian Sudano Summer	6:18

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the Cats Without Claws liner notes.^[7]

Musicians

Donna Summer – lead vocals
Michael Omartian – keyboards, additional drums, additional percussion
Erich Bulling – Yamaha DX1 and Yamaha DX7 programming
Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars
Michael Landau – guitars
Nathan East – bass guitar
Mike Baird – drums
Paulinho da Costa – percussion
Gary Herbig – saxophone solos
Dara Bernard – backing vocals
Mary Ellen Bernard – backing vocals
Cydney Davis – backing vocals
Siedah Garrett – backing vocals
Khaliq Glover – backing vocals
Portia Griffin – backing vocals
Susannah Melvoin – backing vocals
Bruce Sudano – backing vocals
Gene Van Buren – backing vocals
Kin Vassy – backing vocals
Terry Williams – backing vocals

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

Chart performance for *Cats Without Claws*
Chart (1984)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)^[8]	91
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[9]	19
European Albums (Music & Media)^[10]	22
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[11]	39
Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)^[12]	25
Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[13]	33
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[14]	15
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)^[15]	12
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[16]	10
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[17]	13
UK Albums (OCC)^[18]	69
US Billboard 200^[19]	40
US Cashbox Top Albums^[20]	38

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1984	"There Goes My Baby"	US Billboard Hot 100	21
1984	"Supernatural Love"	US Billboard Hot 100	75

References

^ Wynn, Ron. "Cats Without Claws > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
^ Christgau, Robert. "Cats Without Claws > Review". Robert Christgau. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
^ 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..."
^ 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."
^ "The Official Donna Summer – Timeline – Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
^ "The Official Donna Summer – Timeline – Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
^ Cats Without Claws (CD booklet). Donna Summer. Geffen Records. 1984.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book. p. 300. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Donna Summer – Cats Without Claws" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
^ "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. October 8, 1984. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Donna Summer – Cats Without Claws" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
^ Racca, Guido (2019). M&D Borsa Album 1964–2019 (in Italian). Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print US. ISBN 978-1094705002.
^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Donna Summer – Cats Without Claws". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
^ Fernando Salaverri (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
^ "Swedishcharts.com – Donna Summer – Cats Without Claws". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
^ "Swisscharts.com – Donna Summer – Cats Without Claws". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
^ "Donna Summer | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
^ "Donna Summer Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
^ "Top 100 Pop Albums" (PDF). Cashbox. p. 15. Retrieved July 20, 2025.

External links

Cats Without Claws at Discogs (list of releases)

[1] Wynn, Ron. "Cats Without Claws > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 29 August 2011.

[christgau-2] Christgau, Robert. "Cats Without Claws > Review". Robert Christgau. Retrieved September 24, 2011.

[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". Facebook. Retrieved October 2, 2016.

[6] "The Official Donna Summer – Timeline – Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved October 2, 2016.

[linernotes2-7] Cats Without Claws (CD booklet). Donna Summer. Geffen Records. 1984.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

[aus-8] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book. p. 300. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[ac_Netherlands_Donna_Summer-9] "Dutchcharts.nl – Donna Summer – Cats Without Claws" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 8, 2016.

[euro-10] "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. October 8, 1984. Retrieved July 14, 2021.

[ac_Germany_Donna_Summer-11] "Offiziellecharts.de – Donna Summer – Cats Without Claws" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 8, 2020.

[12] Racca, Guido (2019). M&D Borsa Album 1964–2019 (in Italian). Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print US. ISBN 978-1094705002.

[jap-13] Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.

[ac_Norway_Donna_Summer-14] "Norwegiancharts.com – Donna Summer – Cats Without Claws". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 8, 2016.

[15] Fernando Salaverri (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.

[ac_Sweden_Donna_Summer-16] "Swedishcharts.com – Donna Summer – Cats Without Claws". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 8, 2016.

[ac_Switzerland_Donna_Summer-17] "Swisscharts.com – Donna Summer – Cats Without Claws". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 8, 2016.

[ac_UK_Donna_Summer-18] "Donna Summer | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved March 8, 2016.

[ac_Billboard200_Donna_Summer-19] "Donna Summer Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2016.

[20] "Top 100 Pop Albums" (PDF). Cashbox. p. 15. Retrieved July 20, 2025.

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