Personnel includes: Donna Summer (vocals); Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, Paul Jackson, Jr. (guitar); Al Perkins (pedal steel guitar); Gary Herbig (saxophone); Steve Madaio, Jerry Hey (trumpet); Slide Hyde (trombone); Jai Winding (piano); Harold Faltermeyer (keyboards, synthesizer, bass); Bob Gaudio (bass); Keith Forsey (drums, percussion).

Recorded at Rusk Sound Studio, Los Angeles, California.

Largely regarded as Donna Summer's rock & roll album, thanks to some hot guitars mixed in with the synthesizers, 1979's BAD GIRLS mostly sounds like an indication of the way mainstream pop music would sound in the 1980s. It's hard to imagine Michael Jackson's THRILLER, David Bowie's LET'S DANCE or Madonna's LIKE A VIRGIN without this punchy and enormously successful blend of dancefloor heat, rock & roll cool, and smart pop songwriting.

Starting off with the killer one-two punch of "Hot Stuff" and the title track--possibly Summer's two best songs ever--the rest of the 70-minute-plus CD (originally a double album) features a handful of exceptional, dramatic ballads and some pure dance music in the mode of earlier hits like "I Feel Love." Though the songs are still lengthy, the arrangements are tighter and poppier than before. BAD GIRLS is a disco-rock classic.

Rolling Stone - 3 Stars - Good

Q (11/03, p.138) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...[The album] possessed enough strutting pop suss to take it far beyond the dancefloor..."