Cats Without Claws


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 Billboards 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, 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 The album also contained a cover version of "There Goes My Baby", originally made popular by the Drifters, which became the first single.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" 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.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the Cats Without Claws liner notes.
Musicians
Production and artwork