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The HostageDonna Summer

Released: February 26, 1974

Songwriter: Giorgio Moroder Pete Bellotte

Producer: Pete Bellotte

Lady: Hallo

Kidnapper:
Lady we've just kidnapped your husband
Have \$800,000 ready by tomorrow night
And lady no police
Or you'll never see your husband alive again

Lady: Hallo

I remember standing there so petrified
My hand frozen to the phone
As a stranger's words that caught in my ears
And chilled me to the bone
Some dark tragedy had come right home to me
They'd kidnapped my man and his life was in their hands

He was a hostage, a hostage
His life was at the mercy of their hands
He was a hostage, a hostage
His life depending on their gold demands

Lady: Hallo

Kidnapper:
Lady, here's your husband through
To warn not to play any games

Husband:
Hi Honey listen I'm okay
Just make sure you do whatever they tell you
And whatever you do don't go to the police!

Well I couldn't raise that kinda money fast
So I was left no other choice
So I called the police and they came in fast
Saying "leave it up to us
Just do as they told
The ransom's in this bag
We'll watch over you
And we'll have your husband back too"

He was a hostage, a hostage
His life was at the mercy of their hands
He was a hostage, a hostage
His life depending on their gold demands

Lady: Hallo

Kidnapper:
Listen very carefully lady
Drive out to the abandoned shack on Highway 16
Throw the package of money out the window and keep driving
And remember lady no police!

Well my heart was heavy as I made that drive
I was sure something was wrong
I soon found the shack
I threw out the bag and I just kept driving on
Then the shots rang out and turned my car about
On the ground one lay but the other had gotten away

He was a hostage, a hostage
His life was at the mercy of their hands
He was a hostage, a hostage
His life depending on their gold demands

Lady:
Well they found my husband a few days later
Yes, the funeral's tomorrow

Donna Summer

As the unquestioned queen of disco, the one and only Donna Summer lit up the late 70s and 80s with flashy, exuberant vocals and automatic earworms. Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines on Dec. 31, 1948, Summer moved to Germany after being cast in a Munich production of Hair. There, she happened to meet Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, and the trio conglomerated to form a dynamic music team. With Moroder, Summer forged together her first album, The Hostage, which reached moderate success in Northern Europe. Summer’s big break, however, would come later with the release of 1975’s sexual “Love to Love You Baby”, which became one of disco’s first mainstream hits and reached #2 on the Billboard Charts.

1977 came around with the concept album I Remember Yesterday, which featured the Top 10 single “I Feel Love”. The next year, Summer hit the silver screen with the movie Thank God It’s Friday, whose soundtrack featured one of her own the iconic “Last Dance.” This would later become one of the disco legends' signature songs. “Dance” would take home an Academy Award for Best Original Song, a Grammy, and a Golden Globe, and it jumped to a peak of #3 on the charts.

Yet Summer’s illustrious career was far from finished – Summer’s first live album Live and More featured the single “MacArthur Park”, a melting ballad that was a cover of the Jimmy Webb ballad of the same name. “Park” became Summer’s first – and perhaps most memorable – No. 1 hit, and cemented her status as a vocalist as well as a performer. With the track, she became the first female in modern rock history to hold the top spot in both the Hot 100 and the Billboard 200. 1979, though, would really be the peak of her career.

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