The Hostage

In 1966, an aspiring 18 year old singer auditioned to replace Melba Moore in the Broadway musical Hair, but was instead cast in the German road production of the show, later switching to the Austrian version. Years later, during a stint in the Vienna Folk Opera, she met, married, and had a child with Austrian performer Helmut Sommer.

In 1974, Mrs. Sommer met an influential German producer while singing background on a Three Dog Night demo record and he immediately recorded her first single, The Hostage, which went to number one in France, Belgium and The Netherlands. However, due to a typo on the label, the world now knows the singer as Donna Summer. And thanks to the magic of YouTube, here's the video of her first hit record from 32 years ago.



The Hostage is oh-so-corny, with its kidnapped husband theme and the phone calls throughout the record. But the power of Donna Sommer/Summer's voice cannot be denied. Longtime readers of this here website thingy are well aware of my unabiding love for all things Donna Summer and that I consider her 1977 double-vinyl concept album masterpiece Once Upon A Time to be my favorite album of all time. (Note how many 5-star reviews it has on Amazon.) Finding The Hostage video on YouTube this week was a special treat for me, so please indulge me for mentioning Donna yet again.