FOREVER DONNA - A TRIBUTE TO DONNA SUMMER

The first single of what would become the LADY OF THE NIGHT album was "The Hostage"

, a song that told the tale of a wealthy woman whose husband has been abducted. It became a # 1 hit in Holland and Belgium, reached # 2 in France, and hit the top ten in Spain and Scandinavia.

As Donna, on her autobiography, recalls: "On weekends I would travel (from Germany) to Holland to make live appearances; for some bizarre reason, our recording of "The Hostage" was very popular there. Every promoter wanted to book me into the local clubs so people could hear and see me sing the song. Every Friday afternoon I'd leave Germany, where I was less well known, and travel across the border by train to Holland, where a huge entourage waited for me. Talk about a strange dochotomy."

In spite of all the success, radio stations in one of Europe's most lucrative markets - Germany - refused to play the song. Just as "The Hostage" was gaining momentum on the German charts, a prominent West Berlin official was kidnapped and held hostage by terrorists. Immediately, the song was yanked off radio playlists, and all promotional appearances in the country were abruptly cancelled.

The single's B-side was a world peace anthem called "Let's Work Together Now". Donna performs this mid-tempo folk rock song with measure force and passion.

On the heels of "The Hostage", Groovy Records released the Summer/Moroder/Bellotte team's third single, "Lady Of The Night."

Issued in conjunction with the album of the same title, "Lady Of The Night" featured a lush pop production that sounded like a cross between a Vegas lounge act and a Broadway show tune. The album, released only in Europe (but years later available on CD in the U.S. as an import) was a wholly effective showcase for the work of the Summer/Moroder/Bellotte team. Bellotte is credited as producer ("for Say Yes productions") and Moroder is credited as co-writer on eight of the album's ten songs.

Standouts on LADY OF THE NIGHT include "Domino", a melodramatic guitar-driven pop tune, and "Born To Die", a folk-rock lament (originally recorded by Moroder himself). Perhaps the most engaging track is "Full Of Emptiness," which Donna sings in a melancholy falsetto not heard anywhere else on the album. Given this, it is no surprise that the song turned up a year later on Donna's first American album.

By mid-1974, Donna Summer had become something of a star in Europe. She had released three singles ("Denver Dream"

, "The Hostage" and "Lady Of The Night"), one of which ("The Hostage") was a major hit, and made several key television appearances. A full year before breaking through in the U.S., she was regularly featured in Europeans youth-oriented music magazines and newspapers. She had become one of the important players in the burgeoning Munich music scene.

"These recordings", says Donna, "were invaluable, as they gave Giorgio and me a chance to develop our creative relationship. We would cut these songs again and again until I was able to sing them just the way Giorgio heard them in his head."

Until this day, LADY OF THE NIGHT remains as an european-only record. In 1996, it was finally released on CD format by BUD Music (Catalog # CMP 62012) with a different cover picture

. In 1999, Repertoire Records re-release it (Catalog # REP 4767-WG) with remastered tracks and the 1974 original dutch cover

(There's another different cover to this album from a 1976 re-released in Holland

)

(Source for part of the text above: "ORDINARY GIRL - THE JOURNEY, book by Donna Summer ith Marc Elliott, Villard, 2003 / "DONNA SUMMER - HER LIFE AND MUSIC", book by Josiah Howard, Tiny Ripple, 2003)

"Giorgio Moroder had offered [The Hostage] to virtually every other record company and couldn't get a deal. It was later I found out that we really were their last chance. However, I immediately believed in the recording, and we made a deal for three singles with additional album options."

- Peter Kirsten (owner of Global Records) Billboard, September 3, 1994

"I signed Donna Summer because I was genuinely optimistic about her prospects and reckoned I could almost smell success for [The Hostage]. You don't always sense these things right away, but this time everything worked out. I had this feeling of excitement and those butterflies in the stomach, like when you meet a beautiful woman for the first time."

- Peter Kirsten (owner of Global Records) Billboard, September 3, 1994

"Donna performed The Hostage on this comedy show Disco Corner, hosted by Sjef van Oekel. While she was singing, Sjef played out a funny sketch and she had to try and keep a straight face. This sketch went down so well that it was repeated several times by special request, and the record started selling and eventually went on to the No. 2 spot on the German national chart."

- Tony Berk (Basart Records) Billboard, September 3, 1994

"The first time I heard The Hostage, I got goose bumps. I really believed in that song, so I started working on the record. My first response was from Radio Veronica. We visited every single radio DJ in Holland and did jingles like, 'Hi, this is Donna Summer...' That first comedy TV showcase actually proved she had acting ability, too."

- Ton van den Bremer (Basart Records) Billboard, September 3, 1994

"I had a hit record with [Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte] in Holland and France. I hadn't even signed a contract. They released it, it was on the market, it was on the charts, and I hadn't even signed a contract. I did it as a demo. Now this is a record you don't even know. It's called The Hostage."

- Donna Summer, Saturday Night Special, August 1, 1981

"(Laughing) Oh god, was [The Hostage] released here? I'd have to take someone to court over that! It was an awful song... one of my first Giorgio Moroder productions written for the European market where it was a huge (and controversial) hit despite the fact that it was banned in many places."

- Donna Summer, Dance Music Report April 26, 1990

"With the second single, Lady Of The Night, she broke in Belgium, and we started doing clubs so she could make some money. Every Friday afternoon, I would leave the office to pick her up at the airport in Brussels. I was the chauffeur, roadie, bodyguard and agent all in one. We'd do club performances all weekend, then she'd fly back to Munich and I'd drive home, completely exhausted."

- Ton van den Bremer (Basart Records) Billboard, September 3, 1994

(*) Note: Even though "Full Of Emptiness" was a track originally released on the "LADY OF THE NIGHT" LP (1974), it wasn't included on the album's CD version. It appears on "LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY" CD and vynil versions though.

A FEW QUOTES:(Courtesy of Cathy Hawkins)

A FEW QUOTES:
(Courtesy of Cathy Hawkins)