80 concerts from sea to sea

1982

Since her first Western Canada Tour in 1975, Nana reaches a larger audience. Even in Ontario and in the Maritime provinces, she has performed in new cities. Her albums "Roses & Sunshine" and "Come with me" also confirmed a major breakthrough in the English speaking part. In 1982, Nana presented her version of a classical melody and crossed the ocean four times to perform for us. Let us recall first the context of her new great hit. Then, instead of focusing on Quebec, let us shine the spotlight on nine French-speaking and bilingual cities of the country.

Let's start with the new title that marks Nana's topicality: "Je chante avec toi liberté ". Released in September 1981, this adaptation of "Nabucco" by Verdi has become her greatest hit in France with one million 33 rpm and 45 rpm. As some Quebec radio stations receive imported records, listeners often have the opportunity to hear songs that are still unreleased. This one demonstrates that and the public must wait until January 1982 before getting the album. PolyGram Canada, her record company, has just acquired the rights on her new productions.

In parallel, with the LP and the cassette, a single is edited for jukeboxes and another one for radio broadcasts. Included in all sales charts, the album is certified gold (50,000 copies) in five weeks. The award is presented to her on May 9 after her concert at Avery Fisher Hall in New York. The radio station CFGL-FM also receives a gold record for contributing to its success thanks to its constant broadcasting on its airwaves. Throughout the year, Quebec's record dealers achieve impressive sales. So the album reaches platinum status (100,000 copies). However, many of them are convinced that if the disc had come out before the holiday season, they would have sold more.

We talk a lot about the title song, but not much of the whole album. This one includes tunes of various origins; Italian, American, Greek, French, German and Mexican. Moreover, during this world tour, Nana performs seven of them. On the radio, we occasionally hear "Qu'il est loin l'amour" released on the side 2 of the original single. But the public focus attention on "Je chante avec toi liberté" that Nana will keep in her repertoire. We must know that it became her most popular song in Quebec with "Comme un soleil" and "Le temps qu'il nous reste".

In April, the English version of "Nabucco" is launched. It becomes the title of her new LP "Song for Liberty" which goes gold (50,000 copies) in six months. For that one too, a promotional single is released, with on the other side "On my way to town" by the McGarrigle Sisters. Note that this album includes various important titles such as "The guests" by Leonard Cohen, "The rose" popularized by Bette Midler and "Every grain of sand" composed for her by Bob Dylan. This is her third consecutive certified album in English Canada.

With these two opus, Nana has the repertoire she needs to present a new show on both sides of Canada. Depending on the language and the public taste, she adapts her program. For example, in Quebec, she begins with "La clairière" and in the rest of the country, with "On my way to town". When Nana presented this show for the first time at the Paris Olympia last winter, she wore five stage outfits and was accompanied by singers and dancers. On tour, it's not easy to travel with so many people. That's why only her six musicians follow her.

In the spring, she begins with an arena tour in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes, followed by the western provinces. In late summer and fall, the large cities in the center and some of the western coast. As these four tours demonstrate, Nana performs in front of a 75% English-speaking audience. And, for the first time in a decade, a mini-tour takes place in the province: Trois-Rivières, Chicoutimi and Rimouski.

Original pages of the new program:

Concert of September 10, 1982 at Place des Arts

First part:

01- La clairière
02- Comme un soleil
03- Sweet Music Man
04- Pame mia volta sto fengari
05- To kyparissaki
06- Enas mythos
07- Leise flehen meine Lieder
08- La moitié de mon roman
09- Brave marin
10- Roses Love sunshine
11- Kyr Mikalis
12- Quand tu chantes
13- Yesterday's dreams
14- Casta diva

Second part:

01- Qu'il est loin l'amour
02- Petit Pierre
03- Droom droom
04- The rose
05- Prisonnier dans l'île
06- Las mañanitas
07- Every grain of sand
08- L'enfant au tambour
Presentation of the musicians
09- Roses blanches de Corfou / Weisse Rosen aus Athen
10- Strosse to stroma sou
11- Pardonne-moi
12- Come with me
13- Come with me (repeat)
14- Je chante avec toi liberté
15- Le temps qu'il nous reste
16- C'est mon histoire / Nickels & dimes

Meanwhile, "D'ici et d'ailleurs", a double album recorded last winter at the Paris Olympia, is marketed. PolyGram Canada releases a synthesis of the French edition by using one of the two inner sleeves for the cover. On this one, Nana is wearing a red dress and smiles while holding her microphone. On the back appear the titles and other photos taken on stage. Interestingly, it includes a medley of French songs that she performed in May in her Quebec concerts.

On October 31, CBC/Radio-Canada dedicates a television special to her: "Superstar". For almost an hour, Nana performs her new songs and talks with the host Jacques Boulanger. She relates, among other things, her trips to Canada, her childhood troubled by the war, the cinema where her father was projectionist, her studies at the Conservatory, her beginnings as a band vocalist and her meeting with the composer Manos Hadjidakis.

AN EXCEPTIONNAL YEAR

For a long period of her career, Nana used to come to Canada every year; one year in Quebec and Ontario and the other one in the western provinces. In 1982, her four tours spread over six months allowed her to give a record number of 80 concerts from sea to sea. That's why it was an exceptional year for Nana. Her new classical melody was appreciated by her audience accustomed to her popular and country ballads.