Nadia's Theme - 1976 Releases

1976 Releases

Viewer inquiries about the music from the Wide World of Sports montage prompted a commercial release of the 1971 version of the song as a single through A&M Records on August 28, 1976. This recording was identical to "Cotton's Dream," with a repeat from the bridge to the end edited in to lengthen the piece. The single was titled "Nadia's Theme (The Young and the Restless)" and was a commercial success, charting for 22 weeks and peaking at #8 in the Billboard Hot 100 on the week ending December 12, 1976.

A&M Records failed to credit De Vorzon as the co-writer on the first pressings of the single. He successfully sued the record label for $241,000.

In October 1976, as the De Vorzon & Botkin version on A&M climbed the charts, P.I.P. Records released a single containing the Sounds of Sunshine's vocal and instrumental versions under the title "Nadia's Theme (The Young and the Restless)". The label also re-released the 1974 Young and the Restless soundtrack LP, now stickered to say it contained "Nadia's Theme", although it still only contained the cover version.

That same month, Barry De Vorzon capitalized on the success of the song by releasing it on his first album, Nadia's Theme (The Young and the Restless). Soon after, Sounds of Sunshine released their own Nadia's Theme album.

On 23 November 1976, CBS further entrenched the song's association with the famous gymnast by using the melody in its broadcast of "Nadia—From Romania with Love", a one-hour TV special hosted by Flip Wilson, co-produced by CBS and Romanian television.

The De Vorzon & Botkin version of the song was never actually released on CD until Eric Records included it on the CD Hard-To-Find Orchestral Instrumentals II.