Spécial Dalida

Spécial Dalida

Spécial Dalida is a French studio album released by Dalida at the start of 1982.-Background:After recording five new songs for a TV special Dalida headlined on New Year's Eve surrounded by other fellow French stars, Orlando Productions decided to release a full album containing the recorded songs...

 is a French studio album released by Dalida

Dalida

Dalida , born with Italian name of Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, was a world-famous singer and actress born in Egypt with Italian origins but naturalised French with the name Yolanda Gigliotti. She spent her early years in Egypt amongst the Italian Egyptian community, but she lived most of her adult...

 at the start of 1982.

Background

After recording five new songs for a TV special Dalida headlined on New Year's Eve surrounded by other fellow French stars, Orlando Productions decided to release a full album containing the recorded songs from the TV show plus other songs that would eventually be released as singles.

The album contains a French language version of Dalida's big Arab hit "Helwa ya balady". The French version is dedicated to the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat

Anwar Sadat

Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981...

 who was assassinated in 1981. Dalida went on to record a Spanish version of that same song called "Io T'amero (Tres Palabras)", with different lyrics.
Among other songs, the album contains a disco dance version of Dalida's 1959 hit "Le jour où la pluie viendra" composed by Gilbert Bécaud

Gilbert Bécaud

Gilbert Bécaud was a French singer, composer and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-known hits are "Nathalie" and "Et Maintenant", a 1961 release that became an English language hit as "What Now My Love"...

.

The album was successful in France and other French speaking countries and Dalida promoted the album through television specials and radio shows throughout Europe.

Track listing

1. "Si la France"
2. "Jouez Bouzouki"
3. "Ensemble"
4. "Quand je n'aime plus je m'en vais"
5. "Comment l'oublier"
6. "Le jour où la pluie viendra"
7. "Danza"
8. "Nostalgie"
9. "Pour vous"
10. "J'aurais voulu danser"
11. "Pour toi Louis"
12. "Bye bye"

Singles

• "Quand je n'aime plus je m'en vais" / "Nostalgie"

"Quand je n'aime plus je m'en vais" / "Nostalgie" was released as a single in 1981, prior to the album.
"Quand je n'aime plus je m'en vais" became a minor hit due to extensive promotion on French and German television as was "Nostalgie" which is a cover of Marty Balin

Marty Balin

Marty Balin is an American musician. He is best known as the founder and one of the lead singers of the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane.-Early life:Martyn Buchwald was born in Cincinnati, Ohio...

's hit song "Hearts" that Dalida was very fond of.

• "Danza"

Danza was released in Europe as a single in 1982. Dalida filmed a video clip for the song featuring ballroom dance choreography.
Only one performance of the song exists, on the Belgian TV show Chansons à la carte.

• "Si la France" / "Jouez Bouzouki"

"Jouez Bouzouki" is the biggest hit from this album as it was hugely successful in the Middle East and fared particularly well in Lebanon where it was a big hit due to extensive radio airplay.
Playing on the Greek theme once again and featuring bouzouki

Bouzouki

The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...

instrumentation, the song is a festive mix of Greek folk and pop music.
Dalida performed the song live during many television appearances in France, Belgium and Switzerland.