Barry DeVorzon & Perry Botkin, Jr. composed what came to be known as "Nadia's Theme (The Young & The Restless)" (italics mine, of course) in 1971 for the movie, "Bless The Beasts & The Children", under its original title, "Cotton's Dream". Two years later, Botkin rearranged the tune when the long running CBS soap made its debut.
"Nadia", of course, is Romanian-born gymnast Nadia Comaneci, the darling of the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. A video montage composed for ABC's Wide World of Sports, incorporated the track, which, oddly enough, wasn't used by Nadia herself in her floor exercise routine. CBS subsequently produced a documentary special, co-produced with a Romanian television network and narrated by actor-comedian Flip Wilson.
In February 1977, Young & The Restless cast member David Hasselhoff, 5 1/2 years before Knight Rider made him a pop culture icon, made his singing debut on The Merv Griffin Show, and, for the first time, viewers discovered there were lyrics to Botkin & DeVorzon's classic instrumental.
Hasselhoff recorded the song for his own CD 10 years later. DeVorzon released his debut album on Arista, with "Nadia's Theme" as the title track. I actually owned a copy of the LP at one time.
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