Nanette Workman ~ Ce Soir On Danse A Naziland 1978 Version Discothéque Purrfection

Nanette Workman is a virtual unknown to American audiences, even though she was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 20, 1945. Music was in her blood as her mother was in the chorus of "Naughty Marietta" with the New York City Opera Company and dad was Ernest Workman, who played trumpet in Tommy Dorsey's orchestra.

She grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, learning to play piano and earning a spot on the TV show "Mr Magic" until she was given her own show, "Teen Tempos". She graduated high school and was accepted to the University Of Southern Mississippi but dropped out when she turned 18 to chase the spotlight on Broadway.

She understudied the lead role of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" and won the role in summer stock. Two years later she met Tony Roman who encouraged her to begin a recording career in French and her first french language single was "Et Maintenant" was a hit in Quebec, hitting #1 there and spending fifteen weeks on that chart. She sang background on the Rolling Stones "You Can't Always Get What You Want", "Country Honk" and "Honky Tonk Woman". This led to gigs with Elton John and John Lennon and The Benny Hill Show.

She toured France in 1973 as an opener for Johnny Halliday and then released three albums releasing a french version of "Lady Marmalade" in addition to many French language original hits. In 1978 she was asked to take part in a Broadway style show completely in French called "Starmania" to play the part of Sadia, with a host of now lauded artists. Originally written as a cyberpunk rock opera by Michel Berger and producer extraordinaire Luc Plamondon in 1976, a studio recording was issued in 1978 to great and popular acclaim.

There are so many great artists and songs that dominated the French charts that summer and those songs have embedded themselves in French popular culture. When I moved to Quebec City to attend college, Nanette's single was in hot rotation and I heard it played once an hour or so until the fall.

The character of Sadia is as a trans student organizer who was once part of the upper crust of society but now helps the protagonist Johnny Rockfort (which means rock hard in french) and his gang to disrupt the lives of the corrupt and powerful upper crust to avenge those who were banished to the "underground". It is a story of terrorism against totalitarianism and the musical depicts two living forces in opposition that threaten the peace in the world.

The song details the grave social situation labelling the above ground populace as Nazis since they completely control all the actions of every man and those who do not fit are considered "undergrounders" not worthy to feel the sun on their faces. It is about the defiance of the "undergrounders" and their plea for equality and that they were going to take what rightfully belongs to them in whatever way possible. "Ce Soir On Danse A Naziland" is pretty much about hoping to dance on the graves of the oppressive upper crusters, and taking their own power back. If you ever saw Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" the story also portrays a downtrodden part of society that rises up to the detriment of all. The moral was "The mediator between head and hands must be the heart." repeated several times and also appropriate for the hugely successful dystopian french language rock opera.