Nazareth

Nazareth's Loud 'n' Proud album was #1 in Sweden and Switzerland, #2 in Germany and Top 5 in Austria.

Nazareth enjoyed its earliest success in Canada. Their 1973 album Loud 'n' Proud included "This Flight Tonight" written by Joni Mitchell. The songwriting credit met the government's regulation for content at radio and became a monster it. "This Flight Tonight" was the record of the year at radio station CKOM in Saskatoon, Canada.

Nazareth was the first British band to make a transcontinental tour of Canada in 1974. The band also toured across Canada in 1976 and 1978. 

Dan McCafferty with J.P. Guilbert

Dan McCafferty with J.P. Guilbert at Bemelman's in Toronto, Canada

 

On June 22, 1974, Billboard reported that A&M Canada was responsible for 97.8 percent of the sales of "This Flight Tonight" in North America. Nazareth was the best selling artist for A&M Canada in 1974. In October A&M announced that Nazareth sold nearly 80,000 albums in Canada. 

 

Nazareth, Montreal Forum 1974

Nazareth at the Montreal Forum in 1974. Colin Cross (Montreal branch manager), Dan McCafferty, JP Guilbert (Montreal promotion), Pete Agnew, Daryl Sweet, Manny Charlton, Charly Prevost (Montreal promotion)

 

Hair Of the Dog was released in Canada before it was released in the U.S. and Europe.

Close Enough For Rock 'N' Roll shipped gold in Canada.

In 1976, Nazareth played a tour of 12 cities in Canada. All the shows were sold out with attendance of 100,000. RPM reported that Nazareth sold more records per capita in Canada than in the U.S. and they sold more records in Alberta than anywhere else in the world.

The single "Love Hurts" was A&M Canada's biggest seller since the company's founding seven years earlier.

Sales of the first four albums in Canada was 400,000 units with half of the sales were tapes.

From its release in 1976 until 1981, the single "Love Hurts" by Nazareth sold over four million copies. It was the best-selling single ever in Norway and outsold Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" throughout Europe.

Nazareth sold over one million records in Canada

 

Dan McCafferty told Music Week: "Jerry [Moss] said, 'I'm putting out 'Love Hurts', it's a hit,' and it was just as well he did. 'Razamanaz,,' 'Loud 'N' Proud' and 'Rampant' didn't really crack it for us in the States. We had been going out as first or second on the bill and sometimes, even in places where we'd been doing really well, as special guests. We'd had nothing solid we were just beginning to make a name. Then 'Love Hurts' started to happen and we had to follow it up with something different."

The Snaz album was specially priced at $13.98. A&M developed a city by city marketing plan for the album based on information about Nazareth's previous concert appearances in each of 69 cities. The radio promotion was targeted to those stations that had the strongest reception to earlier albums. There was also a 60-minute concert produced for MTV. Retail stores received a double-sided wall/window display, touring poster, album flats, and concert flyers.

Nazareth's "Love Hurts" was featured in a Swiffer television commercial.

Nazareth's single "This Flight Tonight" stayed on the German chart longer than any other single before it.

By 1981, Nazareth sold over 12 million albums worldwide. The U.S. was the band's largest market. Nazareth was more of a live band than one to get much radio airplay or media coverage.

OFFICIAL PROMOTION BY A&M RECORDS

Hair Of the Dog New Music On A&M Records
Close Enough For Rock 'N' Roll New Music On A&M Records
Expect No Mercy New Music On A&M Records
Nazareth: Malice In Wonderland

Sources
  1. Nazareth 'Crusade' Clicks. Billboard, October 23, 1976.
  2. A&M Nazareth Push Takes Promoter Cue. Sam Sutherland. Billboard, October 17, 1981.
  3. Mahogany Rush Tours With A&M'a Nazareth. RPM, September 26, 1976.
  4. Nazareth 10th anniversary advertorial. Music Week, February 2, 1980.
Recording Years / Label
1973-1986 -  A&M Records
Name Member Years Instruments
Billy Rankin 1982 guitar, vocals
Dan McCafferty 1975-1982 vocals
Darrell Sweet 1975-1982 drums, percussion, vocals
John Locke 1982 keyboards
Manuel Charlton 1975-1982 guitars, sythesizer
Pete Agnew 1975-1982 bass, vocals
Zal Cleminson 1980 guitars, sythesizer
Name Birth Death
Billy Rankin 1959-04-25
Dan McCafferty 1946-10-14 2022-11-08
Darrell Sweet 1947-05-16 1999-04-30
John Locke 1943-09-25 2006-08-04
Manuel Charlton 1941-07-25 2022-07-05
Pete Agnew 1946-09-14
Zal Cleminson 1949-05-04
Name See associated acts
Billy Rankin Billy Rankin
Dan McCafferty Dan McCafferty

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