|
|
|
|
===========================================================================================
Aphrodite's Child & Demis Roussos FAQ List 6.0 2006-11-10
===========================================================================================
Compiled by Paolo Cadeddu - "Paulfalco" (falco@inrete.it)
Michael
Thomas Roe (Great Aphrodite's Child fan-collector) (mthom@mindspring.com)
Jacob
Nielsen (Great Danish fan) (Cop@post2.tele.dk)
Frans
Cortenraad (Great Dutch fan) (F.Cortenraad@UB.UNIMAAS.NL)
Dennis
Lodewijks (Author of a great WEB site) (d.lodewijks@chello.nl)
Franco
Lo Schiavo(franalos@tiscalinet.it)
LEF(lsalefebvre@csi.com)
===========================================================================================
1.
BIOGRAPHY
1.1
Who are Aphrodite's Child?
Aphrodite's
Child was a world famous pop group that was formed by four musicians: Vangelis
Papathanassiou (keyboardist and more), Demis Roussos (great voice and bassist), Loukas
Sideras (drummer) and Anargyros Koulouris ("Silver") as guitarist, but this last
had to do his military service, so Aphrodite's Child begun in three. They recorded
"Rain And Tears" which was an incredible hit all over Europe; then they
collected three years of hits and great moments composing unforgettable songs as "I
Want To Live", "Let Me Love, Let Me Live", "Marie Jolie",
"It's Five O'Clock", "Spring, Summer, Winter And Fall" and many other.
Aphrodite's Child split in 1971 (for the different musical conception within the group)
during recording "666" - where there was also Silver Koulouris -, a double album
more progressive compared to early discography. They collected supporters on the whole
continent and up till now thay have many fans!
1.2
Who is Demis Roussos and when did he begin his sol career?
Demis
was the lead singer of the group; he was endowed with distinctive and remarkable voice
that helped him to characterize the sound of Aphrodite's Child and then to start for a
fantastic solo career since beginning. He decided to leave the group in 1971, recording
his first single "We Shall Dance" that thanks to a lucky tour with his bands, it
become a massive hit alla over Europe - winning in 1972 the italian musical event called
"Festivalbar" -. He recorded a lot of his songs in different languages, so he
fascinated several countries. His gold period was since 1970 until 1980. Demis still sings
and his record market is well in Holland, Germany and North Europe with many enthusiast
fans all over the world!
===========================================================================================
2.
DISCOGRAPHY
2.1
What is the discography of Aphrodite's Child?
Aphrodite's
Child recorded three albums: "End Of The World" (1968), "It's Five O'
Clock" (1969) and double album "666" (1971); their first official
compilation was "Best Of Aphrodite's Child" released in 1970, then were made
other compilations all over the world with greatest hits of the greek group also on CD.
Ten or so hit singles and some extended play in several countries.
2.2.Demis
discography.
Demis
discography to date has about forty official albums without considering that there are as
many compilations and albums recorded in several languages; the whole discography has more
than 170 albums and
===========================================================================================
3.
THE STORY AFTER APHRODITE'S CHILD
3.1
What did Aphrodite's Child do after their break-up ?
Demis
Roussos embarked on his solo career recording his first single "We Shall Dance"
and touring all around Europe. Vangelis finished "666" and begun to devote his
music beginning an incredible and wonderful career. Loukas Sideras followed Demis in his
european tour; he did a single 45 release of "Break" (from "666"),
then released Lps "One Day" in 1972 and "Pax Spray" in 1973; co-wrote
"White Sails" which Demis covered on album "My Only Fascination"; in
1977 with Axis and Lakis Vlavianos formed the group "Ypsilon" recording one
album: "Metro Music Man"; co-wrote also "Seasons of love" with
Vangelis. Silver Koulouris showed up on Demis albums "Souvenirs To Souvenirs",
"Happy To Be..." and "Reflection".
===========================================================================================
3.2
What did Vangelis do?
Vangelis
continued to keep extremely busy and made a worldwide name for himself separate from
Aphrodite's Child. Vangelis has always been an individualist and had a vision of how he
wanted to make music, which led in a different direction. The best way to look at his
career since is to look at where Vangelis called "home" during his career.
The
Paris Years-
Vangelis
arrived in Paris with Lucas and Demis on their way to London. They never made it, of
course, and became the great Aphrodite's Child. Vangelis stayed in Paris for some time and
worked on many projects besides the Aphrodite's Child works. He met Frederic Rossif, the
famous French documentary director, and started a working relationship which continued
until Rossif's death at the end of 1989. The first work was scoring the series
"L'apocalypse des Animaux" in 1970. The record would not be released for three
years after that in 1973. The record does not reflect the amount of music he created for
the series. Vangelis also met Henri Chapier, French film director, and Vangelis' first
solo album was released in France in 1970, the score to the film "Sex Power",
now a major rarity. Vangelis recorded two "jam sessions" in 1971 entitled
"Hypothesis" and "The Dragon", which were not released at the time
under the BYG label. He did participate on a BYG single from Alpha Beta, featuring Milva
on vocals, titled "Astral Abuse/Who Killed. In 1972, in honor of the student riots in
Paris of 1968, Vangelis released his Poeme Symphonique, entitled "Fais Que Ton Reve
Soit Plus Long Que La Nuit" on the Reprise label. It was 1973 that brought his album
"Earth", which saw some of the influence of Aphrodite's Child as well as some
ethnic and progressive influences. It was, after all, his second release under the Vertigo
label, the first being the "666" album. Perhaps Vangelis felt that he could not
fully realize his goals in Paris, so he set out to his original destination from 1968...
The
London Years-
Vangelis
arrived in 1974 and set immediately to creating his dream, Nemo Studios. He also landed a
major record deal with RCA and was pressed to get a release out as soon as possible. It is
not clear what his first record was to come out of Nemo. Many reports state that it was
"Heaven and Hell", yet it appears that in reality, he recorded and released two
other soundtracks, "La Fete Sauavge" and "Entend-tu les Chiends
Aboyer?" before that. But it was Heaven and Hell in 1975 that made him world famous,
charting high in many European countries. Rather quickly, he released "Albedo
0.39". This would be followed by "Spiral" in 1977 and "Beaubourg"
in 1978. He also worked with some Italian singers on the RCA label, handling various
production and arranging tasks on Riccardo Cocciante's "Concerto Per
Margherita", Patty Pravo's "Tanto", Claudio Baglioni's "E Tu..."
and Mariangela's self titled album (on the Philips label). He also contributed his time to
four songs on Melina Mercouri's Melina...M'etait Contee and with the Greek progressive
band Socrates on their album "Phos". Of course, I would be in big trouble if I
did not mention his reunion with Demis in 1977 for the Demis Roussos Magic album! This
album featured some Vangelis compositions, as well as some of the songs off the Earth
album. After leaving RCA in 1978, he went on to the Polydor label, where he achieved both
great success and a lot of aggrivation. His first releases for them would be
"Odes"(with Irene Papas) and "China", followed by "Opera
Sauvage", which was a compilation of themes from his continued work with Frederic
Rossif. In 1979, he paired up with Jon Anderson of Yes fame and released the successful
"Short Stories". In 1980, he released "See You Later", which also
feature some vocals from Jon Anderson. In 1981, he released his most famous work, the
soundtrack to "Chariots of Fire", which would lead to another opportunity for
Demis and Vangelis to work together again, for the single "Race To the End"
based on the main theme to the movie. Also in 1981, Vangelis and Jon Anderson worked on
their second album, "The Friends of Mr. Cairo". When Vangelis refused to release
the soundtrack to Blade Runner in 1982, it seemed that the relationship between Vangelis
and Polydor would never be the same again. He released "Antartica" in 1983 in
Japan, as well as the third Jon and Vangelis album, "Private Collection",
followed by "Soil Festivities" in 1984. "Mask" and "Invisible
Connections" would be released in 1985. His last recording in Nemo Studios would be
"Rhapsodies" with Irene Papas. During these years he also helped Milva on her
albums "Ich Hab Keine Angst", "Tra Due Sogni", "Moi, Je N'ai Pas
Peur" and "Geheimnisse". He appeared on Suzanne Ciani's "The Velocity
of Love". And, of course, worked one more time with Demis, creating the album
Reflection.
The
Back and Forth Years-
Since
1987, Vangelis has moved around a bit and never seems settled anywhere. He would record
"Direct" in Greece, his first album on Arista. Unfortunately, it was also his
last solo album for that label, althought the fourth Jon and Vangelis album, "Page of
Life", was released on Arista as well. Vangelis ended up in Rome and recorded his
first album for east west titled The City, which also was worked on in Paris. Vangelis
would create another studio there, leading to the great soundtrack for "1492-Conquest
of Paradise". In 1994, he would finally do for east west what he would not do for
Polydor, and granted the release of "Blade Runner", with the highlight being the
track "Tales of the Future" featuring the great Demis! Vangelis would move
around again, back to Athens and release two new albums in 1995, "A Tribute To El
Greko" and "Voices".
4.
FAN CLUBS
4.1.
Are there any fan clubs for Aphrodite's Child and Demis Roussos?
There
were some fan clubs also listed on Demis albums during the gold period of his career and
music, here you are a list of them:
Demis
Roussos Fan Club Bois-Colombes (Paris-FRANCE) L.P. "Forever and Ever" 1973
"Demis News" Club Bois-Colombes (Paris-FRANCE) L.P. "My Only
Fascination" 1974 "Demis News" Club Bois-Colombes (Paris-FRANCE) L.P.
"Souvenirs" 1975 Demis Roussos Fan Club Bois-Colombes (Paris-FRANCE) L.P.
"Happy To Be..." 1976 (SPA) Demis Roussos Fan Club 17 Rue Ballu (Paris-FRANCE)
L.P. "Ainsi Soit-Il" 1977 Demis Roussos International Fan Club c/o Bert Van
Breda Wikkelaan 32 3852 CN Ermelo The Netherlands single 45 Longtemps Je t'aimerai/Si
J'etais magician 1979 Demis Roussos International Fan Club Wikkelaan 32 3852 CN Ermelo
HOLLAND single "Lost In Love/Had To Run 1980 Demis Roussos International Fan P.O. Box
308 (Nijkerk-HOLLAND) single Race To The End/Mais Je chante 1980 (GER) Demis Fanclub
International P.O. Box 308 (Nijkerk-HOLLAND) L.P. "Demis" 1982 and single
"Lament/We're Shining" 1982 Demis Information Center P.O. Box 308 (Nijkerk-The
Netherlands) single Follow me/Song Without End 1982 Demis Roussos & Aphrodite's Child
Fan Club c/o Paolo Cadeddu (Genova-Pegli-ITALY) listed on collectors' magazine
"Raro" n. 46, november 1994 - edizioni RA srl Roma - Probably also Aphrodite's
Child had some not official clubs at an earlier time all over the world. Recently we
received a message of confirm from Brazil: here in 1972 was created an "Aphrodite's
Child" fan club!
===========================================================================================
5.
FTP' FILES AND WWW HOME PAGE
There
are some interesting web pages, their links are available inside the “http://digilander.iol.it/falcoclub” unofficial fan club online since 1995!
About
online labels above all the dutch BR MUSIC
(www.brmusictwo.com) famous for its releases about Demis and Aphrodite’s Child with
booklets and bonustracks.
Another great dutch web link is that made by Dennis
Lodewijks: http://www.elsew.com. Here you can find news about: the group "Aphrodite's
Child" and its music (with several fine sleeves photos), Demis Roussos, Vangelis and
other interesting links. There are moreover other sites especially under Vangelis Home
Page where it is possible to find interesting news about his collaborative works with
Aphrodite's Child. With search engines it is possible to discover in Internet several
informations about this greek pop group.
===========================================================================================
6.1.
Are there any discographies published about Aphrodite's Child & Demis Roussos?
About
Demis some of these discographies were listed on compilation albums; for example inside
compilation "Star fur Millionen" released in Germany. Other short discography
are present in two italian compilation albums: on the sleeve of the album "Profeta
non sarò" and inside "Hit Parade International"; better
discographies
are the BR MUSIC ones: we find these listed on booklet inside double CD "40 Songs Of
Demis Roussos - 25 Years In Music" (1993) and inside CD "Aphrodite's Child -
Greatest Hits" (1995). A very good discography about singles and albums listed on
booklet inside 4 CD "The Phenomenon" (1998).
7.
APHRODITE'S CHILD MUSIC
7.1.
What kind of music did Aphrodite's Child play?
Psychedelic
pop music strongly influenced by "Penny Lane"/"Sergeant Pepper's"
era-Beatles with Greek ethnic
flourishes.
"It's Five O'Clock" was more "earthy" and American music influenced.
Hints of "ragtime", "jazz", "country" and even
"bluegrass". All different style played with a certain "lightness of
touch". Perhaps a reaction to the "heaviness" of the first l.p. Of course,
some tracks have the "classic" A. Child sound: "It's Five O'Clock" and
"Annabella" which sounds almost Moody Blues, or King Crimson. Or "Marie
Jolie" which would predate the famous Demis "sound" by several years. All
of this is remarkable in Vangelis' reliance on the Hammond organ, himself admitting that
he never touched the mellotron. And the fact that all band members were
multi-instrumentalists. Trumpets, slide guitars, even harmonicas are played. This would
lead one to appreciate Demis' contributions to the l.p "It's Five O'Clock" even
more so than just his bass and singing. Loukas offers some strong vocals as well,
contributing to the harder "rock songs". The best of this being "Air".
"666" doesn't need much explaining as it is the turning point that signaled
Vangelis' complete creative control and the other band members defection to the Demis solo
career, which to my ears, is every bit as creative and engrossing. Especially, "On
the Greek side" which is, song for song, a wonderful masterpeice!!
8.
PARTICULAR EVENTS
8.1
Which particular events happened in Demis life?
Demis
put on weight so much (400 pounds in 1980!) that his state of health was dangerous, so he
decided to go on
a
diet, slimming down 100 pounds; about his diet experience, Demis wrote a book that was
published also in Italy. In 1985 when his career suffered - from a couple of years - a
stalemate with a feeble commercial success, Demis was involved in a hijacking; this strong
experience, fortunately with a happy ending, it represented the starting point to take
again music with a very strong will, finding again success and making new records.
===========================================================================================
9.
BOOKLETS
9.1
Where can I find booklets about Demis and Aphrodite's Child?
Inside
BR MUSIC CDs and double CDs; there is a booklet also inside double CD "666"
(VERTIGO 838 430-2), containing lyrics. Here you are a list of this important stuff: 1)
Inside double CD "The Story Of Demis Roussos" (1990 - BR MUSIC BS 8001-2) there
is a booklet with story and some photo about Demis career (also a fine photo of Demis as a
child!).
2)
Inside double CD "40 songs of Demis Roussos - 25 years in music" (1993 - BR
MUSIC DR 6893-2) there is perhaps the best and complete booklet about story of Aphrodite's
Child and Demis career, containing also european chartpositions and an almost complete
discography reporting albums, singles and Cds which were released at the time as a new
album or special compilation. There is also a french release of it (but only one CD)
entitled: "25 Ans D'Amour & De Chansons"; this CD contains 18 tracks
(different from "25 years in Music") and a booklet with the same story (in
french) but different photos.
3)
Inside CD "Greek Popclassics" (1993 - BR MUSIC BX 414-2) there is a short story
of early greek pop groups and artists: Aphrodite's Child, Vangelis, Axis, Harris
Chalkitis, Ypsilon, Sigma Fay.
4)
Inside CD "Aphrodites Child - Greatest Hits" (1995 - BR MUSIC BX 509-2) there is
a story of this group, a complete discography, photos, european chartpositions,
recordings.
5)
Inside CD "The Complete Collection" (1996 - MERCURY 534 073-2). A Double CD with
a lot of tracks, compiled by Bert van Breda from BR-music, but released on another label.
The booklet is a lot like "Greatest Hits" but has other photos, and the error of
listing "Sex Power" in the discography has been corrected.
6)
Inside double CD "The Phenomenon" (1998-BR MUSIC BS 8201-2): tracks info and
cover photos. 12 pages.
7)
Inside box "The Phenomenon" (4CD: 1998-BR MUSIC BS 8201-2); a great box with a
lot of unreleased Tracks. The booklet (56 pages!) is full of interesting news, articles,
complete discography, tracks info, cover Photos, Demis story and some rare inages.
8)
Inside CD “Demis Roussos” (MERCURY 548 806-2 – France 2001) with 38 pages
of coloured photos and interesting info and
story.
9)
Inside double CD "Demis Roussos the singles+" (2003-BR MUSIC BS 8139-2): tracks
info and cover photos. 12 pages.
10)
Inside double CD "Aphrodite’s Child the singles+" (2003-BR MUSIC BS
8140-2): tracks info and cover photos. 12 pages.
10.
THE BIG QUESTION REMAINING
10.1
When will Vangelis and Demis get together again?
After
Aphrodite's Child, whenever Demis and Vangelis had a reunion, fans were delighted by these
magic and rare moments: 1977 album "Magic"; 1981 single "Race To The
End"; 1982 album "Demis"; 1984 album "Reflection"; 1994 Vangelis
CD "Blade Runner" where Demis performs "Tales Of The Future". But all
fans have a big dream and they wait in the hope of seeing Aphrodite's Child together
again. We hope that this important question can have an aswer soon!
===========================================================================================
===========================================================================================