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                 Aphrodite's Child & Demis Roussos FAQ List 6.0 2006-11-10

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                                                    Compiled by Paolo Cadeddu - "Paulfalco" (falco@inrete.it)

  

 with contributions from:

Don Fennimore (Great Vangelis collector) (dfennimo@desupernet.net)

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)

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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!

 

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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 Cds. About singles released they are really a lot!

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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".

 
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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".

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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!

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5. FTP' FILES AND WWW HOME PAGE

 5.1. Are there any FTP' files and WWW Home Page for these artists?

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.

  

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 6. DISCOGRAPHIES

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).

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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.

 
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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.

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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!

 

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 Made by  Paolo Cadeddu - paolo_cd@libero.it - Qualsiasi tipo di riproduzione è vietata. - Copyright 1996-2006 © Paolo Cadeddu

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