|
APRODITE'S CHILD (ARTIST BIOGRAPHY)
Aphrodite’s Child was a Greek rock band formed in
1968 by vocalist Demis Roussos, multi-instrumentalist Evangelos (Vangelis)
Papathanassiou and drummer Lucas Sideras. After a failed attempt to
enter England, the band regrouped in Paris, where guitarist
Anargyros “Silver” Koulouris was added to their line-up (although he
would be forced to leave the band to perform military service, with
guitar and bass both being played by Roussos during his absence).
The band’s first two albums, End of the World and It’s Five O’Clock,
combined a very ’60s sounding Euro-pop-rock with Greek folk music
elements. The former album featured the song “Rain and Tears”, a
reworking of Pachelbel’s Canon in D major. The song was a minor hit
in the United Kingdom, but did far better in France, where the band
was based, as well as the rest of Europe. Other European hits
included “Marie Jolie”, “I Want to Live”, and “Spring, Summer,
Winter, and Fall” from 1969 and 1970 respectively.
The band began to record their crowning achievement in 1970: a
musical adaptation of the biblical Book of Revelations, entitled 666
- The Apocalypse of St. John. Relations between Roussos, Vangelis
and Sideras were not good at the time, and continued to worsen
before the album’s creation. However, the group was contractually
obligated to release a third album, and went into the studio in 1970
to create 666.
Essentially, 666 was Vangelis’ concept, created with an outside
lyricist, Costas Ferris. The music that Vangelis was creating for
666 was much more psychedelic and progressive rock oriented than
anything the band had done before. This did not sit well with the
other band members, who wished to continue in the pop direction that
had brought them success. Further, Roussos was being groomed for a
solo career, and pressure from the record company for the band to
produce another hit single did not help. In essence, the band broke
up during the completion of 666. Vangelis finished the album
primarily on his own with assistance from studio musicians.
Immediately afterwards, Vangelis engaged in a long fight with
Mercury over the content of the album. The record company, in
particular, objected to the song “∞” (infinity), which consisted of
actress Irene Papas chanting the words “I was, I am, I am to come”
in various stages of orgiastic ecstasy, while Vangelis accompanied
her on percussion. However, the double-album length of 666 and the
musical experimentation, as well as the subject matter, also
exacerbated Mercury’s ire. After Roussos and Sideras had already
embarked on solo careers, Mercury finally agreed to release 666 two
years after its completion, and it came out in 1972.
Strangely enough, 666 was the only Aphrodite’s Child album to make
any impact in America. The blood-red cover with the letters 666
prominently displayed in black and white was striking, and brought
immediate accusations of occultism from various quarters. Any
suspicions of occultism could be dispersed by simply reading the
lyrics, which were fairly faithfully based around the Book of
Revelations, but the accusations undoubtedly helped sell the album
in the United States. The album met with less controversy overseas
and sold reasonably well on its own merits.
The music itself was an impressive display of Vangelis’ abilities,
combining psychedelic and progressive rock with ethnic instruments,
choral chanting, recitations, and very advanced use of synthesizers
and keyboards for the time. In time the album became recognized as
one of the most important early progressive rock works, and a
defining example of the concept album. 666 also made Vangelis an
underground name to watch, and earned him an offer from Jon Anderson
to join Yes. Vangelis turned down the offer in order to concentrate
on a solo career. However, he and Anderson later created several
duet albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
After the band split, both Vangelis and Demis Roussos pursued
successful solo careers, Roussos as a pop singer and Vangelis as one
of the pioneers in progressive eletronic music. Kolouris worked with
both on occasion. Lucas Sideras pursued a less successful solo
career, releasing the single “Rising Sun” after the break-up.
Discography
End of the World (1968)
It’s Five O’Clock (1969)
666 (The Apocalypse Of John,13/18) (1971)
Best Of Aphrodite’s Child (1980)
Aphrodite’s Child’s Greatest Hits (1995)
The Complete Collection (Aphrodite’s Child) (1996)
Babylon the Great (2002)
Song Highlights:
“Four Horsemen”, from the album 666, was a minor hit on FM radio in
the United States, receiving AOR airplay to this day. “Babylon”,
from the same album, was released as a single, and found similar
acceptance on AOR radio in the 1970’s. “Hic and Nunc” and “Break”,
from the same album, were also tried out as singles but did not
chart well at the time.
“Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall” - the final single before the
release of 666 and the last of the band’s singles to chart
significantly in their European home base.
“Rain and Tears” - based on Pachelbel’s Canon in D major, this song
was probably their biggest hit as a single release.
“It’s Five o Clock” and “Such a Funny Night” also charted in Europe.
All of the above songs can be found on various compilation/greatest
hits discs. The band’s singles were aimed squarely at the pop market,
and do not bear any significant resemblance to the music on 666.
The story of the “666” album is here (lotsa background information)
>>>
http://www.engelen.demon.nl/666story.htm |
