Aphrodite's Child was a
Greek rock and
pop band formed in 1967, by
Evangelos Papathanassiou, later known professionally as Vangelis (keyboards, flutes),
Demis Roussos
Artemios "Demis" Ventouris-Roussos ( ; , ; 15 June 1946 – 25 January 2015) was a Greek-Egyptian singer, songwriter and musician. As a band member, he is best remembered for his work in the progressive rock music act Aphrodite's Child, but as a ...
(bass, acoustic and electric guitar, vocals),
Loukas Sideras (drums and vocals), and
Silver Koulouris (guitar).
They initially found success in Europe with hit singles like "
Rain and Tears", "End of the World", "I Want to Live", and "
It's Five O'Clock", before pivoting to
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
with their third and final album,
''666'' (1972). An ambitious
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
inspired by the
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...
, it later gained critical acclaim and has appeared on a number of lists of the top progressive and psychedelic albums of all time.
History
Origins
Papathanassiou and Roussos had already been successful in Greece, playing in the bands The Forminx and Idols respectively, when they got together with Sideras and Koulouris to form a new band. Their band's name was derived from the title of a track from another
Mercury act,
Dick Campbell, from his ''Sings Where It's At'' album.
Their first recording as a band was for George Romanos' album ''In Concert and in Studio'' where they played on four songs and were credited as "Vangelis and his Orchestra". In the same year, they recorded a two-song
demo and submitted it to
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label founded by Netherlands, Dutch electronics company Philips and in 1999 was absorbed into Netherlands, Dutch-United States, American music corporation Universal Music Group. It was founded as Philips Phonograph ...
. It was probably Vangelis's idea that the still-anonymous band should be relocated to
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, which would be a more suitable environment for their music, as their country had entered a right-wing
dictatorship
A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...
in 1967. This decision, however, was not problem-free. Koulouris had to stay in Greece to fulfill his military service, while the band, on their way to London, got stuck in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
partly because they did not have the correct work permits and partly because of the strikes associated with the
May 1968 events.
Paris, and first album
In Paris the band signed to
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...
and were christened "Aphrodite's Child" by
Lou Reizner, releasing their second single "
Rain and Tears", a reworking of
Pachelbel's
Canon in D major.
With this song the band became an overnight sensation in France and several other European countries in which the single charted well, despite the song being sung in English. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a
gold disc.
In October of the same year, the band released their first album ''
End of the World''.
The album contained equal amounts of
psychedelic pop songs and ballads in the vein of
Procol Harum or
The Moody Blues.
The band began touring around Europe, and in January 1969 they recorded a single in
Italian for the
Sanremo Festival, in which they did not participate. Their next
hit single was "I Want to Live", an
arrangement
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...
of the song "
Plaisir d'amour".
Recording in London and second album
For their second album, the band traveled to London to record at the
Trident Studios. The first single from the album, "Let Me Love, Let Me Live" was released in November, while the album ''
It's Five O'Clock'' came out in January 1970.
It featured more successful ballads (like the title song), but also songs that crossed many musical genres including
country rock.
After their second album, the band began touring again, this time without Vangelis who preferred to stay in Paris and record the music for
Henry Chapier's film, ''Sex Power''.
For promotional appearances live and on television, Vangelis was replaced on stage as keyboard player by his brother Nikos Papathanassiou. The year 1970 went by with the band promoting their latest album and Vangelis working on his first film project. To keep the steady flow of hits, the band released another single in August 1970, "Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall". The band toured Spain and Italy, again without Vangelis, and with Harris Halkitis standing in on keyboards.
Third album – ''666'', and breakup
In late 1970, the band began to record a musical adaptation of the
biblical
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...
, entitled ''
666''.
Koulouris, having finished his
Greek army duty, rejoined the band. However, relations between the band members were declining, and things continued to worsen during the methodically slow recording process.
Essentially, the ambitious
double album was Vangelis's concept, created with an outside lyricist,
Costas Ferris
Costas Ferris (; born 18 April 1935) is a Greek film director, writer, actor, and producer. He wrote the lyrics of Aphrodite's Child's album ''666''. His 1983 film '' Rembetiko'' won the Silver Bear at the 34th Berlin International Film Festiv ...
. The music Vangelis composed was much more
psychedelic- and
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
-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. Furthermore, Roussos was being groomed for a solo career, having recorded and released his first solo single "
We Shall Dance" (with Sideras on drums) and his first solo album ''
On the Greek Side of My Mind''.
Meanwhile, Vangelis turned his attention to recording the score for the 1970 French TV documentary ''
L'Apocalypse des animaux'', and worked on a single with his then-girlfriend Vilma Ladopoulou, performing with Koulouris under the pseudonym "Alpha Beta". By the time ''666'' was finally released almost two years later in June 1972, the band had already split up, despite having sold over 20 million records and remaining popular throughout Europe.
Both Vangelis and Roussos pursued successful solo careers: Roussos had a thriving solo career as a pop singer, and Vangelis went on to become a highly regarded
electronic music
Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
artist.
Vangelis's work composing
movie soundtracks brought him much success for the next three decades, including an
Oscar for ''
Chariots of Fire''.
Vangelis's other soundtracks include
Ridley Scott's ''
Blade Runner'' (1982), to which Roussos contributed vocals, ''
1492: Conquest of Paradise'' (1992) and
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...
's ''
Alexander
Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here ar ...
'' (2004).
Koulouris worked with both Roussos and Vangelis on occasion, while Sideras pursued a less successful solo career, releasing two albums and four singles after the break-up. Roussos died in 2015, and Vangelis in 2022.
Influence and legacy
Despite their short existence and lack of hit singles outside of
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, the band is still regarded as a
cult band. Their album ''666'' is often considered their masterpiece, in addition to being one of rock music's first
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
s.
The album caught the attention of many musicians in the
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
field, including
Yes frontman
Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson (born John Roy Anderson, 25 October 1944) is a British, and latterly American, singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the former lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassis ...
, who would later collaborate with Vangelis (as
Jon and Vangelis). Contemporary progressive rock acts such as
Astra have also cited the band as an influence.
Covers and samples
Covers
*In 2001, German heavy metal band
Axxis released a cover of "
The Four Horsemen" on their album ''Eyes of Darkness''.
*In 2004,
Gregorian released a cover of "The Four Horsemen" on their album ''
The Dark Side''.
*In 2005, German dance group
Scooter released a
Techno version of "The Four Horsemen" called ''The Leading Horse'' on their album ''Who's Got The Last Laugh Now?''.
*In 2015, the Greek band Cyanna Mercury (formerly known as
Cyanna) covered "The Four Horsemen" on the
Death Roots Syndicate compilation ''The End''.
*In 2022, American artist
Brandon Boyd of Incubus released a cover of "End of The World" from the album "
End of the World album" on his solo album ''Echoes & Cocoons''.
*"The Four Horsemen" has proven an especially popular cover among European heavy metal bands. Bands that have covered the song include the Italian band
Death SS (on their 2006 album ''The 7th Seal''), the Swedish doom metal band
Griftegård (on an EP released through Ván Records in 2015), and the Greek black metal band
Rotting Christ (on their 2016 album ''
Rituals'').
*On their 2022 tour,
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. The band incorporates folk music, folk, blues, classical music, classical, and jazz elements into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from deat ...
covered the chant "Seven Bowls" (666).
Samples
*In 1990, several tracks from the ''666'' album were sampled for the first
Enigma album, ''
MCMXC a.D.''.
*The
P-Model song "Biiig Eye" (from 1993's ''
Big Body'') features a sample of the track 'Loud, Loud, Loud'.
*
The Verve
The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Sim ...
's song "The Rolling People" (from their 1997 album ''
Urban Hymns'') borrows its title from "Altamont", while also containing musical elements of "The Four Horsemen". Frontman
Richard Ashcroft reportedly mentioned ''666'' as a strong influence on his music.
*
Deltron 3030 sampled the opening lyrics of 'Loud, Loud, Loud' in the track 'Mastermind'.
*
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...
's song "Chemtrails" (from his 2008 album ''
Modern Guilt'') also resembles "The Four Horsemen".
*
Daniel Lopatin
Daniel Lopatin (born July 25, 1982), best known as Oneohtrix Point Never or OPN, is an American experimental electronic music producer, composer, singer, and songwriter. His music has utilized tropes from various musical genres and eras, samp ...
's song "A7" (from the album ''
Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1
''Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1'' is a 2010 album of remixes by American electronic musician Daniel Lopatin under the pseudonym Chuck Person. Its tracks consist of chopped and screwed, chopped, looped samples of various songs—including popul ...
'') under the alias Chuck Person also samples the track "The Four Horsemen".
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
* ''
End of the World'' (October 1968)
* ''
It's Five O'Clock'' (November 1969) – FRA #1, IT #6
* ''
666'' (June 1972)
– IT #23
Compilation albums
* ''Best of Aphrodite's Child'' (1971) – SPA #8
*''Reflection'' (1971)
*''Rain and Tears – The Best of Aphrodite's Child'' (1975)
* ''Aphrodite's Child's Greatest Hits'' (1995)
* ''The Singles'' (1995)
* ''The Complete Collection'' (1996)
* ''Babylon the Great:An Introduction to Aphrodite's Child'' (2002)
* ''The Singles+'' (2003)
Singles
Bibliography
* Dinos Dimatatis, ''Get That Beat: To Elliniko Rock, 1960s–1970s''. Thessaloniki: Katsanos, 1998.
References
External links
''Aphrodite's Child World Discography''at www.demisroussos.org
*
{{Authority control
1967 establishments in Greece
1972 disestablishments in Greece
Greek progressive rock groups
Musical groups established in 1967
Musical groups disestablished in 1972
Vangelis
Demis Roussos
Vertigo Records artists
Greek psychedelic rock music groups