Vangelis (1943 - 2022)

Vangelis is best known for his solo work as a synthesizer artist and film score composer. Yesterday's news items all focused on this, substantial part of his work and career. As a young boy, I heard a totally different artist. Vangelis Papathanassiou was part of the successful band Aphrodite's Child, together with later pop singer Demis Roussos.

'Rain And Tears' was the band's first hit, making it to number 2 here. I just learned that it was an adaptation of a classical work by Pachelbel. For me it was a hit, a song that came by on the radio a lot. This made it good. Life was so simple then, unless I did not like a song, and, yes, that happened, too. In 1969 it was followed by 'I Want To Live', a song that climbed to number one.

Aphrodite's Child was from Greece, although the band moved to western Europe to pursue its career and with considerable success. Hit after hit followed for about two years. By then the band was working on its final album and falling apart. Vangelis was working on a masterpiece, the rest wanted a pop album. It led to a final, minor hit, 'Break', which was my second Aphrodite's Child 45 RPM.

The first is a nice anecdote. Our local super market, Spar, for some reason early in 1970 was selling hit singles for 2,50 guilders, far under the regular price of 4,50. I went there with my savings in the hope to buy 'Whole Lotta Love', Led Zeppelin's second hit and came home with 'Marie Jolie' instead. A fairly unique single, it turns out, as it was only released as a single in The Netherlands. It was the band's third and final top 4 hit. Four more hits followed. With 'It's Five O'Clock' as my favourite, although 'Such A Funny Night' is not to bad either.

What do I make of it in 2022? This is not music I've listened to recently, although the odd song comes by every once in a while. The hits are all a part of me, that much is clear. Also, they are sounding a bit pretentious today. In 1968, '69 that was perfectly alright of course. Just listen to The Moody Blues or Procol Harum. I do not mind listening to Demis Roussos in this context at all. All seven hits have become hits, because they are. They have something special. Aphrodite's Child was close on the heels of the big U.K. bands of the time and managed to share its own take on this music, somewhere between classic, rock and pop.

Demis Roussos went on to score a host of, mostly terrible, hits. Vangelis popped up in the charts also with Jon Anderson of Yes by his side, as Jon & Vangelis. 'I Hear You Now' is my favourite of the duo's best-known singles. Like Anderson's solo hit 'Surrender' it is beautiful and shows a deeply dreamy world, created by Vangelis in combination with Jon Anderson's incredibly high voice. Their biggest feat is not their number 2 hit 'I'll Find My Way Home', but 'State Of Independence'. And not in their version but in Donna Summer's who scored a number 1 hit with the, yes, stately song.

Vangelis scored a number one hit with a song that I have no recollection of in the 1990s and undoubtedly wrote many a film score. For me he remains a member of Aphrodite's Child, part of the soundtrack of my youth.

Vangelis died of Covid, in the spring of 2022, at a time when we are all pretending the pandemic is over. Yes, me as well, but even famous people are still dying of it. That's so discouraging.

Wout de Natris