Aphrodite's Child

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Aphrodite's Child was a Greek pop and rock group, formed in 1967 by Evangelos Papathanassiou, later known as Vangelis (keyboards, flutes), Demis Roussos (bass, guitar, vocals), Loukas Sideras (drums, vocals) and Silver Koulouris (guitar). Papathanassiou and Roussos had already had success in Greece with The Forminx and The Idols. When a right-wing dictatorship came to power in their country, the group moved to Paris. There it signed with Mercury Records. The name came from a song by Dick Campbell.

Music and breakthrough

The second single, Rain and Tears, an adaptation of Pachelbel's Canon in D, made the group famous overnight in France and other European countries, even though it was sung in English. It sold more than a million copies. I Want to Live followed, an adaptation of Plaisir d'amour, and then the albums End of the World in 1968 and It's Five O'Clock, recorded in London in 1970. The third album, 666 from 1972, is a double album based on the biblical Book of Revelation, mainly the idea of Vangelis, with the lyricist Costas Ferris. The music was much more psychedelic and progressive than earlier work. The other members wanted to stay with pop, and the group broke up.

Influence

Vangelis would later become world-famous as a film composer, and Roussos as a solo singer. The group shows how a pop audience was swept along into progressive rock.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1968End of the World
• 1969It’s Five O’Clock
• 1972666

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• The Dream Factory: Film Reel 5^NL Reader

See also

• It’s Five O’Clock
• 666