Vangelis Papathanasiou’s career in music is impressive. He started his career with the band Formin in the mid 60’s, a big success of the band was Jeronima Yanka which accompanied celebrations and parties for decades.
His next band was Aphrodite’s Child along with Demis Roussos, Loukas Sideras. The song Rain and Tears was released in May 1968 and became an instant hit, by becoming the anthemic song of the student uprising. Despite the band’s great success selling millions of records in Europe, the different musical orientations eventually led to the band’s breakup. The last album 666 is considered one of the best progressive rock albums.
Papathanasiou followed more progressive paths later in his career and is considered one of the pioneers of electronic music. He collaborated with important figures in the music industry and the film industry, recording albums and soundtracks. In 1981 he wrote the title music for Hugh Hudson’s film “Chariots of Fire” which led to his Oscar win. His music was even used in other major productions and is characterized by a timeless and innovative sound.
However, his most “familiar” caution for Greeks is the signal sound of the ERT news bulletin he composed in 1981.
Vangelis Papathanasiou belongs to that very small group of musicians who have a body of work and successes that spans six decades as a result, of course, of the constant search for new sounds and hard work
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