Lost-In-Tyme: 13 August 2006

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His mother, Olga, and his father, George, both of Greek extraction, had also been born in the country their parents had come to in the 1920s. Following the Greek custom, the baby was named after his paternal grandfather, Demis being a pet name for Artemios. In the heart of an orthodox community, he lived in the middle of a Muslim city.

From his early childhood he was immersed in folk music, exposed to Byzantine and Arabic influences. Attracted to singing, he joined the choir of the Greek Byzantine Church with which he sang for five years as a soloist. At the same time he studied musical theory and learnt how to play the guitar and the trumpet.

Everything was going well when the Suez crisis blew up in 1961. Residents in Egypt had to leave the country and the Roussos Mr Roussos was an engineer with a property construction company returned to their native land, Greece. At the age of 17, with only music in his head and to the great disappointment of his mother who was hoping to send him to the best school in Athens, Demis formed his first band, The Idols , in which he played guitar and bass.

At that time the band members were his cousin Jo, Natis Lalaitis, Nikos Tsiloyan and Anthony. A chance happening meant that one day Demis had to replace the group s singer for a short time and he sang an Afro-American spiritual, The house of the rising sun , and another popular success of the time, When a man loves a woman . The public was immediately won over by his voice.

Overcome by a great desire for independence, he began to feel the need to take control of his own life. Henceforth, bands and clubs became part of his daily life. Meeting Lucas Sideras and Argyris Koulouris lead him to play the international successes of the moment in clubs and night- clubs.

The great turning point of his musical career was his meeting with Vangelis Papathanassiou in the summer of 1966. One particular song introduced Vangelis to Demis unique voice. Within his group he began to sing more and more often, frequently as a soloist.

However, a few meetings with Vangelis did take place. These young musicians, cut off from the international music scene, soon realised that an interesting career could only be accomplished outside their country.

Demis left his group and began to practice new songs with Vangelis.

At the end of March 1968, Lucas and Demis took the train to London. Vangelis was supposed to join them a few days later. Fate decided otherwise.

When they arrived in Dover, at the English border, with no work permits, customs officers discovered photos and tapes in their luggage and quickly realised what their true intentions were. The young musicians cut short their journey. Back in Paris, trapped by the circumstances, their savings melted away day by day.

Unable to leave Paris where unrest was brewing, only a recording could get them out of a tight spot. They learnt that Phonogram was holding an international conference and, plucking up all the courage they could find, they went to meet with the executives and explained their situation. A draconian contract, which promised exclusivity for six years, was drawn up.

Confronted by the necessity to get by, they signed the contract and were able to begin recording. Their dream was at last coming true. It was in the 4m cellar near the Porte d Italie where they practised that Rain and tears , composed by Vangelis, was born.

The lyrics were written by Boris Bergman, a young song-write introduced to them by the record company. The recording of the single took place in extremis in rather unusual circumstances. The following day the studio closed due to the general strike.

A few weeks later Rain and Tears was number one in the charts. They had made a hit! They themselves saw very little difference in what they were doing but they began to receive proposals for concerts and they were swept up in success.

In June a week of performing at Olympia as Sylvie Vartan s opening act was a real success. They spent the summer in the clubs of the South of France. Their success continued to grow.

Hundreds of thousands of copies of their first album were sold and Demis fantastic voice brought them a great many more successes with It s five o clock , I want to live , End of the world and Spring, summer, winter and fall . These five hit singles were accompanied by two albums, one of which became number one. The group climbed to number one in Germany, Holland, Belgium, France and Italy Aphrodite s Child lasted for two years.

They made 239 television appearances over this period. Demis married Monique with whom he had a daughter, Emilie. Vangelis however was dissatisfied.

He wanted a more serious music, more like the music he composed alone. He wished to confront the English and American markets, to stop touring and devote his time to studio work. The recording of the double album 666 , based on the texts of Saint John s Apocalypse, was the materialisation of this desire for change.

It was a critical moment for the group: after three months of costly recording, the record company panicked. The break-up of the group became inevitable after a heated argument between Vangelis and Lucas. In the end it was Vangelis alone who, one year later, finished the album which was seen at the time as a classical masterpiece.

Supported by the record company Phonogram, Demis began a solo career.

Inspired by the numerous folk themes in his head and using the sounds and instruments of pop music Demis fulfilled his dream. Two months in the studio were required to complete this first LP.

He composed some of the melodies and conceived some of the arrangements. Named Fire and Ice , love, life and death are its major components. This twelve track album was released in 1971.

Demis was already no longer totally unknown, his first single, We shall dance , having been one of the biggest hits of summer 1971 not only in France, but all over Europe. His international career took off straightaway. 1972 was a year of travelling.

Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece and Germany welcomed him. In June My Reason was released and for several weeks Demis was once again at the top of the singles charts in France. In September he achieved national consecration with a performance at Olympia that revealed his talent.

His vocal potential was fantastic and his stage presence extraordinary. In front of 30 000 people he performed Velvet Morning , a song composed specially for the occasion by Lakis Vlavianos, a Greek born in Athens on 7 July 1947. He composed most of Demis songs, My friend the wind , Someday, somewhere Accompanist and conductor, he played the organ, Melotron and Moog Synthesizer.

A trip to South America lead to a big tour in 1973, the year which saw the release of his second album, Forever and ever comprising songs that would nearly all become great hits just like Forever and ever , My friend the wind , Lovely sunny days , My reason , When I was a kid , Goodbye my love, goodbye Two million records had already been sold in one year of solo career and the Demis Roussos phenomenon was only just beginning. That year I heard a lot about him on the radio and I often listened to old Aphrodite s Child records and to my great surprise I learnt that he was going to give a recital in my home town as the opening act for Joe Dassin. That was my first meeting with Demis.

Until then I had never seen him on stage but he was in my imagination, omnipresent, all-powerful. His entrance was announced by an instrumental from his orchestra, a mixture of Wagnerian and Byzantine music added to by an impressive sound system. Demis appeared on stage.

His stature was impressive, his long tousled beard flowing like a prophet s, lightning in his eyes, his smile confident and satisfied. Demis, the Pope of pop, with the physique, the majestic gestures, the lofty allure, appeared shrouded in a cloud of smoke. That night he mixed a harmonious cocktail of both Greek and Byzantine music with sublime nuances.

Steeped in this music, the public was captivated by his technical perfection. Demis Roussos had a musical style without improvisation, full of finesse and beauty. On stage the colours were perfectly matched to the music: tender, gentle, nothing aggressive.

One of the songs, the unknown Thousand years of wondering , lasted six minutes. Composed by Lakis Vlavianos, it fluctuated between Bach, Led Zeppelin and the Yardbirds. This fantastic recital ended with a journey through Greece with My reason .

His music moved the public, stirring in peoples hearts the strange charm procured by religious chants and the aggressive rhythm of Arabic chants. People let themselves be overcome by his extraordinary voice.

Really amazing voice !

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In Future we are gonna upload the first two marvellous albums of Aphrodite's Child that that constituting from more well international psychedelic records of 60's !!