EndOfTheWorldFrontIntroduction

This is the story of three young friends, Vangelis Papathanassiou, Demis Roussos and Lucas Sideras, who decided to travel from their home town Athens in Greece to England, and try their luck in the creative music scene of London. In March 1968 Demis and Lucas took the train to England, but when they arrived at the border of Dover they were refused entry due to the lack of work permits. Disappointed they returned to Paris and waited for Vangelis, who would arrive a couple of days later. A fourth friend, Argyris Koulouris, who played with them in Greece, decided to stay in Greece to serve his army duty. Due to transportation strikes the friends got stuck in Paris, and with their finances running low, they tried to interest the Philips record company to release their music. A deal was made, and with the help of executive Pierre Sberro of Philips the trio released their first single 'Rain And Tears' b/w 'Don’t Try To Catch A River' on the Mercury record label. Their name... Aphrodite's Child.

The song 'Rain And Tears' was released in May 1968, and immediately became a huge hit, first reaching the no.1 position in the French charts, then climbing the charts in the rest of Europe. The song was played a lot on the radio in France during the student protests of May ‘68, at a time that everyone was listening to the radio to follow the latest news on the protests. Due to the success of the song, Aphrodite’s Child returned to the studio in June and September 1968 to record their first full album, "End Of The World". The album was released on the Mercury label throughout Europe in October 1968, and is rightly regarded as a classic of psychedelic rock music, being a successful fusion of Byzantine folk influences and rock experimentation.

To promote the album the single 'End Of The World' b/w 'You Always Stand In My Way' was released in Europe, which again became a hit in France. A third single, 'Valley Of Sadness' b/w 'Mister Thomas', was also issued in France as a promo, but was abandoned by Philips without a commercial release.

 

RainAndTearsTracklist and credits

  1. End Of The World
  2. Don't Try To Catch A River
  3. Mister Thomas
  4. Rain And Tears
  5. The Grass Is No Green
  6. Valley Of Sadness
  7. You Always Stand In My Way
  8. The Shepherd And The Moon
  9. Day Of The Fool

All songs composed by E. Papathanassiou.
All lyrics written by Boris Bergman.
Vangelis Papathanassiou: organ
Demis Roussos: bass guitar, vocals.
Lucas Sideras: drums
Background vocals: Claude Chauvet (on 'Rain And Tears' and 'End Of The World').

Additional credits, as printed on the cd

 

EndOfTheWorldBDiscography

LP

  • 1968 Mercury 138 350 France. Also issued in Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, UK, Brasil, Chile, and South Africa.

CD

  • 1996 Mercury 532 866-2 Greece
  • 2004 Mercury UICY-9371 Japan
  • 2010 Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2205 UK
  • 2021 Mercury UICY-79438 Japan
  • 2024 Cobalt Music 05206 99903627 2 Greece

7” single

EP

 

EndOfTheWorldBackRecording studio

The music for this album was recorded in Studio Polydor in Paris, France.

 

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