During their three year existence the band "Aphrodite’s Child" released a string of 7” singles as well as three albums: “End Of The World" (1968), "It's Five O'Clock" (1969) and "666" (1972). Several times the released singles contained songs that did not get included on an album, making it a necessity to find the singles to make a complete collection of songs. Fortunately, since the introduction of the CD format many compilation CD’s have become available including the single releases, and some even including previously unreleased material! With the introduction of the DVD format also many of the video clips and tv appearances that the band made have become available, mostly thanks to the research by Bert van Breda, who, being a big fan of Demis Roussos, released a lot of interesting titles on his BR Music label.
This page provides a selection of the most interesting non-album issues, ranging from the 7" singles to a number of compilation CD’s and DVD’s.
Discography
- 1968 Plastics Nevermore / The Other People (Philips 40536) USA
- 1968 Rain And Tears / Plastics Nevermore / The Other People / Don't Try To Catch A River EP (Mercury P 26003 MCE) Portugal
'Plastics Nevermore' and 'The Other People' are actually two demos that the band recorded in Greece in 1967, prior to moving to Paris in France and becoming “Aphrodite's Child”.
In-between albums Aphrodite's Child released a couple of singles, mostly to keep a steady flow of ‘hits’ while they worked on the next album and toured Europe. An interesting feature about these 7” singles is that many issues have a unique picture sleeve, making them very collectible.
- 1969 Lontano Dagli Occhi / Quando l'Amore Diventa Poesia (Mercury 133 250 MCF) for the Italian market, released a.o. in Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Portugal and Turkye.
- 1969 I Want To Live / Magic Mirror (Mercury 132 505 MCF) released all over Europe, as well as Brasil, Canada, Japan, Lebanon, Singapore, Turkye and USA. The EP released in Portugal includes 'The Grass Is No Green' as an extra track.
- 1970 Spring, Summer, Winter And Fall / Air (Mercury 6033003) released all over Europe, as well as Angola, Brasil, Chile, Lebanon, Turkye, and Venezuela. The EP released in Portugal includes 'It's Five O'Clock' and 'End Of The World' instead of 'Air'
- It's Five O'Clock / I Want To Live (Philips 6060320) Belgium (Golden Oldies)
- Rain And Tears / Spring, Summer, Winter And Fall (Philips 6060321) Belgium (Golden Oldies)
- Rain And Tears / Spring, Summer, Winter And Fall (Philips 811 053-7) West-Germany (Legendary Oldies)
- Rain And Tears / I Want To Live (Mercury 6173691) France
- Rain And Tears / Don't Try To Catch A River (Mercury 6033013) France/Ireland (Original Hits)
- Annabella / Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall (Dimension Records DI-5001) Turkye
CD single
- 1994 Rain And Tears (Philips 1885) France (promotional)
- 2006 Rain And Tears / You Always Stand In My Way / It's Five O'Clock / Funky Mary (Mercury/Magic Records 3930577) France
Compilation albums
Worldwide an impressive number of compilation albums have been released on LP. Some are interesting as they contain unique photographs of the group, but there are just too many to list here. There is one LP though that is interesting for its many unique photos, printed in Italy including a large booklet (in Italian):
- Aphrodite's Child - Superstar (Armando Curcio Editore SU-1032) Italy
CD
The most interesting compilation CD’s have been released by the BR music label in The Netherlands.
- 1995 Aphrodite’s Child – The Singles (BR Music BX 509-2) Germany. This compilation includes all the songs released on a 7” single. The booklet contains several unique photo’s.
- 1996 The Complete Collection 2CD (Mercury 534 073-2) Germany. Compiled by Bert van Breda, this is most complete compilation album available, yet not as ‘complete’ as the name suggests, as it still lacks parts of the album "666". So find a copy of this compilation, add a copy of "666" and you're almost done!
- 2002 Babylon The Great – An introduction to Aphrodite’s Child (Mercury 586 870-2) EU. This compilation explores the songs of Aphrodite’s Child outside of their hits, and as a bonus adds the previously unreleased track titled 'Chakachak', an instrumental improvisation by Vangelis from 1969.
- 2003 Aphrodite’s Child – The Singles+ 2CD (BR Music BS 8140-2) Holland. This compilation includes all the songs released on a 7” single, as well as a selection of tracks from the “666” album. As a bonus the compilation contains three previously unreleased tracks, i.e. Iive recordings of 'End Of The World' and 'Lontano Dagli Occhi', as well as the instrumental track 'Pathenon', a leftover from the recording sessions for the “It’s Five O’Clock”-album in 1969.
DVD
Despite the short existence of the group they produced many video’s, some are clips to promote new single releases, others are simply promotional appearances in television shows and live recordings. Many of these video’s are now available on DVD thanks to Demis Roussos-fan Bert van Breda and his production company BR Music.
- 2000 The Phenomenon (BR Music DVD 2047), includes:
- 'Rain And Tears' (promotional videoclip May 1968)
- 'I Want To Live' (TV show ‘SMET’ 07-05-1969)
- 'It's Five O'Clock' (TV show Sacha Distel 10-12-1969)
- 'Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall' (promotional videoclip June 1970) - 2002 Remember the 60's vol.1 (BR Music BD 3001-2), includes 'Marie Jolie' (clip by BR Music)
- 2002 Remember the 60's vol.2 (BR Music BD 3001-2), includes:
- 'Rain And Tears' (promotional videoclip by Davis-Boyer)
- 'I Want To Live (promotional videoclip by Davis-Boyer) - 2004 Remember the 60's vol.4 (BR Music BD 3013-9), includes 'End Of The World' (TV show 'Discorama' 10-11-1968)
- 2002 Remember the 70's vol.2 (BR Music BD 3004-2), includes 'It's Five O'Clock' (promotional videoclip)
- 2003 Demis Roussos – Greatest Hits (BR Music BD-3006-9), includes:
- 'Rain And Tears' (promotional videoclip by Davis-Boyer 01-08-1968)
- 'End Of The World' (TV show Discorama 10-11-1968)
- 'I Want To Live' (promotional videoclip by Davis-Boyer 01-09-1969)
- 'Let Me Love, Let Me Live' (promotional videoclip by Davis-Boyer 01-09-1969)
- 'It’s Five O’Clock' (TV show ‘Samedie Et Compagnie’ 04-04-1970)
- 'Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall' (TV show ‘Toppop’ 22-09-1970)
- 'End Of The World' (live on TV show ‘Surprise Party’ 31-12-1968)
- 'End Of The World' (TV show ‘Samedie Et Compagnie’ 02-11-1968)
- 'Rain And Tears' and 'End Of The World' (live at the Midem-festival 20-01-1969) - 2003 Demis Roussos – The Singles (BR Music book+CD/DVD), includes
- 'Rain And Tears' (TV show ‘Musicolor’ 05-06-1969)
- 'I Want To Live' (TV show ‘Musicolor’ 05-06-1969)
- 'The Shepherd And The Moon' (TV show ‘Discorama’ 22-06-1969)
- 'Let Me Love, Let Me Live' (TV show ‘Musicolor’ 25-10-1969)
- 'Interview Aphrodite’s Child' (TV show ‘Discorama’ 22-06-1969)
- 'I Want To Live' (TV show ‘Discorama’ 22-06-1969)
- 'I Want To Live' (TV show ‘Chansons Et Champions’ 14-06-1969)
- 'Rain And Tears' (TV show RAI 01-11-1969) - 2004 Demis Roussos – Hits Uit 40 Jaar Top 40 (Universal / BR Music 982 189-5), includes:
- 'Rain And Tears' (promotional videoclip May 1968)
- 'I Want To Live' (TV show ‘Musicolor’ 05-06-1969)
- 'It’s Five O’Clock' (TV show ‘Samedie Et Compagnie’ 04-04-1970)
- 'Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall' (promotional videoclip Summer 1970) - 2005 Demis Roussos – Forever And Ever (Universal / BR Music 982 756-4), includes:
- 'Rain And Tears' (TV show ‘Tilt Magazine’ 01-07-1968)
- 'End Of The World' (from the film “L’Homme Qui Venait Du Cher” 10-05-1969)
- 'It’s Five O’Clock' (TV show ‘La Vie Parisienne’ 07-02-1970)
- 'Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall' (TV show ‘Point Chaud’ 27-06-1970)
Poster
Books
- 1982 Demis Roussos & Véronique Skawinska – A Question Of Weight (ISBN 2-86804-008-X).
This book contains a couple of pages where Demis explains how he met Vangelis and talks about his experience with Aphrodite’s Child. - 2018 Lucas Sideras – The Aphrodite’s Child Story (ISBN 978-960-93-9081-1).
This book (in Greek) is Lucas Sideras account of his time in Aphrodite’s Child, and contains many unique photo’s!
Links