AmoreFrontIntroduction

“Chrisma” (later renamed to “Krisma”) was an Italian new-wave band with members Christina Moser (1952-2022) and Maurizio Arcieri (1942-2015). The name is a combination of the first letters of their first names. The duo (a married couple) was formed in Milan in 1976, when Arcieri had already made a name in Italy playing with the band “New Dada” and solo as “Maurizio”.

Their debut release is the single ‘Amore’ b/w ‘Sweet Baby Sue’ (May 1976), which was produced by Vangelis brother Niko Papathanassiou. The song ‘Amore’ is credited to Richard Broadbacker, which is a confirmed pseudonym of Vangelis. Chrisma performed the song in September 1976 at Festivalbar in Verona.

In March 1977 Chrisma recorded their second single ‘U’, also produced by Vangelis brother Niko Papathanassiou. Even though the single does not contain any credits for Vangelis, the song has multiple characteristics that point to his involvement. First of all the song is a cover of the song ‘Who’, written by Robert Fitoussi and Richelle Dassin (with whom Vangelis worked on his album “Earth” in 1973) and which was released on a 7” single by the name of “Odyssey” (Vangelis’ middle name) in 1974. Secondly, the recording is credited to sound engineer Keith Spencer-Allen, who was working in Vangelis’ own Nemo Studios at the time. Thirdly and most convincing of all: just listen to the song... both the keyboard sounds and the style of playing are signature Vangelis! Chrisma performed the song ‘U’, which was released as both a 7” single and 12” single, on the 23rd of March 1977 in the Italian television show “In Due Sulla Scena”.

Success for Chrisma came with their first two albums “Chinese Restaurant” (1977) and “Hibernation”. Both albums were again produced by Vangelis brother Niko Papathanassiou, and recorded in Vangelis' Nemo Studios. Still, on both albums there are no credits for Vangelis, and it has been debated ever since whether Vangelis plays on these albums or not. When asked, engineer Keith Spencer-Allen could not remember, and Niko Papathanassiou simply denied that Vangelis had played on these albums. On the other hand, in 2011 Chrisma stated in an interview that Vangelis had also participated, but did not want to be credited as ‘at that time he aspired to a career as a composer aiming to obtain a contract with Deutsche Grammophon’. So the question remains, what do you believe? There’s only one way to find out, listen to the album and judge for yourself!

In 1980 Chrisma renamed to Krisma and released the album “Cathode Mamma”, which is a one-time collaboration with the now renowned film composer Hans Zimmer on keyboards. The same year Vangelis released his album “See You Later” on which Maurizio and Christina provided guest vocals on the track ‘Suffocation’. Throughout the 1980s the duo released several albums in a more synth-pop style, the last one “Non Ho Denaro” in 1989.

 

UmaxiFrontDetails and credits

  • ‘Amore’
     Composed by Richard Broadbacker.
     Lyrics by Christina Moser.
     
  • ‘U’
     Composed by Robert Fitoussi.
     Lyrics by Richelle Dassin.

Produced by Niko Papathanassiou.

 

Discography

 

UFrontRecording studio

Both singles do not mention the recording studio, but due to Vangelis’ involvement it is more than likely that these songs were recorded in Vangelis’ Nemo Studios in London.

 

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