"Golden" Greek bands of the sixties through the pages of Nikos Sarros's book.
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No matter how many times we had come across the term "British invasion” (British invasion) by reading the story the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, only when the amazing fell into our hands book-album "The Greek musical bands of the 60's" by Nikos Sarros we were able to immerse ourselves normally in this pop-rock atmosphere, which also "knocked" on the door of Greece in that decade.
An incredible one black and white microcosm hiding in the pages of their book of editions Eighth – an almost “cinematic” universe, unfolding through 650 rare photos of Greek musicians and bands of the 1960s, which pose as if they were starring in some British or American fanzine with the aesthetics of the sixties.
Speaking of "British Invasion" we refer to cultural phenomenon of the mid-60s, when pop and rock bands from the United Kingdom became popular in the United States. That is, a "brief" invasion of British culture in America after 1964 - with Greece of the same period not being an exception.
THE Nikos Sarros doing a long-term research for his book, he outlines in great detail an era that seems distant and vintage to us. There, many young people from small neighborhoods all over Greece created - with a guitar at least - their own musical groups. And there were "born" well-known artists who later shaped the music of the following decades.
FORMINX – From the book-album "The Greek music bands of the 60's" by Nikos Sarros EDITIONS ogdoo
Sunday in the '60s with orange juice at the "musical mornings"
As Nikos Sarros mentions in his book, approx in 1958, the first youth music groups began to appear in Greece. Most young people of the time are suffocating without stimuli in post-war Greece and are looking for a way out. Few, of course, are the opportunities and the means to listen to foreign music. A bit of radio, some film, a relative abroad and the conservatories. Their influences were Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Who, Cliff Richards, the Shadows, but also some Italian and French music.
From 1963-1966, as we read in the book, we have an explosion of Greek bands with a "modern" sound. Groups of young people - even students - play music, write songs and perform live, having come up with imaginative English names for the promotion – mainly by word of mouth – of their band. We're talking about 170 recorded bands with mostly foreign names, a truly impressive number.
Youth clubs opened all the time, and young people entertained themselves at school and university parties, at gatherings, but also at the period's characteristic Sunday musical mornings – without alcohol, of course – in cinemas, squares and theaters in the big cities.
The "easy" movement was impressive of musicians from band to band, and the fact that many of these groups never recorded their music. Disbanding them was a much simpler affair, compared to today's standards, and usually happened when a member left for the army, when they wanted to pursue a solo career, or when they received ultimatums from their angry… parents.
From this surprising wealth of faces, we chose 13 male bands and one all-female band, that made waves in that innocent and social media-free era. [In random reference order].
BEATNICS – From the book-album "The Greek music bands of the 60's" by Nikos Sarros PUBLICATIONS ogdoo
Forminx
He conquered the Greek youth even though he had the strangest name. “Forminx” (named after the Homeric guitar “formix”) was created by: Vangelis Papathanasiou (a student at Leonteio at the time), Vassili Bakopoulos, Sotiris Arni, Thymio Petrou and Costa Skoko. The band's trademark became the sound of the Hammond, from the little hands of Papathanasiou who had just "opened his eyes" to music. Their live performances were unique because they improvised and their musical education had elements of jazz.
They received significant support from the then young journalist and radio producer Nikos Mastorakis, who promoted the group systematically. There was also a film about the band entitled "Adventures with the Forminx" (1965) directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos, but it was completed as a director by Kostas Lyhnaras. According to the research of Nikos Sarros, the film was shown once by the state television and its fate is unknown. There were also eight new songs of theirs that did not manage to be recorded. They disbanded in 1966.
IDOLS – From the book-album "The Greek music bands of the 60's" by Nikos Sarros PUBLICATIONS ogdoo
Meteors
They were formed in mid-1964 by guitarist Giorgos Kokkinos and bassist Ilias Batis, who lived in the same neighborhood. Initially they were instrumental, while after many live performances in 1964-65 they appear at the club Koursaros in Neo Faliro and at the club Muragio in Edem. In "Meteors" she made her debut as a singer (1968-69), the prematurely lost Rena Pagrati, while a short passage from the complex so did Antonis Vardis from the Vikings and Tasos Hamourtiadis. An interesting backstory tied them together Meteors with Gaddafi. About! The band played in Kamena Bourla at the hotel where the King of Libya, Idris, took his spa baths in September 1969. Gaddafi's coup was reported there and a great disturbance was caused. The end of the band was written the following winter.
Olympians
The famous "Olympians" were created in Thessaloniki at the end of 1964 under the name "The Brams" by guitarist Koulis Kalogiannidis and drummer Dimitris Lazaridis. The band was completed by Simos Symeonidis on guitar, Vangelis Koutsotolis on saxophone and Kostas Mastoras on trumpet. Looking for a singer in an audition in 1965, he joined the group o Paschalis Arvanitidis, then a member of the "Drugstore Men". Later, the great pianist Alkis Kakaliagos was added and Simos and Kostas Mastoras left. The group experienced huge success with their songs such as "The Way", "The School", "Sorry" etc., despite the frequent changes in its composition.
On October 2, 1966, one a big concert of "modern bands" was given at the Kallimarmaro Stadium of Athens, hosted by Spyros Karatzaferis. The concert was called Golden Night, and listeners would vote for the best. The Olympians from Thessaloniki, with the Greek song "Tropos", took it 78% of the votes of the Athenian youth and they swept.
When Paschalis enlists, the singer takes his place Nikos Papazoglou (from Ronnie and Those). The band traces a successful course until 1972, while "O Tropos" leads the bands to turn to Greek verse.
The Faces
The Faces started in 1964 in Neo Heraklion as "Teachers" by George Boulougouras (who sang "Lost State" in 1984), George Zaharis and Antonis Katouhakis. In 1969, the group collaborated with the well-known singer Panos Kokkinos, and became his permanent orchestra for a long time. Non-stop appearances followed in the well-known clubs of the time, but also in theaters, stadiums and hotels. In fact, in 1970 the group was sent by YENED to Beirut. There they appeared at an event for diaspora Hellenism. Greeks, while they had also appeared on a German TV show. They disbanded for good in 1976.
MGC -From the book-album "The Greek music bands of the 60's" by Nikos Sarros PUBLICATIONS ogdoo
Charms
The "Charms" that started in 1963 from Koukaki were one of the most successful bands of the Greek sixties. The original members of the group were Giorgos Stratis, Giorgos Balaskas, Spyros Karoutas and Kostas Karydas. Many changes and a large number of live performances accompany the fame of Charms, whose members started various bands of that time. The success of Olympians with Greek lyrics and the influence of their manager Costas Tseronis made the Charms in late 1966 turn to their own songs (among them "The Crazy Girl" we all know). Charmes (with Mike Rozakis, Teri Ieremia, Giorgos Stratis, Costas Nikolopoulos and Petros Polatos) became one of the most commercial bands of the 60s, participated in motion pictures, and in 1973, won an award at Thessaloniki Song Festival, with "Let's always be children".
The Radishes
They started at the end of 1965 and o well-known journalist Dimitris Konstandaras, son of the unforgettable Lambros Constantaras, he played bass and sang in the band. In the summer of '68 he finds them in stores in the northern suburbs, while they also appear on Kostas Venetsanos' TV shows. In the 1970s they are at the Avlaia boutique, with Kaiti Chomatas and Michalis Violaris. Characteristic is the uniform that they launched and wore in their appearances since 1967, which was "inspired" by seeing the corresponding uniform from the cover of the album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” by the Beatles – and they made their own version of these jackets.
CHARMS – From the book-album "The Greek music bands of the 60's" by Nikos Sarros PUBLICATIONS ogdoo
MGC
MGC is one of the most important bands of the era, and with perhaps the most movement of members to and from the band. They were formed at the beginning of 1960 and in April 1967 having established themselves in the area appeared at the Rolling Stones concert at the Panathinaikos stadium – a landmark event for the Greek sixties. In the summer of 1967 he also joined the scheme Dimitris Poulikakos, who had just arrived from England and left his mark on the band's sound. Poulikakos and Dimitris Polytimos were arrested by the junta and were imprisoned for a short time. After their release they toured, refused to sing dance hits and finally in the summer of 1969 in Spetses the epilogue of MGC was written – Modern Greek Combo.
The ULS
They were created in 1965 by a group of students. Among them o great composer Stamatis Spanoudakis on guitar. Initially they played having their own repertoire early on at musical mornings and dances of the northern suburbs. With the mediation of Nikos Mastorakis, the group recorded four songs in the summer of 1966 in the Columbia studio for the company "Topi", but the death in a car accident of the French owner of "Topi", did not allow their release. In the spring of 1967 the curtain falls on the band.
The Idols
From "The Young Ones" in mid-1964 the "Idols" emerged, which after changes in their composition and various fermentations were a huge commercial success and they reached the beginning of the new millennium. Electric bass was played by Demis Roussos (who was in the Beatniks and the We Five). The Idols were among the homegrown artists (MGC, Loubogg, We Five, Tassos Papastamati and Daki) who took part in the top rock event in the episodic concert of Rolling Stones at Alexandra Avenue Stadium. "Storm in my heart", "I gave you my love", "Suddenly you love me"... and they became the leading band of the country. They traveled to France and Switzerland. At the end of the 80s (in 1989), the band was re-created by Ioulis, Papavasiliou, Konstantinidis and Dimitris Katakouzinos and Noti Lalaitis. They recorded the album "Antaokto", did some retro shows and broke up for good, after their appearance as special guests at the Thessaloniki Song Festival in 1991.
The Vikings
The then 14-year-old, later drummer, Yiannis Pantazis lived in 1964 next door to the famous Koursaros club in Neo Faliro. In fact, the owner rented half the yard of his family's house for this reason, so the young man was constantly surrounded by music. He created the Vikings which he joined as bass player later the unforgettable Antonis Vardis, who worked at a local gas station. After '66, two great guitarists joined the band: Stavros Ladas (from Enemies) and Tasos Hamourtiadis (from Strangers), as well as singer Antonis Stefanidis. The band's big hit was the song "Françoise” with music by Hamourtiadis and lyrics by Stefanidis. Their end was written in Spetses, towards the end of 1968, when the Vikings go their separate ways.
JUNIORS – From the book-album "The Greek music bands of the 60's" by Nikos Sarros PUBLICATIONS ogdoo
The Juniors
They caught the pulse of rock but their path ended ingloriously on... asphalt. They were created in the fall of 1962 by 16-year-old classmates Paritsi and Vlaviano and were originally called Belmonts. At the Quinta Club along with the Baronetti they were the hottest up and coming band of the era. Shortly before taking another step in their career, unfortunately a car ride on Sunday October 10, 1965 turned into an unspeakable tragedy. On the national road of Athens Lamia in a collision of I.X. them by truck, Thanos Suyul lost their lives (16 years old, organist, son of Michalis Souyoul), the band's manager Yiannis Krazoudis, his wife Eleni and the group's friend Nana Benetou, while the guitarist Alekos Karakandas came out of the wreckage seriously injured. The injured Karakanda was replaced by Eric, an English guitarist, which many say was… Eric Clapton. Six years after their formation and with the tragic event having interrupted their course, the Juniors said "goodbye" in May 1968.
The Crosswords
THE Vassilis Papakonstantinou started his career as a guitarist and a singer from the group "The Crosswords" that were created in Nea Ionia in 1966. In addition to Papakonstantinou, their original line-up included Stavros Gaitis on guitar, Nikos Theodorakis on drums and Giorgos Manolopoulos on bass. Their first job – according to the author, was Liebe in Neo Heraklion. Parties, musical breakfasts and cinemas followed. In clubs of Kypseli, Rafina and Nea Filadelfia. Vassilis Papakonstantinou had said in an interview about that time: "Somewhere near pre-adolescence and while the Beatles were making their appearance, I got a guitar from my neighbor, Costas Panagopoulos. But since I soon started to play better than him, he gave it to me. Together with the rest of the crazy people of the working-class apartment buildings we made our group: the Crosswords, the Crosswords". In 1969 and while Vassilis turned to the field of boots, the group disbanded.
GIRLS – From the book-album "The Greek music bands of the 60's" by Nikos Sarros OGDOO PUBLICATIONS
The Girls
In 1965 the Girls was – self-referentially – the only female band who recorded an album in Greece. It consisted of the students at the time (1965-1966), Vaso Exarchou (guitar), Iulis Kalapotharakou (drums-vocals), Marianna Kalapotharakou (bass-vocals) and Efi Pania (organ).
Secretly from their parents, the four girls rehearsed and as soon as they took the stage at the Village club, they became a hit. The 45 they recorded contained the songs "Hello Beethoven" and "Rocket for the Girls". The appearance of "The Girls" at the "Golden Night" of Kallimarmaros (they took 6th place) and their apotheosis by more than 40,000 people was the final straw for the parents, who restricted the girls, who never appeared again as a band.
Loubogg
The group "The Loubogg" was created in the middle of 1964 by the guitarist Yiannis Kiourtsoglou. The band members at the time were high school students, their music was rock and the lyrics were English. The name "Loubogg" was given to them by an English friend and classmate. "loo" in English is "toilet" and "bog" also means "toilet". And as Yiannis Kiourtsoglou has said in an interview: "We just did the misspelling, inspired by the Beatles misspelling the word beetle, and put in the two "g's". Perhaps their biggest hit was the song "She's Cool".
At a German School dance they were discovered by Nikos Mastorakis in 1965 and signed them to Music Box. On vocals is Nikos Daperis, with a good English accent, on bass is Kostas Daperis, on drums is Renos Gosevics. Loubogg participated as support at the Rolling Stones' concert in Alexandra without Kiourtsoglou (who was watching from the stands), while after an absence of a few months and after the band acquired for singer Vlassis Bonatsos, was finally disbanded in '69.
Source: news247