The band's first two albums, End of the World and It's Five O'Clock, combined a very '60s sounding Euro-pop-rock with Greek folk music elements. The former album featured the song "Rain and Tears", a reworking of Pachelbel's Canon in D major. The song was a minor hit in the United Kingdom, but did far better in France, where the band was based, as well as the rest of Europe. Other European hits included "Marie Jolie", "I Want to Live", and "Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall" from 1969 and 1970 respectively.
The band began to record their crowning achievement in 1970: a musical adaptation of the biblical Book of Revelations, entitled 666 - The Apocalypse of St. John. Relations between Roussos, Vangelis and Sideras were not good at the time, and continued to worsen before the album's creation. However, the group was contractually obligated to release a third album, and went into the studio in 1970 to create 666.
Essentially, 666 was Vangelis' concept, created with an outside lyricist, Costas Ferris. The music that Vangelis was creating for 666 was much more psychedelic and progressive rock oriented than anything the band had done before. This did not sit well with the other band members, who wished to continue in the pop direction that had brought them success. Further, Roussos was being groomed for a solo career, and pressure from the record company for the band to produce another hit single did not help. In essence, the band broke up during the completion of 666. Vangelis finished the album primarily on his own with assistance from studio musicians.
Immediately afterwards, Vangelis engaged in a long fight with Mercury over the content of the album. The record company, in particular, objected to the song "∞" (infinity), which consisted of actress Irene Papas chanting the words "I was, I am, I am to come" in various stages of orgiastic ecstasy, while Vangelis accompanied her on percussion. However, the double-album length of 666 and the musical experimentation, as well as the subject matter, also exacerbated Mercury's ire. After Roussos and Sideras had already embarked on solo careers, Mercury finally agreed to release 666 two years after its completion, and it came out in 1972.
Strangely enough, 666 was the only Aphrodite's Child album to make any impact in America. The blood-red cover with the letters 666 prominently displayed in black and white was striking, and brought immediate accusations of occultism from various quarters. Any suspicions of occultism could be dispersed by simply reading the lyrics, which were fairly faithfully based around the Book of Revelations, but the accusations undoubtedly helped sell the album in the United States. The album met with less controversy overseas and sold reasonably well on its own merits.
The music itself was an impressive display of Vangelis' abilities, combining psychedelic and progressive rock with ethnic instruments, choral chanting, recitations, and very advanced use of synthesizers and keyboards for the time. In time the album became recognized as one of the most important early progressive rock works, and a defining example of the concept album. 666 also made Vangelis an underground name to watch, and earned him an offer from Jon Anderson to join Yes. Vangelis turned down the offer in order to concentrate on a solo career. However, he and Anderson later created several duet albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
After the band split, both Vangelis and Demis Roussos pursued successful solo careers, Roussos as a pop singer and Vangelis as one of the pioneers in progressive electronic music. Kolouris worked with both on occasion. Lucas Sideras pursued a less successful solo career, releasing the single "Rising Sun" after the break-up.
Discography
End of the World (1968)
It's Five O'Clock (1969)
666 (The Apocalypse Of John,13/18) (1971)
Best Of Aphrodite's Child (1980)
Aphrodite's Child's Greatest Hits (1995)
The Complete Collection (Aphrodite's Child) (1996)
Babylon the Great (2002)
Song Highlights:
"Four Horsemen", from the album 666, was a minor hit on FM radio in the United States, receiving AOR airplay to this day. "Babylon", from the same album, was released as a single, and found similar acceptance on AOR radio in the 1970's. "Hic and Nunc" and "Break", from the same album, were also tried out as singles but did not chart well at the time.
"Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall" - the final single before the release of 666 and the last of the band's singles to chart significantly in their European home base.
"Rain and Tears" - based on Pachelbel's Canon in D major, this song was probably their biggest hit as a single release.
"It's Five o Clock" and "Such a Funny Night" also charted in Europe. All of the above songs can be found on various compilation/greatest hits discs. The band's singles were aimed squarely at the pop market, and do not bear any significant resemblance to the music on 666.
Mister Thomas
Aphrodite's Child Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mr. Thomas owns a red bike
And his heart flies like a kite
He gives a coin to the children
Who play war with wooden guns
Mr. Thomas remains at home
In his dust booked the phone
Round it's edge things always emerge
Mr. Thomas isn't newspaper
But to me good news
When the hills do glitter the river
Where all things can choose
My grand uncle when he sees him says
"He's crazy" and starts to grin
My lil' lady Prue McKinball says:
"His head is made of straw"
Mr. Thomas isn't newspaper
But to me good news
When the hills do glitter the river
Where all things can choose
I know there's one arms corps keeper
Is quite eager, do you know why?
All the blue birds from the river
On his top hat gobble and fly
Mr. Thomas isn't newspaper
But to me good news
When the hills do glitter the river
Where all things can choose
I like to be the bounty clown
Who seems so glad in his watch
I would be always around him
So I could walk his path
Mr. Thomas isn't newspaper
But to me good news
When the hills do glitter the river
Where all things can choose
The lyrics to Aphrodite's Child's song Mister Thomas paint a vivid picture of a charming and eccentric character named Mr. Thomas. The opening line refers to Mr. Thomas' whimsical nature, with a friend who has "daisies in his pocket." The following lines describe Mr. Thomas as an independent and free-spirited person who owns a red bike and has a heart that flies like a kite. He is also shown to be generous, giving coins to children who play war with wooden guns.
The lyrics go on to describe Mr. Thomas as a bit of an outsider, as he chooses to remain at home while others go to church. He is shown to be a bit of a collector, as things always seem to emerge from the edge of his dusty phone book. Despite this, the singer sees Mr. Thomas as good news, like glittering hills on a river where all things can choose.
The song then takes a comedic turn, as the singer's grand uncle thinks Mr. Thomas is crazy and his "lil' lady Prue McKinball" believes his head is made of straw. Yet, the singer sees him as good news and desires to be around him always. The overall message of the song seems to be that being different and unconventional can be a good thing, as long as it brings joy and happiness to oneself and others.
Line by Line Meaning
A friend who's got daisies in his pocket
Mr. Thomas is a friend who always carries daisies around with him
Mr. Thomas owns a red bike
Mr. Thomas has a red bicycle that he rides around on
And his heart flies like a kite
Mr. Thomas has a very lively and free spirit
He gives a coin to the children
Mr. Thomas likes to give loose change to kids who play with wooden guns
Who play war with wooden guns
Children have toy guns and play each other, pretending to be soldiers
Mr. Thomas remains at home
Mr. Thomas often stays inside his house
When other people go to church
He doesn't attend any church gatherings and chooses to stay home
In his dust booked the phone
There's a lot of dust on his phone book or address book
Round it's edge things always emerge
When you open it, lots of things come out from the sides of the book
Mr. Thomas isn't newspaper
He isn't the latest news or current event
But to me good news
But to the singer he is very good news
When the hills do glitter the river
The singer feels good when the hills shine and the stream glitters in the sun
Where all things can choose
A place where everything appears to be possible
My grand uncle when he sees him says
When my grand uncle sees Mr. Thomas, he comments
"He's crazy" and starts to grin
"He's crazy", and starts to laugh and take pleasure in it.
My lil' lady Prue McKinball says:
My young lady friend also has something to say about Mr. Thomas
"His head is made of straw"
"He has no intelligence and is very simple-minded"
I know there's one arms corps keeper
I know that there's a soldier or army guard who watches over Mr. Thomas
Is quite eager, do you know why?
This soldier or guard seems to be very eager, do you know why?
All the blue birds from the river
All the blue birds that are near or around the river
On his top hat gobble and fly
eat and then fly away onto his top hat
I like to be the bounty clown
The artist would like to act like a silly clown who receives rewards
Who seems so glad in his watch
Someone who is often happy while wearing a watch
I would be always around him
The singer wishes to be near Mr. Thomas all the time
So I could walk his path
So the singer can follow Mr. Thomas' lifestyle and enjoy it too.
Contributed by Gavin A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@tozbog1097
me: yo pass the aux cord
friend: you better not play trash
me: plays this
@janepang484
Aphrodite's Child💖🕺👬🌟🤩
Great!🎼🎵🎹🎸🥁🎤📀👍👏
From Hong Kong🙋♀️🌏💝🌺🥰
@danielbouju1688
I would be ...around.Not always...
@tadevis
Un verdadero tesoro. Maravilloso 💖💖💖💖
@giuliogrifi7739
It could have even been written by old Syd Barrett !!!...beautifully strange !!!
@danielbouju1688
Has got daisies.
@robertwilloughby8050
Weird - but wonderful!
@mariageorginasilva6879
Uau ,maravilhoso! Que bom recordar estas preciosidades de Demis.
@darthvader3465
good
@danielbouju1688
His hat flies like a kite...