Vangelis Papathanasiou dead at age 79. RIP to one of the great composers of the 21 century
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Bummer 
I wasn't a huge fan, but definitely recognize his influence and prestige in the music world.
And this tune, which he co-wrote with Jon Anderson of Yes, is still one of my favorite R&B tracks ever:
I wasn't a huge fan, but definitely recognize his influence and prestige in the music world.
And this tune, which he co-wrote with Jon Anderson of Yes, is still one of my favorite R&B tracks ever:
This is his epic track…
Plenty of other gems on that album as well…
Plenty of other gems on that album as well…
That concept album is interesting. Did people even know about that part of Revelation when it came out? The first movie in the omen series didn't come out until 1976. I always thought that was where that knowledge first entered the popular culture
Chariots of Fire + Blade Runner is all I can hear in my head now. RIP.
I still find myself singing this at weird moments, and I probably hadn't heard it in 40+ years until I just now played it.
It's testament to his unique sonic palette, and infectious melody, that practically everyone I know thinks he scored the Peter Weir, Mel Gibson movie "The Year Of Living Dangerously".
It was actually scored by Maurice Jarre, but features one Vangelis track "L'Enfant" which became iconic.
Obviously, Blade Runner , and Chariots of Fire are rightly considered cinematic titans (both as movies, and for his scores), but one that seems to slip under the radar is his gorgeous, angst ridden score for The Bounty, which manages to elevate an already beautiful picture.
In just one piece of music, he manages to imply the huge weight of this industrial naval machine, bearing down on a natural paradise, the bromance becoming a menage a trois, the sense of betrayal, and division as it becomes a choice between duty & loyalty / freedom & love. He bathes the entire movie in this bittersweet sense of romance, and tragedy.
Aside from his film scores, I have this strange, nonspecific sense memory, from my childhood : any time I hear "I'll find my way home" by Jon & Vangelis, I'm transported to my favourite class room, in my favourite school, in the run-up to the Christmas holiday (I don't remember if that single was released at Christmas, but it was playing on the radio in the classroom on the last day of term, when we're were allowed to bring toys in, and just play all day).
And now that I think about it, my first musical performance was Vangelis : in junior school we had to perform a piece of music for an exam that was sprung on us, unannounced.
Everyone else was doing things like "three blind mice" on a glockenspiel. I went rummaging around in a cupboard, and found a small programmable analogue synthesizer (I'd never touched one before), managed to programme in a nice sweet sound, and quickly figured out how to play "Chung Kuo" , having to flip an octave transpose switch several times during the performance, to accommodate the limited range of the mini keyboard.
Sheesh! I actually hadn't appreciated it before this thread, but he's deeply, and profoundly embedded in my music DNA.
R.I.P.
It was actually scored by Maurice Jarre, but features one Vangelis track "L'Enfant" which became iconic.
Obviously, Blade Runner , and Chariots of Fire are rightly considered cinematic titans (both as movies, and for his scores), but one that seems to slip under the radar is his gorgeous, angst ridden score for The Bounty, which manages to elevate an already beautiful picture.
In just one piece of music, he manages to imply the huge weight of this industrial naval machine, bearing down on a natural paradise, the bromance becoming a menage a trois, the sense of betrayal, and division as it becomes a choice between duty & loyalty / freedom & love. He bathes the entire movie in this bittersweet sense of romance, and tragedy.
Aside from his film scores, I have this strange, nonspecific sense memory, from my childhood : any time I hear "I'll find my way home" by Jon & Vangelis, I'm transported to my favourite class room, in my favourite school, in the run-up to the Christmas holiday (I don't remember if that single was released at Christmas, but it was playing on the radio in the classroom on the last day of term, when we're were allowed to bring toys in, and just play all day).
And now that I think about it, my first musical performance was Vangelis : in junior school we had to perform a piece of music for an exam that was sprung on us, unannounced.
Everyone else was doing things like "three blind mice" on a glockenspiel. I went rummaging around in a cupboard, and found a small programmable analogue synthesizer (I'd never touched one before), managed to programme in a nice sweet sound, and quickly figured out how to play "Chung Kuo" , having to flip an octave transpose switch several times during the performance, to accommodate the limited range of the mini keyboard.
Sheesh! I actually hadn't appreciated it before this thread, but he's deeply, and profoundly embedded in my music DNA.
R.I.P.
I was a big fan as a kid. I recall doing a piece for music class at school (one of those things where you had to come to the front of the class and speak to the class about a topic for 10 minutes or so) when I was around 13. Did it on the album "Spiral" by Vangelis.
RIP
Regards
Mark
RIP
Regards
Mark
25 years later, Verve ‘appropriated’ part of it for this song…
But a few years ago, I heard it on radio for the first time in ages(it got tracked considerably in the dying days of ‘free form’ FM). Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones had a great mid-day radio show in LA for years(“Jonesy’s Jukebox”), and he played it one day, I about ran off the road in astonishment. Must have blown some minds.
Their styles may be similar because I know I have gotten them confused before.
