Ty Segall

The garage psych tornado salutes Aphrodite’s Child’s apocalyptic prog-opera 666 (Vertigo, 1972)

I can’t remember the first time I heard 666 by Aphrodite’s Child, but it actually didn’t register right away. I know that for years I saw the cover and thought, “Hmmm, interesting” and eventually, “Oh yeah, that band from Greece that is supposed to be weird.” Then it became, “Oh yeah, Vangelis’s psych band.” But it wasn’t until I heard the song The Four Horsemen that I truly got it. After I heard Demis Roussos sing, I was obsessed. He is quite possibly the best rock’n’roll singer, period. And I especially got into it after I read about the concept. This record is the story of a travelling circus performing an adaptation of the Book of Revelation’s apocalypse while the actual apocalypse starts to happen outside. By the end of the record the two have obviously merged as one. There have been a lot of records that sonically wreck me – Les Rallizes Dénudés’ Heavier Than A Death In The Family, The Pretty Things’ S.F. Sorrow, This Heat’s Deceit, The Soft Machine Volume 1 – but no voice has truly destroyed me in recent years like Demis Roussos. To me, he can do no wrong, and when Vangelis is there, it’s something special. I bought a bouzouki hoping to get a little closer to Demis. But no one can touch that guy. After Aphrodite’s Child broke up both Vangelis and Demis went on to far more successful things. Vangelis penned Chariots Of Fire, and Demis became one of the biggest pop stars in the world. I love their solo work and am particularly fond of Demis’ 1971 album On The Greek Side Of My Mind and the song We Shall Dance. Few records so perfectly blend theatrics and an ‘emotional’ score with such incredible pop songs as 666. Truly, it’s a universe I want to live in. This record makes me dream; when the apocalypse comes, I’ll be listening to 666, taking all the drugs, having a good time. And why not?