Vangelis aka Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου, 29 March 1943 to 17 May 2022.
Sad news about the passing of another musical genius. I haven't trawled the blogosphere, but the main musical focus in the news reports - understandably - has been his ground-breaking film soundtracks for the likes of Blade Runner and Chariots Of Fire.
However, his 'pop' (or at least as close to 'pop' as Vangelis got) excursions with Jon Anderson are equally worth a mention, especially the majestic State Of Independence, which I first heard as an 11-year old in 1982 when Donna Summer's cover version was a UK Top 20 hit.
Fingers crossed that you also like the song, for here's a 40 minute Dubhed selection of choice versions, opening with Jon Anderson's "this one goes up to 11" live performance with Todmobile, full-on orchestral and in incredibly good voice. Along the way you get Moodswings' dance rework (twice) featuring Martin Luther King and Chrissie Hynde, the Donna Summer 'original' (& best), a bootleg remix of Jon & Vangelis and closing with the 1981 album version, complete with cheeky calypso outro.
Vangelis' music will endure.
1)
State Of Independence (Live @ Eldborg Concert Hall, Reykjavik, Iceland,
15 November 2013): Todmobile & Jon Anderson (2013)
2) Spiritual High (The Moodfood Megamix): Moodswings ft. Martin Luther King (1991)
3) State Of Independence (DSD Balearic Mix By Sparky Deep Sound Design): Jon & Vangelis (2013)
4) State Of Independence (Long Version By Quincy Jones): Donna Summer (1982)
5) Spiritual High (State Of Independence) (Radio Edit): Moodswings ft. Chrissie Hynde & Martin Luther King (1992)
6) State Of Independence (Album Version): Jon & Vangelis (1981)
You should check out his early work with Aphrodite's Child. Their '666' album is bonkers but brilliant. Don't be put off by the fact that the singer is Demis Roussos.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ernie, I think I've only really snippets of 666 so I'll investigate further. And I'd have thought having Demis Roussos as frontperson was doubly appealing, surely?!
DeleteFour Horsemen by Aphrodite's Child is a banger. Love the versions of State of Independence you've posted here Khayem. Moodswings was a massive record for me back in 92.
ReplyDeleteThe Four Horsemen is the only Aphrodite's Child song I actually have in my collection, as it happens.
DeleteThe Moodswings version(s) takes me back too, although I think I love Chrissie Hynde's vocal on this even more than I did then. Everyone seems to have had a go at creating a YouTube video to go with the full 15-minute album version, but this is a particular favourite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOmPH8YEd-c
can't believe I missed this post (thanks Adam for the link!). And on one level I'm glad you didn't include me because I don't belong in this company and you already give me too much real estate. But just in case you didn't know -- I did a version of this back at the end of 2020: https://soundcloud.com/jesseblack/state-of-independence-three-aces-edit
ReplyDeleteFor my part I met this song via the Moodswings version during the Whirl-Y-Gig period of my youth and only discovered its origins and history much later. Fascinating that the folk tradition of versioning would emerge around this track.
Thanks, Jesse. I have to admit that I only became aware of your rather wonderful edit (and your Soundcloud page - what kind of fan am I?!) after I'd completed this post and selection. You're being far too modest: it definitely should have been included!
DeleteYeah, I love the trail that has been forged from the original Jon & Vangelis song, not forgetting Norman Cook's inspired use of the Donna Summer/Quincy Jones version to underpin his remix of A Tribe Called Quest's I Left My Wallet In El Segundo back in 1990.
I very clumsily segued the two in an old mix I republished here a year ago:
https://dubhed.blogspot.com/2021/06/slip-into-something-more-comfortable.html
Thanks for your comments and congrats on the new Convergence remix package from Jezebell - another winner, in my book.
reissue repackage repackage -- Darren felt (reasonably!) that Concurrence never got its due and the remixers did an amazing job, so I'm psyched, and it's an honour to be associated with them. But I'm all about the next thing and we have a Jezebell track just finished this week that is a pocket full of magic, can't wait to get to that one. See you there!
DeleteI'm looking forward to what comes next, Jesse
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