Talk:Vangelis

Duplicate discography

I've moved the duplicate discography here for review. JFW | T@lk 13:32, 6 December 2015 (UTC)

This below is chronology of all Albums by Vangelis, Jon and Vangelis, Demis Roussos and Vangelis, Irene Papas and Vangelis (it does not include some best of, compilations) neither does it include Aphrodites Child albums and early recordings with Formynx.

• 01 (1970) Sex Power (Soundtrack)

• 02 (1971) The Dragon (recorded in 1971-Released in 1978) Released by Charly Recods Not authorized by Vangelis

• 03 (1972) Fais Que Ton Rêve Soit Plus Long Que la Nuit

• 04 (1973) L'Apocalypse des Animaux (Soundtrack)

• 05 (1973) Earth

• 06 (1975) Ignacio – Do You Hear the Dogs Barking

• 07 (1975) Heaven and Hell

• 08 (1976) Fête Sauvage (Soundtrack)

• 09 (1976) Albedo 0.39

• 10 (1977) Spiral

• 11 (1977) Ignacio

• 12 (1978) Hypothesis Not authorized by Vangelis

• 13 (1978) Beaubourg

• 14 (1979) China

• 15 (1979) Opera Sauvage (Soundtrack)

• 16 (1979) Odes – Irene Papas and Vangelis

• 17 (1980) See You Later

• 18 (1981) Chariots of Fire (Soundtrack)

• 19 (1981) The Friends of Mr Cairo – Jon and Vangelis

• 20 (1982) Blade Runner (Soundtrack)

• 21 (1982) Missing (Soundtrack)

• 22 (1983) Antarctica (Soundtrack) JAPAN IMPORT (1988 : THE NETHERLANDS)

• 23 (1983) PRIVATE COLLECTION – Jon and Vangelis

• 24 (1984) Soil Festivities

• 25 (1984) Best of Jon and Vangelis

• 26 (1984) The Bounty (Soundtrack)

• 27 (1985) Mask

• 28 (1985) Invisible Connections

• 29 (1988) Direct

• 30 (1990) The City

• 31 (1991) Reprises – Best of (1990-1999)

• 32 (1992) 1492: Conquest of Paradise (Soundtrack)

• 33 (1995) Voices

• 34 (1995) ATTITUDES – Demis Roussos and Vangelis

• 35 (1996) Oceanic

• 36 (1996) Jon and Vangelis Another Page of Life

• 37 (1996) Portraits – (Vangelis, Jon & Vangelis – Best Of)

• 38 (1998) El Greco

• 39 (1999) Reprises 1990 – 1999 (Best off)

• 40 (2001) Mythodea for NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey

• 41 (2004) Alexander (Soundtrack)

• 42 (2007) El Greco: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• 43 (2007) Blade Runner Trilogy: 25th Anniversary (Soundtrack)

• 44 (2012) Chariots of Fire – The Play from The Stage Show)

• 45 (2012) Trashed (Soundtrack) Not released on CD by Vangelis

Transcription of pronunciation

The Greek pronunciation of Βαγγέλης is transcribed using [ɲ]. Surely this should be [ŋ]? This page shows that <γγ> is pronounced [ŋɟ]. — 91.238.123.116 (talk) 17:09, 2 June 2016 (UTC)

Aristotelis Koundouroff

In the article lead is mentioned that Vangelis "having taken piano lessons from renowned Greek composer Aristotelis Koundouroff". Is there a reliable source(s) to confirm he taken lessons from Koundouroff? The information was removed from the lead until reliable source is found.--Crovata (talk) 12:58, 20 August 2016 (UTC)

Solo career breakthrough

This section needs work, I don't have time at the moment to do it but the English is written quite poorly.Dobyblue (talk) 15:04, 9 May 2017 (UTC)

Lessons

Actually he didn't take piano lessons and went to a music school. His parents tried to enroll him but he refused. Sources: [1] [2]. a quote provided by the telegraph confirms this info: "I was lucky not to go because music schools close doors rather than open them". too bad those claims will not fixed since no major editors are working in this article as we can see by clicking the page's history. but i have faith that one of our recent editors, @SMcCandlish:, who fixed the transliteration, will take the lead. Hakken (talk) 13:52, 3 December 2017 (UTC)

@Hakken: Just do it. You already have the sources! :-) Your first sentence is confusing though; I think it means "he didn't take piano lesson or go to a music school", but implies "he didn't take private piano lessons, but instead went to a music school", which appears to be contradicted by the rest of your post.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ >^ʌⱷ҅_ᴥⱷ^ʌ<  13:58, 3 December 2017 (UTC)

@SMcCandlish: yeah thats what i was trying to say. as you can see i'm not a native speaker so i'm not adequate for editing this article. Hakken (talk) 14:06, 3 December 2017 (UTC)

@Hakken: I totally do not understand what you do not understand about the revision, and your edit in which removed a significant part of the information on his early life which was reliably sourced and cited was without any valid argument.--Miki Filigranski (talk) 15:19, 11 December 2017 (UTC)

@Miki Filigranski: The issue with the first section is that it lacks consensus on whether Vangelis went to a music school in his early years. For instance, it's mentioned he attended school to study music when he was a kid but Vangelis himself refuted this claim when asked if he had taken piano lessons, stating "My parents tried to push me to go to the music school, but they failed. It was just an attempt." Again, in a The Telegraph interview, he further refutes this question with a quote that conflicts with what's being said in the article: "I was lucky not to go because music schools close doors rather than open them".

On the other hand, the page in general is improperly sourced, with non-authoritative references such as fan sites being cited, which is not allowed in Wikipedia. I mean look at we have as sources: [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]. They are not reliable, not because of their looks but because they lack a fact checking structure, mostly because of their nature: websites whose content is self-published and user-generated. That said, i think it's our duty as editors to remove these sources and any claim that goes against what the author says. Hakken (talk) 19:04, 15 December 2017 (UTC)

You removed a whole paragraph of which only one part was relevant to this possible issue. However, it is stated that they enrolled him, he obviously went because of the quote in which he mentioned teachers, but he was lucky not to go i.e. to continue. It does not mean he never went to a music school. As for these other sources, can you write along these links the reference number because currently, I am not able to check them as and understand what they support? I do not support removing possibly relevant claims if a reliable source can be easily found, it would be unnecessary to make so many reverts.--Miki Filigranski (talk) 19:34, 15 December 2017 (UTC)

• Took a stab at a rephrase, reflective of the source and proportionate weight of the claims above. Not watching, please {{ping}} if you need additional feedback. czar 15:06, 25 December 2017 (UTC)

Source Substitutions

One of the articles cited is from an online encyclopedia, "Musician Guide". Although the source is decent, referring to the sources cited in the "further" reading would be more beneficial. As it is an online encyclopedia, I don't think that it is a good source to cite on Wikipedia. Today, I substituted a citation from that site to the actual Life article in regards to the statement, "When the teachers asked me to play something, I would pretend that I was reading it and play from memory. I didn't fool them, but I didn't care." I will plan to add more sources from the following sources listed on that site:

• Commonweal, November 20, 1992.
• Down Beat, February 1992.
• High Fidelity, August 1983.
• Library Journal, May 1, 1983.
• Life, July 1982.
• New Yorker, July 12, 1982; June 11, 1984.
• People, April 19, 1982.
• Playboy, January 1983.
• Rolling Stone, May 13, 1982.
• Stereo Review, March 1982; January 1983; December 1983; June 1985.

Yoshiman6464 ^♫🥚 16:16, 19 December 2017 (UTC)

upsilon/beta spelling of the name

why is the υ in his name pronounced as a β, and in fact replaced by β in his stage name?

according to the greek alphabet wiki υ is equiv to english "i". shouldn't the pronunciation be "eˈiaɲɟelos" or something?

or SPELLED with a β if indeed it is read as "eˈvaɲɟelos"?

if it's some basic language rule like, say, "β is written as υ in non-initial position" pls clarify. maybe not in article but here at least -- really confusing why "vang..." and "evang..." are written so differently. 66.30.47.138 (talk) 23:11, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

It is a language rule.

The Greek letter "υ" is normally a vowel but it also forms two digraphs: "αυ" and "ευ". In that context, the "υ" becomes a consonant, pronounced like English "f" or "v", depending on the word. See Upsilon.

I am not sure what determines whether the "υ" in these digraphs gets pronounced like English "f" or like English "v". Maybe it depends on whether it is followed by a continuous or syncopated sound? Native speakers pick up the accepted pronunciation for such words from elders and peers, then just remember it.

In the case of Vangelis's name (Ευάγγελος), the "υ" is pronounced hard, like English "v". "Ευάγγελος", is the full, formal name. It is what you would see in his birth certificate. In everyday speech, most people so named prefer the abbreviated form "Βαγγέλης". This inherits the "v" sound from the formal name, then gets back-spelled phonetically. The change in spelling is necessary because a "υ" without the preceding "ε" would read like English "i" (as in "in").
— Black Walnut ^talk 03:31, 17 July 2021 (UTC)

ok, got it. incl the need for the spelling change once the "E-" is stripped. but are there also any who spell the full form "Εβάγγελος" to begin with?

also...u state that "most people prefer" Βαγγέλης. so this is a standard pet form of the name, not a stage name specific to HIM?

should be made clearer in the article. especially as the FINAL vowel also changes (-ος to -ης); it is more than simply an "abbreviated form".

is there a particular REASON for this vowel change (shift in STRESS, i'm guessing)? do the forms "Βαγγέλος" and "Εβάγγελης" also exist? COULD they, even?

-----

btw, does modern greek completely lack a "b" sound? when referring to Boston or Berlin, say, do they indeed render these as /v/? 66.30.47.138 (talk) 16:11, 17 July 2021 (UTC)

> are there also any who spell it "Εβάγγελος" to begin with?

No, that is a spelling error. Read phonetically, it would be pronounced same as "Ευάγγελος", but it's weird. It is akin to writing, in English, "skool" instead of "school": readers know what you mean but you look like an idiot.

> Βαγγέλης. so this is a standard pet form of the name, not a stage name specific to HIM?

Almost. "Βαγγέλης" is indeed an ordinary (and fairly common) Greek name.

But, to a Greek audience, the spelling "Vangelis" is very much perceived as a stage name, chosen to be marketable to English speakers, because it is written in Latin script and because it omits the last name.

So, in Greece, he is publicly known as "Vangelis", not "Βαγγέλης". The foreignness of the spelling alerts the reader to the fact that one writes of the famed musician, not of one's buddy. Contrarily, I imagine, Vangelis' family uses his name's Greek spelling.

To be clear, "Βαγγέλης" is a short form, not a pet name. The pet form of his name is "Βαγγελάκης" (vangelakis = little vangelis). Which, BTW, forms its own short form: "Λάκης" (lakis). Further, a name can have multiple short forms. I can think of at least one more: "Βάγγος" (vangos).

> should be made clearer in the article.

Perhaps.

But Vangelis isn't the only person with a non-English name to achieve fame in the English-speaking world. Should every article for such people explain all foreign language intricacies which apply to the subject's native name?

> especially as the FINAL vowel also changes (-ος to -ης); it is more than simply an "abbreviated form".

Not at all. "Βαγγέλης" is merely the name's shortened form. Nothing extra is happening here. Consider similar situations in English:

• James->Jim: we don't merely drop the "es" suffix, the middle letter also changes from "a" to "i".
• Robert->Bob: we don't merely drop the "ert" suffix, we also change the leading "r" to "b".
• Theodore->Ted: we replace the "-odore" suffix with "d", and also change the "th" to "t" and switch the pronunciation of the remaining "e" from /I/ to /ɛ/.

> is there a particular REASON for this vowel change (shift in STRESS, i'm guessing)?

The shift in stress is a consequence of eliminating the initial syllable. The vowel change has to do with shifts in the language over the last two and a half millenia. Essentially, the long form follows an older template. The short form follows a newer template. See Modern Greek and Diglossia.

> do the forms "Βαγγέλος" and "Εβάγγελης" also exist? COULD they, even?

Neither of these forms exist. They break the mold, so they cannot exist. But languages evolve. In a century or two, the name could evolve into forms that seem absurd now.

> btw, does modern greek lack a "b" sound? when referring to Boston or Berlin, say, do they indeed render these as /v/?

Modern Greek does have the "b" sound which English uses in "Boston". The sound is spelled with the digraph "μπ" (= Greek m + Greek p. Try mouthing those two letters simultaneously, to experience the rationale behind the choice in digraph). Example word: "μπουκάλι" (= bottle).

However, Greek rarely follows the native pronunciation of foreign placenames. It applies Greek cultural and linguistic rules in order to assimilate the foreign word. Most (all?) languages, including English, do this.

So, in Greek, "Boston" is pronounced "vostoni" and written "Βοστώνη", not "Μπόστον" (which is the direct transliteration of the English placename into Greek script). Berlin is pronounced "verolino" and written "Βερολίνο".

If you write "Μπόστον", cultured readers may understand what you mean. Regardless, that spelling/pronunciation conflicts with Greek linguistic rules and highlights the author's/speaker's foreignness. Foreign transcriptions are often used for comedic effect in the arts and in daily language.

Actually, "Μπόστον" is hilarious! On several levels: a. it misgenders the city as neuter (Boston is a female city, in Greek). b. the word has the exact same consonants as the word for an elderly person's cane, which is a funny visual for a city. c. it begins with a "μπ" sound, which is a very pedestrian-sounding prefix, while trying to sound refined by reproducing the placename's native pronunciation. This is camp at its best!

English applies assimilation rules too: we call the Greek capital "Athens" yet the city's native name is Αθήνα (pronounced "athina" and with the stress on the middle syllable, not the first). To assimilate the Greek placename, we transform it into something more English-sounding.

English preserves the French spelling of France's capital, Paris, but mispronounces every letter but the first. If, while speaking in English, you use the placename's native pronunciation ([paʁi] listen), you sound effete.

Human language is complicated!
— Black Walnut ^talk 09:16, 18 July 2021 (UTC)

If I may offer my perspective as a native Greek speaker to the discussion, here's the reason why the official name of Vangelis is spelled Ευάγγελος and not Εβαγγελος. From what I know, the name comes from the ancient Greek name Εὐάγγελος. This in its turn is created by the prefix ευ- (other words with this prefix: ευχάριστος, εύκολος, εύμορφος, ευτυχία, ευθυμία) and the noun άγγελος. The prefix has always a positive meaning and means: good, positive. Άγγελος means angel. So, Ευάγγελος is the "good angel" or "he that bears good news (αγγελίες)". The Gospels in Greek are called Ευαγγέλια, because of the positive message they carry, and the apostles were called for the same reason Ευαγγελιστές. I like the meaning of his name. It matches greatly with his music, that makes me feel always better and good, like a medicine for a broken soul. RIP legend. Mlliarm (talk) 23:56, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

Death

Are Greek media considered trustworthy?

Is there any other foreign (eg. French) source that reports his death?

The French, German and Spanish wikipedias don't report his death, nor have updated their page.

How certain are we that Vangelis has passed away? Mlliarm (talk) 16:26, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

Pretty certain. News being reported everywhere in the last half hour or so. dstumme (talk) 17:23, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

Mea culpa. Washington Post reported it with the name of his collaborator too, so for me this is as official as it gets. Thanks. Mlliarm (talk) 18:04, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

LOL. The WP? Really? heh 50.111.55.26 (talk) 21:47, 20 May 2022 (UTC)

Yeah, I didn't create the death record until I saw it in Reuters. Hyperkabob (talk) 18:11, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

Someone could try to contact him to see if he really died. 50.107.131.242 (talk) 22:29, 5 June 2022 (UTC)

Full and accurate name of Vangelis wanted

Greetings, all. I understand there is a disaccord in Greek media about the full name of Vangelis. Some sources claim Vangelis had two first names in Greek, "Evángelos" and "Odysséas", which is also the way the article currently has it, while others quote "Odysséas" as only his father's name. We have two causes to worry about the accuracy of the former version, currently reproduced in Wikipedia: One, a father giving his own name to his son appears to be uncommon in modern Greece. Not non-existent, but quite uncommon. And, two, the way it is written in sources such as The Guardian obituary can be the result of some confusion about the way full names are often written in modern Greek. "Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou" could well be a transfer to English of "Evángelos Odysséa Papathanassíou". Note critical absence of final letter 's'.

Βear with me, please! While the word "Odysséas" is, in Greek, in the nominative (aka subjective) case, which is the way all names are expressed in English, the word "Odysséa" is in the genitive case and means "of Odysséas". In other words, "Vangelis" of "Odysséas", "Vangelis, son of Odysséas". So, we might have an issue here.

Additional, solid sources, preferably of official Greek origin, such as a copy of his birth certificate, would be very welcome. -The Gnome (talk) 11:21, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

• Hello The Gnome! The form «Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέα Παπαθανασσίου» might make sense according to your reasoning but it's not something that occurs in reality according to my experience. I too use in all my formal emails my father's name as a second name, but always in the nominative case. In Russian on the other hand, the case of the father's name changes so that it means "of fathers_name", example: Максим Петрович Иванов. Which means Максим (of) Петров Иванов. So in this example from Russian, Максим is the name of the son, Петров the name of the father and Иванов the surname of the father. In modern Greek we don't do that (don't know why), so the correct form (again as mentioned earlier, according to my 40+ experience of speaking the language, and having lived and studied in Greece about 36+ years) is: Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασσίου. Mlliarm (talk) 07:33, 26 May 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for the response, Mlliarm. Do you have any examples in modern Greek where a person cites their full name and includes the father's name in the nominative case? In my experience, and contrary to what you state, I have never encountered that. It's only when a Greek person states their name in English, or some other language perhaps, that they may state like that their father's name - and erroneously too, since abroad this typically denotes an additional first name. Greek language is all about cases - for every name and every noun. So, it is rather difficult to accept without some solid counter evidence this supposedly constant use of the nominative case. -The Gnome (talk) 14:21, 26 May 2022 (UTC)

You're welcome The Gnome. Truth be told, it is customary in those Greeks that wish to use their father's name to just use the initial letter, so I'm not really sure. For example, Ευάγγελος Ο. Παπαθανασσίου. I see that the known linguist G. Babiniotis is written as Γιώργιος Μπαμπινιώτης του Δημητρίου in the Greek Wikipedia's lemma. So this supports your suggestion (use genitive case instead of nominative case). Also I've discussed this question with my better half that did classical studies in a Greek high school and agreed with you that if you want to use the father's name, you'll either have to write Ευάγγελος Παπαθανασσίου του Οδυσσέα (or του Οδυσσέως) or use the form you're suggesting: Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέα (or Οδυσσέως) Παπαθανασσίου. Mlliarm (talk) 14:35, 28 May 2022 (UTC)

• I guess editors based in Greece might find it easier to find a copy of his birth certificate. Is there any pertinent discussion at el.wiki? I'm not able to see an existing source attached to his names here. Is it given in Hischak (2015) The Encyclopedia of Film Composers? Martinevans123 (talk) 11:59, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

I don't have the book Encyclopedia of Film Composers. (A specific page number is cited in the article but I cannot verify the content.) As to Greek sources, I can report, as a competent user of the language, that the major newspaper To Vima does not have the "Odysséas" part in the first name of the artist in its 2008 portrait or in this 2012 report about asteroids named after celebrities; Capital magazine's website does have it but the text reads like a Wikipedia mirror, as do reports such this Reuters obituary; in the collection of interviews of his most extensive fan-site, the only mentions of "Odysseus"/"Odyssey" are in reference to the Mars mission; and so on. -The Gnome (talk) 15:09, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

The Greek article el:Βαγγέλης_Παπαθανασίου seems to be the same as here? Martinevans123 (talk) 22:42, 28 May 2022 (UTC)

Martinevans123, yes, the article in the Greek-language Wikipedia has Vangelis' name as it is here, in the English-language one: Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou. The Greek edition cites two sources: The obituary in The Washington Post and the one from Reuters. Both seem a bit suspicious to me since they use an overall identical phrasing; they may be simply quoting from a single source. The French-language edition of Wikipedia, seeing as Vangelis spent most of his life in France, should have better sourcing. Interestingly, it transpires that they too have it as "Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou" but their only reference for that is the website of Universal Music, which makes a mess of the full name: "Evanghelos Odyssey Papathanassiou". So, personally, I remain quite uncertain. For the time being, then, yes, we have nothing better for the text in the article. Still, in the biography of such a well known, actually world famous, artist it's quite incongruous, if not unforgiveable, to lack solid information on the full name. -The Gnome (talk) 11:10, 29 May 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for your clear explanation. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:04, 29 May 2022 (UTC)

Personal life and death -- drug use

In 2005, he stated that he was "never interested" in the "decadent lifestyle" of his band days, choosing not to use alcohol or other drugs. -- In the original music video for Chariots of Fire, he is seen smoking a cigarette, so smoking must have been a significant part of his life in 1981. Tobacco is a drug. Thoric (talk) 16:08, 1 December 2023 (UTC)

Date confusion

I’m not sure where this question should be raised. Vangelis’ birthdate is given as 1943-03-29, but under the “Career” section of the article it says “In 1967, at age 25, Vangelis formed a…”

I don’t know the correct information, but this seems inconsistent. Thanks. Simply Pneumatic (talk) 04:01, 16 June 2024 (UTC)