Vangelis and Dalí hanging out

Aphrodite’s Child was Greece’s most prominent contribution to the prog-rock scene in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. They released End of the World in 1968 and It’s Five O’Clock in 1969, but their biggest accomplishment was still ahead of them: the double album 666, a rock opera about the Apocalypse of St. John as described in the Book of Revelations. The album was the brainchild of Vangelis Papathanassiou (music) and Costas Ferris (lyrics)—movie lovers will probably recognize the name Vangelis as the synth-y composer of the soundtracks to Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner, among others. 666 was extremely successful: although redolent of the excesses of the over-the-top prog scene of the day, the album sold 20 million albums, according to Wikipedia, and it is remembered fondly, garnering extremely positive notices from the likes of All-Music Guide and IGN in our own time. I must say, it holds up pretty well.
 

 
Once 666 was in the can, after toiling on it for the better part of 1970 and 1971, Vangelis and Ferris chanced to meet Salvador Dalí briefly in Paris. Afterwards Ferris decided to ask his PR man to get in touch with the great surrealist for the possibility of some kind of collaboration for the promotional materials. Dalí ended up visiting the band at the Europa Sonor studio, where he demanded to hear the entire album, all 80 minutes of it. Much to their surprise, Dalí was very enthusiastic about the album, calling it “a music of stone” (“une musique de pierre”) and saying that it reminded him of the great 16th-century woodcut master Albrecht Dürer (??).

Dalí proposed the following outline for a “happening,” to take place in Barcelona, then still under the rule of Generalissimo Francisco Franco, on the occasion of the release of 666:
 

1. Martial Law shall be ordered on a Sunday, in Barcelona. No one shall be allowed to walk in the streets, or watch the event. No cameras, no TV. Only a young couple of shepherds will have the privilege to witness the event. So, they can later describe it to the people, by oral speech.

2. Giant loudspeakers shall be put in the streets, playing all day the work 666, by Vangelis, Ferris and the Aphrodite’s Child. No live performance.

3. Soldiers dressed in Nazi uniforms, will walk in military march in the streets of Barcelona, arresting who-ever wants to break the law.

4. Hundreds of swans will be left to move in front of the Sagrada Famiglia, with pieces of dynamite in their bellies, which will explode in slow motion by special effects. (real living swans, that should be operated for putting the dynamite inside their belly).

5. Giant Navy planes, will fly all day in the sky of Barcelona, provoking big noise.

6. At 12:00 sharp, in the mid-day, those planes will start the bombardment of the great church, throwing all of their munitions.

7. Instead of bombs, they shall throw Elephants, Hippopotami, Whales and Archbishops carrying umbrellas.

 
Upon taking all of this in, Ferris dared to ask Dalí, “You mean, false archbishops, that is to say plastic or other dolls dressed as archbishops?” Dalí replied, “No, young man. When I say Archbishops, I mean real, living Archbishops. It’s about time to finish with the church!”

Alas, at some later point, Ferris ended up offending Dalí by bringing up Paul Éluard, to whom Dali’s wife Gala had been married before Dalí. Dalí was so upset that he mentioned having a duel (“Acceptez un duel, maintenant…”) and broke off contact with the band. (Personally I think the theatrics were a canny way out of having to follow through on an undeliverable promise ... slow-motion exploding swans?) 

Sadly, we can’t show you the happening—nobody can—but here’s the full album of 666 by Aphrodite’s Child:
 

 
via { feuilleton }