Rare Eurodisco - Costandinos Stuff

[thunderbals]

Hello everybody, i am new here, but collect disco for 7 years now. I came across some nice copies lately and wanted to share this with you, so that you maybe have something new to look for - the most important thing when you collect (:
First of all there is this record i found "The Group - Je M'envole LP" which has Costandinos in the credits and sounds like it. Lot of pop again, but then it also includes a surprisingly "Midnight Melody" which is a pretty cool piece of Costandinos action! Melody and orchestration reminds me a lot of Tony Rallos LP with the Syncophonic Orchestra "Columbia Space Symphony". Now i don't know if you've heard of that last one, but here you also get a good dose of Costandinos sytle off-road. It does not credit him, but damn, it sounds like him. From there it brought me to 2 other Tony Rallo related recods: Hurricane Fifi (not Fifi Hurricane) - Don't You Want My Love Cherie and an LP by Evidence. The Hurricane Fifi is a eurodisco monster with sexy female vocals and great orchestration (reminds a bit "interstellar love affair" by Gaz) and the Evidence LP is an obscure cosmic disco plate with a killer track on both sides with extremly dramatic orchestration and a volcano of disco symphony exploding in your ears. Just to stick with that sort of disco i have also recently purchased copies from a superbe Jupiter Sunset Band LP (that you can find here on discomusic.com) and a rec by Fenati with The Munich Machine. While Jupiter Sunset Band does remind me a John Davis/La Pregunta tune, the Fenati LP does a classics hooked on disco thing. Also interesting maybe for symphony lovers: Nightflight - Turbulence LP that has Lalo Schifrin involved somewhere and is a nice eurodisco piece in the fashion of Tangerue or Fire and Ice. Now tell me if you came across some nice eurodisco that surprised you. Sharing your passion, Charles

[JussiK]

For another chunk of it's-simply-got-to-be-Costandinos! try "Demiscollection/And The Music Played" by Mike Henson, a medley of Demis Roussos tunes created into a pitch perfect Alec R mode, with the same vocalists and the exact same sounding strings.

[Bernie]

Welcome aboard thunderbals and thanks for a great first post. Look forward to having you with us.

[darrens]

Originally Posted by thunderbals

Tony Rallos LP with the Syncophonic Orchestra "Columbia Space Symphony". Now i don't know if you've heard of that last one, but here you also get a good dose of Costandinos sytle off-road. It does not credit him, but damn, it sounds like him.

I just found the entry for this LP on discogs.com (which it seems you added), and I see that all tracks bar one were written by an "A. Kouyoumdjian". I believe I'm right in saying that this is Alec's actual name (Costandinos was just an assumed name).

[Videoskooter]

Originally Posted by darrens

A. Kouyoumdjian". I believe I'm right in saying that this is Alec's actual name (Costandinos was just an assumed name).

Yep ALEXANDRE Kouyoumdjian, born in Caïro, Egypt (1944) from an Armenian father and a Greek mother whose name was apparantly Costandinos.

Here's another list I traced:

Alec: Et pendant ce temps la/jaloux de la nuit/toi qui a vu le bout du monde/la complainte de l’ouvrier EP Barclay 71.294 (1968)

Alec : Pendant ce temps la/toi qui a vu le bout du monde SP Barclay 60.915(1968)

Alec: Un oiseau sur New York/Les mains d’un homme/Prete moi tes clés Saint-Pierre/Lisa EP Barclay 71.354 (1969)

Alec: L'amour c'est noir/..? 4 track EP Barclay 71.392 (1970)

Alec: L'amour c'est noir/..? SP Barclay 61.254 (1970)

Alec: Jean Sebastien/J'ai l'impression/Au bord de mes rèves/À chaque fois EP Barclay 71.427 (1970)

Alec: Dans cent vingt semaines/l' etranger SP Barclay 61413

[thunderbals]

even though i run at risk repeating myself, but another Alec R Costandinos Disco LP i found was Le Group LP. Thanks everybody for your great posts!

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Originally Posted by Videoskooter

Yep ALEXANDRE Kouyoumdjian, born in Caïro, Egypt (1944) from an Armenian father and a Greek mother whose name was apparantly Costandinos.

Here's another list I traced:

Alec: L'amour c'est noir/..? 4 track EP Barclay 71.392 (1970)

Of the older, 'ALEC' EPs, the 4 track with L'Amour C'est Noir / Non! Ca N'a Pas / Ete Venise / Tu Sais Pour Qui, Pourquoi / Loin... is my favourite. They're all arranged by J.C. Petit. And though you won't find anything remotely like L&K, or the Syncophonic Orchestra, Alec's voice is as beautiful as ever. You don't realize how good it is, until you take away those lovely "birds of paris" bv's that we're all used to hearing, with him.

Particularly, "Tu Sais Pour Qui, Porquoi". It's arrangement is very 60's, Bachrach & David. (Could've been in the soundtrack for an Austin Powers movie.) But J.C. Petit puts in a fierce flute solo, and string runs that do remind me of "How Much, How Much I Love You".

Now... I HAVE TO expand on the final Syncophonic Orchestra LP!!!!
My copy has a different cover than thunderbals' scan, on discogs. But it's the same LP.

Cover text:
"COLUMBIA - Symphonie Spatiale - Tomorrow Starts Today"
Polydor France - 2473 126
Disque commemoratif, Tirage Limite.
Gratuit un disque 45T.
Le commentaire d' Yves Mourousi + un poster de la navette spatiale

This copy is the original promotional item that, as best my research could uncover, was produced by 'L.A. 5'. A french television company that, apparently, released the promos to coincide with some big TV event about the launching of the Space Shuttle 'Columbia', in 1981.

The lower back credits read:
SYNCOPHONIC ORCHESTRA, Paroles et musique de A. Kouyoumdjian
Arrangements et direction d'orchestre: Tony Rallo
Realisee par L.A. 5

On the inside jacket, the "Thanks" (in french) are to: Bernie Arcadio, Pierre-Alain Dahan, Tony Bonfils, Slim Pezin, Marc Chantereau, Gorges Robi and Michel Saint Alem

The vocals were by: Arthur Simms, George and Micheal Costa and (drumroll...) The Ambrosian Singers.

Basically, this LP is the cast of "Sumeria" and Sphinx", all over again. Drop the needle on the record and WOW! You are transported right back to 1977!

The LP is structured much like Sumeria was. In so much as it wanders in and out of musical styles, to tell a story. Luckily, the lyrics are written in English, on the inside sleeve, so you can follow it.

"Ignition" Starts out with a very scattered arrangement of swaying horns and synths building into strings and french horns playing the classical "theme" that gets carried throughout the LP. (Much like the chords from "Dance & Leave It All Behind You" {itself, a minor-key variation on the chords from "I Found Love..."} keep showing up through out Sumeria. Or, Quasimodo's theme throughout "Hunchback") It all mellows out to a dead-stop on an abrupt cymbal hit. Then...

"Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom..." In comes the trademark kick drum, at 131bpm and a quick, quirky synth build into a swirling wall of strings and BAM! You're head-first into classic Alec R. Costandinos & Don Ray, with "A Theme For Columbia".

Oddly, after 3'35" it goes into a guitar break that fades out, while a slow intro for "Tomorrow Starts Today" fades in. "Tomorrow..." is very Costandinos circa '80. With Arthur Simms and Ruby James singing, back and forth, to a funky, down-tempo dance beat. It fades out.

"The Conquest" comes next. Which is an obvious continuation of the original piece, that flows into "A Theme For Columbia (suite)", complete with a short passage that changes time signature, from 4/4 to 6/8, then back to 4/4 (just like in "Trocadero Suite"), which culminates into a classic ARC/Don Ray, full-on orchestral climax that rivals the endings of "Judas", "Hunchback", or "Romeo & Juliet (Act V)".

Side two is completely down-tempo synth. Very much like the intermittent passages in "Sumeria". Although, "Halley's", the first track (credited as written by Rallo) is a truly beautiful ballad. Even at 8'46". But there is a very short, hi-nrg synth piece titled "151-K", that's about 2/3rds of the way through the side. It springs out of nowhere, much like "Cosmic Traveller" did, on 'Sumeria'. Then dissappears as quickly. The Ambrosian Singers are as spectacular, throughout the LP, as they were on the 'Sphynx' LP.

As any of you who've read my posts know, I despise conjecture. Particularly with regards to French Disco, and mon Dieu, "Alec". BUT... I'll go out on a limb here and bet the mortgage money that this LP is created from an unreleased/unfinished project from 1977. Back when everyone was doing a Star Wars/Close Encounters style LP. Because, from the opening phrases of the title track, Star Wars is the first thing that comes to mind. And it's SO similar to Sphinx & Sumeria, that it's very hard to believe it was originally arranged by anyone but Don Ray.

The down tempo "Tomorrow Starts Today" is so far removed from the style of the rest of the LP, that I'm thinking Rallo arranged it and they forced it in the middle, to break-up the original piece. (As well as, create a possible single.) Seriously, this had to have been a 15 minute piece to start with. The only differences are that Peter Kelsey didn't mix it (one of the first things I noticed, was the orchestral mix is a bit flat.) and the changes in passages are a bit abrupt for Alec. (For example: If you dropped a needle all over "Romeo & Juliet", it would sound like a few different songs. But the transitions between passages are very long, which makes them seemless. Here, the changes in phrasing & melody-lines are obvious edits from a larger piece, and hit you a little hard.)

Personally, I removed the down-tempo track, and re-edited the 3 classic ARC passages back together, into one, 131bpm, 10-minute piece that has become one of my top-5 Alec's of all time.

PHEW! Anyway...
I've always felt that "Judas" was Alec's finest hour. An honest-to-goodness piece of 20th Century classical music. (Anyone else remember when Alec was on Merv Griffin and said "I don't make 'disco' records"?) Though, too far from commercial. 2 LPs later, a bit toned-down on the drama, and with a little more Love & Kisses influence, came "Romeo & Juliet". Probably, his greatest commercial success. (There were very definite, marketing reasons why Casablanca didn't release ARC's recordings in their original sequence.)

But, if you are an Alec fanatic, like me, and still get chills from the slow, track-by-track build to the magnificent climax of 'Judas'... Or, listen intently for those glorious french horns, that carry you out of 'Eloise', trust me... YOU NEED TO FIND THIS LP!

It's our equivalent of "The Lost Episode".

Happy hunting!

[JussiK]

I found my copy of "COLUMBIA - Symphonie Spatiale - Tomorrow Starts Today" filed under "classical"....

[thunderbals]

Wow, Stephan, what a nice post, i feel just like you about it (: thanks! I am selling the copy of Syncophonic you mentioned (white cover with black inner sleeve) on ebay this week and was wondering if i can quote your review? Of course i would credit you at the end (: Just drop me a note. Merci!

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

Originally Posted by STEPHEN L FREEMAN

...as best my research could uncover, was produced by 'L.A. 5'. A french television company...

Okay...UPDATE!
I just got my copy of Love and Kisses' 1982 12", "Bap Bap", today.
On the label is the "LA5"(tm), and the back cover it states:

Love and Kisses c/o L.A.5, Inc.
9701 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212

NOTE: This is the same address as "IBIS Records, Inc.", from the back cover of the 1981 US 12" of "Something's Cookin' b/w The Mountain"-ARC 12511. (My "Americana" LP is from RCA, France. But my 12" is from IBIS, US.)

So, it appears that "L.A. 5" is what became of "IBIS Records". Also, the "Bap Bap" 12" label reads: From the forthcoming album "Force IV". Sadly, L&K's 4th LP never got released. And IBIS, US never got past the "Something's Cookin'" 12" release.

I've Googled every last detail of the L&K and "Spatiale" releases, and come-up empty-handed.

About 15 years ago, a co-producer on one of my projects, gave me Alec's home-phone number in Paris. Now if I could only remember where the hell I put it! Although, It's probably the number of a dry-cleaners by now.