Athenians Of Toronto
San Skotiniazi
The relationship between Veego Records and the Athenians of Toronto starts from an mp3 folder that contained 'Gramma Tis Poulias'. It was that time when funk and soul reissues flourished, from every remote village in America to the ends of the African continent. This gave rise to the need for deep digging in Greek releases, in the quest to find a few breaks or traces of fuzz and wind instruments. These grooves were found in 'Gramma...' which impresses with the way it's played and does not resemble any Greek band. Maybe that's the reason the band stands out. This album is considered one of the rarest private pressings from Canada. It was released on their own label (Athenian Company) in 1971 in about 100 copies, which they shared hand in hand so they could book live shows. Maybe that explains the atmosphere of the album that suits both a good society party of the '60s, as well as a modern club of the time. The band was founded in Ontario in 1966 by the Filippaios brothers, Costas on piano and Nikos on drums, Danny Fernando on guitar, Paul Emo on bass and Vangelis Bethanis on vocals. Despite their very young age (11 to 17 years old!) and their parallel studies at school, they managed to create an awesome sound with influences from The Beatles, Chicago, Blood Sweat And Tears and other similar bands of the time and they managed to make high-profile appearances in Canada, USA and Venezuela. The album contains three original compositions as well as covers by Chicago, Santana, Lighthouse, CCR and The Doors. All the songs have been rendered in Greek except for 'Ela Agapi Mou Konta' (Light My Fire) which probably would have been a success if it had been heard in Greece at that time, as it is one of the rare cases of alternating English/Greek lyrics. The Athenians Of Toronto was without a doubt a charismatic band. They performed by the side of many Greek popular artists when these artists were visiting the USA, while having a good sense of modern pop, rock, soul and jazz music. This can be felt in this recording, which finds its way to its first official release after fifty years. And if nothing else, even today, it sounds authentic. Ladies and gentlemen, The Athenians Of Toronto, ideal for your home party and your eclectic DJ sets.