Vangelis - Who Killed The Dragon? (The BYG Sessions)

Having totally freaked-out major labels on both sides of the English Channel with his mind-melting biblical concept LP for Mercury’s English prog rock imprint Vertigo, the funding for Aphrodite’s Child behemoth Vangelis’ next experimental project had to come from an open minded investor, and the struggling BYG, who would take huge risks until the final furlong, gladly promised to stump up the cash for the recording bills at Marquee Studios in London.
Without delay BYG hired a crack team of UK session men who were keen to experiment under Vangelis’ Greek / French instructions. Bassist Brian Odgers had previously worked with French musicians (under JC Vannier) on Serge Gainsbourg’s seminal ‘Melody Nelson’, and drummers Micky Waller (Brain Auger Trinity) and Tony Oxley (John McLaughlin) were no strangers to creating experimental tracks for French library labels due to the clampdown on workaholicism in UK production music. Without a title, format or score sheet the custom ensemble ploughed into elongated jam sessions with Vangelis manning a castrated rack of international synthesizers, many of which were incompatible with English studios. Having finally established residency in the UK the mythical composer was instantly greeted with countless unrefusable commissions, which indefinitely delayed the Marquee sessions, in which time BYG ran out of money.
Fifteen years later, Charly Records acquired the tapes of the aborted Vangelis recordings and the unfinished full-length tracks appeared throughout Europe on various independent labels under the titles ‘The Dragon’ and ‘Hypothesis’. The separate releases are defined by two stylistic categories (funk-rock and jazz-funk, perhaps) but with elements of state of the art synth existentialism and deep-grained Byzantine influences, the recordings embody top-drawer Euro prog sensibilities which give the likes of Goblin, Le Orme, Heldon, SBB and late period King Crimson a run for their money.

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