"Summer Hits"

Cayetano – aka George Bratanis – started his musical journey with Stroggilo Kitrino (The Round Yellow) band back in 1996. As a solo artist under the name Cayetano he appeared in 2004 and since then he has released 5 albums which gained him international recognition.


This is his latest single, a great cover of Commodores' Easy.



www.cayetanomusic.com

Coming from the new EP (2012) of Super Mario and the Exotic Watermelons, this is an afrobeat influenced tune. This EP is the second addition to the funky, soul, jazz universe of Super Mario and the Exotic Watermelons.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Exotic-Watermelons/329822327048145

Dr. Opin is not a Greek band but the reason it is featured here is Yorgos Pervolarakis, their vocalist, guitarist, composer and lyricist. Dr. Opin describe their music as a cosmopolitan amalgama of worldbeat, Balkan, downbeat, soul-punk.
Here’s a great cover of Tuxedomoon’s In A Manner of Speaking coming from Dr. Opin’s album Time Garden (2010)

www.doctoropin.com/

Salvador Sango – aka Sotiris Papadopoulos – released a second album in 2012, Cuando Se Caen Las Mascaras (When The Masks Fall), further exploring the afrobeat and latin jazz style.


salvadorsango.com

Summer Groove

Another bunch of songs from the "usual suspects", artists that were related with one way or another with Aphrodite’s Child and have been already presented on previous posts. The common element here is their groovy, funky, soul sound.

Harry Chalkitis left his footprint on the late 70s euro-disco arena with his disco project Queen Samantha. Their successful album Queen Samantha II (1979) was followed by a solo Chalkitis album, Tiger in The Rain a year later (1980) in the same euro-disco style. The album was released again in 1981 under another title (So Long) with exactly the same songs of Tiger in The Rain plus a maxi version of So Long.




Tiger in The Rain (M. Swirid, M. Chalkitis, H. Chalkitis) stands out as a super funky track



A few years earlier (1974) he released his (first?) 7” Time is Over, another super groovy track, written by M. Sundahl / M. Swirid / A. Koulouris.

Artemios (Demis) Ventouris Roussos, member of The Idols, We Five and Aphrodite’s Child, has quite a few groovy moments in his solo career. His collaboration with Alec R. Constandinos in 1975 left a very successful album, Souvenirs including the great Midnight is the Time I Need You (A. Koulouris - R. Costandinos).



The album was re-released in 1998 with the addition of 6 more tracks that were left out of the original release.
Among them The Secret in Her Eyes, a composition of R. Constandinos and S. Vlavianos

In 1978 Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren wrote the disco anthem I Will Survive for Gloria Gaynor. The same year they also wrote for Demis Roussos the disco track L.O.V.E. Got A Hold On Me which was released as a single and was included in Demis Roussos album of 1978.

Finally a disco/funky track from Dimitri (Tambossis).
You Are A Sinner (1977) was released as a b-side to Dimitri's single I Am.
You're A Sinner is written by S. Vlavianos / P. Mieucens / S. Woods.

Cast-a-Blast

Cast-a-Blast is not just a record company. It’s a collective of dj’s, producers and musicians focusing on hip hop, lo-fi, jazz, funk, latin and dub.
Founded in 2006 and based in Athens, Cast-a-Blast crew aims at discovering, creating, producing some of the finest new beats.
The roster includes artists from many countries. On this post we'll focus on the 4 founders of Cast-a-Blast.

More artists, releases, news, downloads here: http://cast-a-blast.com/

Blend Mishkin

Driving force behind Cast-a-Blast, Blend is the co-founder and has produced many of its artists. Dj, producer and re-mixer he has been releasing music since 1997.
He has released a solo album for Sirius (Man Under Influence, 2005) plus two solo albums for Cast-a-Blast, Misplaced (2006), a fine blend of hip hop, funk, dub and Sudden Death (2009).




Blend – Smoke (from Misplaced, 2006)


Sugahspank!

Already active with the group Sugah Galore since 2004, she co-formed Cast-a-Blast in 2006 and released her first solo album, The Incredible/ The Invisible, in 2008.
She also contributed to other Cast-a-Blast releases as well as on Swing Shoes debut album.



  

Sugahspank! - Lost That Lovin' Feeling (from The Incredible/The Invisible, 2008)


Palov

 Dj, producer and co-founder of Cast-a-Blast, Palov formed the duet Palov and Mishkin (Blend) and released two albums: the compilation Backslam Extravaganza (2007) and Think Twice (2009).
He has also released a solo song, What's That, that was included in various nu-swing compilations.




 Palov and Mishkin - A Case of Amnesia (from Think Twice (2009)


Palov - What's That (from I Can Hear it Now compilation EP, 2010)




BNC (Bruises n Cuts)

The fourth co-founder arrived in Greece at the age of 10, coming from Dominican Republic. BNC music is fresh and groovy, mixing hip hop, latin sounds, dub and reggae.
He has released two solo albums on Cast-a-Blast, The Birth (2008) and Ruff, Rowdy & Unfocused (2010)





BNC ft MC Yinka - The Harder They Fall (from Ruff, Rowdy & Unfocused, 2010)

For a Few Drops of Happiness

There are 3 songs that I like to play in this particular order as if they belong to some Greek soul compilation.
They do not for the moment.

The first one belongs to George Kinousis album Kanena Provlima (No Problem), 1978.
The opening track Efyga (I’m gone) has a groovy soul instrumentation on top of a Greek popular tune. Giorgos Kinoussis has a long history in music as an accordionist and composer of popular songs in late 60s and as a singer/songwriter in the 70s.

Efyga (I'm Gone), 1978

In 1972 Aris San released the single Ine Arga (It’s late). This is a particularly interesting tune composed by Aris San (lyrics by Pythagoras) as it is a pure soul masterpiece with horns and string arrangements.
The song is included as bonus track in the triple cd Memorial Collection – 10th Anniversary released in 2002 by NMC Music Ltd in Israel. The compilation is highly recommended as it includes 65 of his songs sang in Greek, Spanish and Hebrew. 

Ine Arga (It's Late), 1972

The 3rd one is the 1978 version of Gia Liges Stagones Eftyxias (For a Few Drops of Happiness) by George Egyptios (real name George Maroulakakis born in Alexandria, Egypt).
The song, a Stavros Kaxos composition, appeared in Egyptios album Esy pou Efyges (You Left), 1974 where Egyptios has also done the orchestration.
George Egyptios does another version on his 1978 album Ta Hili sou (Your Lips) with different orchestration (Mallidis) where bouzouki is replaced by organ offering a pure exotica experience.

Gia Liges Stagones Eftyhias (For a Few Drops of Happiness), 1978