Apostolos Nikolaidis: Biography Part 3
Wanting to break away from his heavy "rebeti" image, Apostolos recorded and released an album of elafra love songs called "Den Hriazonte Logia" on the Venus-Tzina record label in 1982. (Apostolos also wrote and/or co-wrote the music on many of the songs.) The album did not meet the commercial success Apostolos had hoped for, but it did mark another type of success for Apostolos. Through songs like "Ti tragoudi na po," "In' i kardia sou san ti thalasa," "O tsiganos" and "Den ehis perithorio," Apostolos showed he could sing any type of song, not just the heavy-handed rebetika he had become so well-known for. Apostolos believed a truly great singer should be able to sing any type of song, and with this album he proved he could sing anything.
  "Rebetikes Stigmes-Magika Tragoudia" followed in 1983 on the VASIPAP label. Many of the songs on this album ("Dimitroula (Thessalonikia)," "Arhontorembetis," "Ke mitroo katharo," O bakaras," "To portofoli") became popular requests during Apostolos' subsequent live performances and concerts. Kostas Papadopoulos, one of Greece's most highly-regarded bouzouki players, worked with Apostolos on this album. |
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In the early 80s and along with the album releases, Apostolos worked in various well-known nightclubs in and around Athens. However, he felt stifled by a lack of integrity and opportunity in the music business at the time. Apostolos returned to New York in the mid-80s and resumed appearances there. He performed his newer material in addition to his older classics. In 1986, he released a collection of laika songs entitled "Na Se Zilevoun Pio Kala." Songs on this release included "Na se zilevoun pio kala," "Pios to ehi to votani " and "Goustaris gia to akrogiali."
Apostolos continued to give memorable performances in New York, Toronto, Houston, San Francisco, Vancouver as well as Germany and Australia into the late 80s and early 90s. Apostolos was ceaselessly followed and embraced by his many ardent fans and performed to packed houses every night. His fan base now included many younger fans, who had grown up with Apostolos and counted "Otan Kapnizi O Loulas" among their all-time favorite albums.
In 1991, Apostolos released "Mia Vradia Me Ton Apostoli" — a live album containing material recorded during his legendary apperances at Asteria, a well-known Greek supper club in Astoria, in 1990 and 1991. The album was a success and yielded the hit "Otan horevis to tsifteteli (Horepse, horepse)." For this achievement, Apostolos was honored with his second gold record in New York in 1993. The album was released in Greece in 1995, and "Otan horevis to tsifteteli" became one of the most commonly played songs on the radio and in nightclubs that year. Spurred on by the success, and as a further established and respected artist, Apostolos decided to return to Greece in the mid 1990s. His goal was to record new material and perform for his fans in his native country.
