Press Release

ALPHA RECORDS PRESENTS

APOSTOLOS NIKOLAIDIS
O GIALINOS KOSMOS (THE GLASS WORLD)

REMASTERED COLLECTOR’S EDITION OF TIMELESS GREEK HITS
FEATURING THE LEGENDARY SINGER
AND BOUZOUKI VIRTUOSO HARRY LEMONOPOULOS

ALPHA RECORDS: 2217

Alpha Records presents “O Gialinos Kosmos (The Glass World)”, a collector’s edition CD by the unforgettable Apostolos Nikolaidis featuring ten enduring musical performances.

This meticulous and remastered CD is the authorized release of Nikolaidis’ 1969 LP “O Gialinos Kosmos” (The Glass World)”, a collection of favorite Greek popular (laika) songs by renowned composers such as Kaldaras, Vamvakaris, Hiotis, Papaioannou and others. It was recorded in Toronto, Canada in 1969 and is being relased in its entirety and as intended on CD for the first time. Included is a 20-page booklet with rare photos and liner notes written by the well-known Cypriot author and laika music researcher Nearhos Georgiadis.

Regarded as having one of the best voices to ever grace the Greek music scene, Apostolos Nikolaidis is considered one of the great authentic representatives of the Kazantzidis style of “old-school laiko” (contemporary people’s or popular) song, a genre he served consistently and and passionately for more than 35 years. Nikolaidis appeared on the Greek musical scene in 1962. During the 1960s he recorded songs by great Greek composers such as Manolis Hiotis, Vasilis Tsitsanis, Apostolos Kaldaras and Giorgos Lafkas. At the same time, he appeared at historical music venues in Athens with Kaldaras, Lafkas, Karabesinis, Perpiniadis, with Stelios Kazantzidis and other distinguished performers.

In 1968, while on tour in Canada, Apostolos entered into a collaboration with the great bouzouki virtuoso Harry Lemonopoulos. Their partnership resulted in a celebrated recording achievement: Apostolos’ first long-play (33RPM) album entitled “O Gialinos Kosmos” (1969). This record clearly demonstrates Nikolaidis’ “inclination to bridge the Vamvakaris era with the Kazantzidis era, in a single related musical genre that is the laiko”, as Nearhos Georgiadis writes, adding, “Nikolaidis turns in an exceptional performance of the title song [written by Kaldaras/Papagiannopoulou], four years before the wonderful version by Kazantzidis in 1973.”

The songs on the album were recorded in a single day, not in a studio, but in a sparse room with good acoustics. The record is a double achievement: on the one hand, the virtuoso Lemonopoulos establishes his exceptional identity and bouzouki technique, while on the other Apostolos showcases all of his abilities as a vocalist, singing with a unique articulation that constitutes the first instance of the distinct “Nikolaidis style” of vocal delivery on record.

These virtues of the two basic factors comprising the album “O Gialinos Kosmos” make the ten songs appear as if they are new, creating the impression of a different set of songs relative to the first editions they cover. One can therefore easily speak of a rejuvenation and modernization of these already well-known, classic tunes.

Beyond the irrefutable musical value of the album “O Gialinos Kosmos”, the work also marks the start of Apostolos Nikolaidis’ unique and long-lasting relationship with the Greek diaspora of North America, a diaspora that supported him like no other Greek singer for over 25 years. The prohibited rembetika (Greek “urban blues”) songs he recorded and released in the United States in 1973 became his life's work, establishing him as a Greek musical force and making him popular all over the Greek-speaking world.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

ALPHA RECORDS S.A.
27 Omorfokklisias Street
151 22 Marousi, Athens, Greece
Tel: +30 210 2816257 Fax: +30 210 2853854
e-mail: info@alpharecords.gr
www.alpharecords.gr