Purple Overdose "Exit #4" 1988****

There is something anachronistic to the Greek rock scene. Although it started out normally in the early-to-mid 60's with garage bands emulating The Beatles, Stones, Animals etc. it suffered a setback during the years of the colonels' dictatorship (1967-1974). Despite seizing power with U.S. help (ostensibly to ward off the "red scare"), the dictators were mistrustful of American culture. Elvis was OK, The Beatles were too big to ignore, but all other rock was kept out of the airwaves after '67. If I remember correctly, the Woodstock movie was also hurriedly pulled off cinemas in 1970 when deemed too dangerous to the morals of Greek youth. A few rock bands did exist, and they catered to a small informed audience, but only those with contacts abroad or those who lived inside the radius of the U.S. Army Base radio would get to listen to the likes of Hendrix, Cream, Doors etc. Flower-power was something to ridicule in popular musical comedies, not a movement. Then, in 1974, the regime fell and a little rock music crept in through official and (mainly) pirate stations. Greek teenagers of the late 70's were thus simultaneously exposed to psychedelia, prog, metal, punk and new wave. There's not much of a time gap between first generation psych rockers like PLJ Band, who released their debut LP in 1982, and the first neo-psychedelic bands like No Man's Land (formed in '85) and Purple Overdose (formed in '87). Also, a lot of psychedelic rock LP's were issued for the first time in Greece in the mid-80's: I have records by The Human Beinz, H.P. Lovecraft, Electric Prunes etc. from that era, all released 15 years after their original circulation. Imagine, at the time these LP's were only available as new items in record shops in Greece, when in the U.S. and Europe you could only find them at garage sales and the like. Vinyl collectors, take note!

CD cover

The belated influx of all these psychedelic records was one of the reasons that neo-psychedelia and garage rock took roots in Greek underground culture of the 80's, probably more than any other European country. Purple Overdose leader Costas Constantinou mentions Jefferson Airplane as his introduction to psychedelic rock, then Electric Prunes and 13th Floor Elevators. He wrote some songs in that vein during the early 80's but had to wait until 1987 to find a band to play them. That was the early form of Purple Overdose, which also included Zaharias whom Athens music lovers will probably recognize from his famous records shop in Monastiraki (Athens), rather than from his stint in various Greek rock bands. Early P.O. also shared a couple of members with No Man's Land: Bassist  "Sugar" George Papageorgiades stayed on, while drummer George Nikas returned to N.M.L. and was replaced by Chris Triantafilopoulos halfway through the recording of this album. The fourth member of the band for this recording is organist Michalis Vassiliou, whose keyboards are the most dominant sound on this LP. If  I had to use one word to describe this album that may have been "groovy", and that is the result of Vassiliou's keyboards as much as Constantinou's compositions. The album opens and closes with the 2 halves of "Exit#4", a surf/psych instrumental that reminds me of Chocolate Watch Band's "Dark Side Of The Mushroom". Then the first voice we hear belongs not to the lead singer, but bassist George who takes lead vocal on "Are You There?". It's a nice melodic piece that falls between typical West Coast psychedelia and early Syd Barret-fronted Pink Floyd. It's one of their older songs, featuring Nikas as a drummer. Other songs by the same line-up include "When You Talk About Me" which starts off as a waltzy, Country Joe & The Fish-style tune and gets more intense/loud later, as well as a 13th Floor Elevators pastiche called "Elevation". "Holes" is a loud 6-minute garage rocker, the best of the early batch, and the only one of that early batch often played live.

The Vinyl Issue

The newer songs show a marked improvement in the space of a few months: "Yellow Mole" sports a catchy tune, the organ is more to the fore, and the vocals are better realized, especially the combination of lead and backing vocals. "Blue Torture" is a bluesy song reminiscent of Love's "Signed D.C.", and "Orange Journey" (they had a color theme going, an allusion to acid trips and synesthesia maybe?) a mid-tempo piece with Doors-y keyboards. Last but not least -actually one of their most popular songs and perennial live favorite- is the ultra-catchy "Rooby Go Round", a perfect synthesis of Jefferson Airplane (the male/female vocal harmonies with guest singer Evie Hassapidou, then still a member of No Man's Land) and The Doors (the Ray-Manzarek-Goes-To-The-Carnival organ). This album was a pretty accomplished one by the standards of the Greek Alternative scene of the 80's, but with hindsight it's just a taste of greater things to come. The production and arrangements are relatively basic, and the overall sound rawer and closer to the garage side of psychedelia rather than the prog side they would later favor. On the other hand, it's the easiest of their albums to get a hold of thanks to Pop+Rock magazine, a mainstream music monthly that gave it away on CD as premium, sometime in the late 90's. A lot of that batch are still available 2nd hand pretty cheap, while both the original first pressing and 1993 limited re-release on yellow vinyl are rather costly. Albums 2, 3, and 4 (all great) were only ever released on vinyl and are now even more rare. Some more recent compilations of demos and live tracks are easier to get, but of less interest - so, while Exit#4 is not the best or most typical P.O. album out there, it could still make for a good introduction to the band. 

***** for Rooby Go Round 

**** for Yellow Mole, Holes, Orange Journey

*** for Exit #4 (Intro), Are You There?, When You Talk About Me, Elevation, Blue Torture, Exit #4 (Outro)

Purple Overdose "Indigo" 1990*****

Of all the musicians that we lost this year, the one that affected me the most is someone most of you probably haven't heard of. Costas Constantinou, singer, guitarist and main songwriter of Greek neo-psychedelic band Purple Overdose apparently died in his house a few days ago during the Corona lockout, though there are no indications that he was infected. He can't have been more than 60 years old. I first saw P.O. live around 1990. I was a big fan of garage and psychedelia at the time, blindly buying any record that came out between 1966-1970. Can't say I regret it either, the late 60's were a wonderful time for music. But in my mind that kind of music sadly belonged to the past - until, that is, I saw Purple Overdose play, they could transport you right back to psychedelic London circa 1968. It wasn't just the music, but the fact that the band had immersed themselves in that period in every way: music, lyrics, clothes, attitude, probably even the relevant drugs. I became an instant fan of and started hyping them to my friends. Infuriatingly, it was a year or two before they appeared again; I think some members were unavailable because of compulsory army duty. But for the following decade they gigged often and I rarely missed a chance to see them. They also became the only band, along with The Fuzztones, whose albums I'd buy immediately after release, because I couldn't wait to listen to them - no youtube or streaming services at the time, that meant you'd have to wait for an album to get radio play or find someone to lend it or tape it for you. Or wait for the reviews to decide on buying. But of course I needn't read the reviews when it came to P.O. - I'd snatch their albums as soon as they came out. Great investment it was too, seeing as the original LPs (they released almost exclusively vinyls) now cost in the neighborhood of €80. Constantinou was also a dedicated collector of vinyl - we must have had the same buying habits and record store routes, because I'd catch him hanging around at record shops every other week or so. It never told him what I thought of his music or even that I recognize him, we just spoke a few times as fellow music enthusiasts about a record that was playing on the store, or that one of us was holding. He was something of an authority on everything regarding psychedelia, garage and prog but also very well informed on other styles of music.

When I first saw Purple Overdose for the first time, I couldn't believe there was a band playing this kind of music at the dawn of the 90's, let alone a Greek band from my neighborhood. It was at the AN Club in Exarchia, slightly before or after the release of this album, 1990. During that concert they introduced us to a guest musician, a flutist called Tolis Labouris who also played in the album and who would soon become a full-time member. I believe they played the whole of this (with the possible exception of the instrumental) plus a few songs from their debut Exit#4, closing with "Rooby Go Round", one of the most upbeat tracks of the aforementioned album. Indigo was their second effort, and constituted a big leap forward from the previous LP. They'd evolve further with every album, usually incorporating more progressive elements. I'd be hard pressed to choose my favorite P.O. album, but I think it'd be a tie between this and their next, eponymous, LP. While their playing would improve still and compositions would became more ambitious, there's something winsome about Indigo's relatively simpler, yet finely arranged, melodies: A song like opener "Moonlight Sunshine" has an instantly catchy melody that hints at the possibility of a successful career writing radio jingles - thankfully Constantinou chose not to pursue that direction. The song's melodic lead and backing vocals, swirling organ, gong, and psychedelic guitar solo are pure UK popsike circa 1968. "Cosmic Ladder" is more relaxed, with Doors-like keyboards and another spacey solo. It's followed by a fantastic instrumental called "Suite For A Sunshine Day". This is a more complex composition featuring martial drumming, classical-style organ and jazzy passages of the Canterbury school. Most impressive.
"Rain Without Storm" which closes side 1 (remember, it was only released on vinyl) has a baroque intro with harpsichord and flute and a pretty melody that may remind you of a big hit called "Rain and Tears" by another, older, Greek band. Side 2 starts with the playful melody of "White Colours". Keyboards and flute dominate the first half, then mellow overdubbed vocals and jazzy solos in the middle, with the electric guitar only raising its head 3,5 minutes into the song. The next song is called "Golden Eyes". The longest and probably the most psychedelic track on the album, it opens with a somewhat oriental melody and continues with dark and spacey keyboards, slow psychedelic solos, trippy vocals and romantic lyrics. All very reminiscent of early Pink Floyd, circa Saucerful Of Secrets. The album then closes with another romantic baroque piece "(Shady Reflections At The) Magic Forest". A pretty melody played on harpsichord and violin, and a vocal duet with Vicki Variti of Jack Of All Trades (un)fame. It picks up pace around two thirds of the way, culminating with an electric guitar/organ duel. Like all the songs here, it features quasi-mystical poetic lyrics including flowers, enchanted gardens, and strange and magical creatures. Like the albums that followed it, Indigo got great reviews by the specialized music press but never reached a wider audience - we're talking, after all, about a vinyl-only LP on a small Greek independent label, and a band that never played outside of the country. Even if you did read the reviews, you'd have to go to the trouble of mail-ordering the album from Greece without ever having heard a single note. Thankfully we now have youtube, so you can get a taste. Start with the clips below, and then search for a vinyl copy for the full experience: there's the original pressing on black vinyl, and a later reissue on colored one, both very collectible. Last but not least, this LP also has a gorgeous cover depicting Salvador Dali's painting "Hallucinogenic Toreador" - very aptly named, as well as visually analogous to the sounds contained in the grooves.

***** for Moonlight Sunshine, Cosmic Ladder, Golden Eyes, (Shady Reflections At The) Magic Forest

**** for Suite For A Sunshine Day, Rain Without Storm, White Colours