Vangelis -- Chariots of Fire (Titles)

 

Well, I only heard the news late last night right after I had finished the usual Thursday ROY article for Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes", but unfortunately Greek musician and composer Vangelis (Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou) passed away a few days ago on May 17th at the age of 79. He actually already has some representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" since I wrote about his moving contribution to the 2002 World Cup by Japan and South Korea through the tournament's official "Anthem".

And as much as he has been lauded for his work on "Blade Runner", I think that when the news came out on his death, most folks remembered the 1981 sports historical film "Chariots of Fire" starring Ben Cross and John Gielgud.

Pretty much everyone who saw "Chariots of Fire" and even those who never did will most likely remember the theme song by Vangelis and the footage of British Olympic athletes running barefoot along the sea. From what I read on Wikipedia, Vangelis didn't want to go full historical, musically speaking, but he also didn't want to go full electronic either, and so the end result was "Titles" according to the movie soundtrack list. However, for all those listeners and radio DJs out there, the song was known simply as "Chariots of Fire".

Just my opinion, but what Vangelis did in his contribution to the movie was akin to what John Williams had done with "Star Wars" a few years earlier. No one would have imagined Williams to come up with a swashbuckling score worthy of Errol Flynn to support a sci-fi movie, and so I think that it was pretty brave for Vangelis to bring in a Yamaha CS-80 among other electronic instruments to help score a movie about the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France. And yet in an age when the synthesizer was beginning to excite musicians and music lovers alike through pop music in general, "Titles" knocked the socks off of everyone as the theme for a serious movie with its combination of anthemic electronics and elegant piano illustrating something joyous, inspiring and proud.

Released as a single in March 1981, it reached No. 1 on America's Billboard chart and No. 4 in Canada. The movie itself won a couple of Oscars: Best Movie and Best Original Score. I remember it getting plenty of airplay on the radio for months. I offer my condolences to Vangelis' family, friends and fans. 

Since Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" was also released in the same month and I've scoured through the Oricon chart there, I'll go with what won at the Japan Record Awards in 1981 to show what the big hits were.

Grand Prize: Akira Terao -- Ruby no Yubiwa (ルビーの指輪)

Best Song: Hiromi Iwasaki -- Sumire Iro no Namida （すみれ色の涙）

Golden Aidoru Prize: Seiko Matsuda -- Kaze Tachinu （風立ちぬ）

Vangelis/Takkyu Ishino -- Anthem

Yes, folks, it is once again time for soccer fans to unite for the World Cup. This time, the festivities will be held in Brazil, and I can tell you that there is excitement in my home nation and my heritage nation. In Toronto, we have one of the most multicultural populations on the planet, so there will be tons of folks from all over watching the various matches at home, at the restaurants and even in the cafeterias underneath the skyscraper blocks downtown. Of course, Japan has become a huge soccer-loving country over the past 20 years, and my former soccer-playing student and I mutually hoped that the Blue Samurai can at least get into the Final 8.

Back in 2002, when the World Cup was held jointly by Japan and South Korea, there was a song that was being played all over the place while I was living in Ichikawa. Now, anyone who has lived in Japan for any length of time knows that for any international sporting event that involves the country in question, there has to be an officially sanctioned pop song. Usually, that means some J-Pop singer getting the nod. Well, that time there was no need since Greek composer Vangelis was able to create something so epic that it could only be titled "Anthem".

I remember Vangelis very well since he was the fellow who also created the scores for "Chariots of Fire" and "Blade Runner" back in the early 80s. But not having heard him in 20 years, I was surprised to hear that name once more when it came to the 2002 World Cup. And then "Anthem" started getting its due on the various sports reels in the run-up to the tournament. I was only able to hear the main refrain on TV but was sufficiently interested in the song that I decided to get the CD single. And once I popped the disc into my old Onkyo, I heard something that could have rivaled any of the major movie overtures by John Williams. I barely remember the opening ceremonies for that World Cup but I do remember the playing of "Anthem", and I could only imagine that any of the teams entering the stadium would have been standing even taller walking in to that theme song. Heck, even now, I wonder if "Anthem" should have been the proper theme for the "Thor" movies.

The song was released in March 2002, just a couple of months before the event started. It apparently did quite well in Japan at least, going up as high as No. 5 on Oricon and hitting Platinum in sales.

When I came across the Vangelis single in the music shop, the blue case was sitting right beside an almost identical CD except that it was in orange. At about the same time, Takkyu Ishino （石野卓球）and his outfit, Denki Groove, seemed to have their biggest moment in the mainstream spotlight, and I was picking up some of their techno material through albums and singles. The orange CD was Ishino's own take on "Anthem". So it didn't take much internal persuasion for me to kill two birds with one bill, and get both discs.

What Ishino's version lacked in the majesty of the Vangelis original, it compensated with the sheer fun of watching/playing the game. Screw pomp and circumstance...let's play football! Try keeping that theme in your head as you are warp-speeding to the net to score a GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

In any case, wherever you are and no matter which team you are rooting for, I hope all of you have a fine time enjoying the next few weeks. And I certainly hope that Brazil pulls off a successful and safe Cup!

Now, just to go down Memory Lane, why not give a listen to Vangelis' "Titles" from "Chariots of Fire" to get those competitive juices even more fired up?