Category Archives: Popular

The Persons “Drive My Mustang”

The Persons Popular 45 Drive My Mustang

The Persons band, photo from Greek Garage Bands of the 60s
Photo from Greek Garage Bands of the 60s
Ilias Asvestopoulos – vocals
Yannis (John) Spathas – lead guitar
Antonis Tourkogiortis – rhythm guitar (and bass after 1966)
Antonis Pitsolantis – bass (only for the first single?)
Ilias Boukouvalas – drums

Ηλίας Ασβεστόπουλος: Τραγούδι (-1969)
Γιάννης Σπάθας: Κιθάρα
Αντώνης Πιτσολάντης: Μπάσο (-1966, +Αντώνης Τουρκογιώργης)
Ηλίας Μπουκουβάλας: Ντραμς

The Persons formed in Piraeus, a port city by Athens in 1966. They released three singles, but I’ve only ever heard this, their first, from 1966.

The Persons Popular 45 All the World Is Mine“Drive My Mustang” is a kind of incoherent take on Wilson Pickett. Some listeners consider “Drive My Mustang” to be the best or among the best of all Greek garage singles. I don’t disagree with that assessment, but I prefer the flip side even more.

The Persons – All the World Is Mine

“All the World Is Mine” would make my top ten of all garage songs from any country, any year. From the moment the chiming distorted guitar begins this song is perfect to me. The jumping bass line and fleet drum work, falsetto background vocals and nasal lead vocal are all great, but most of all I love the dissonance of the slightly out of tune lead guitar against the bass and rhythm guitars. The high mark comes during the excellent guitar break after singer Ilias Asvestopoulos shouts “all the world is mine” a couple times when the band really hits a groove.

“Drive My Mustang” was written by Ilias Asvestopoulous and rhythm guitarist Antonis Tourkogiortis (rendered on the label as E. Asvestopoulos and A. Tourkogeorgis). “All the World Is Mine” was written by bassist Antonis Pitsolantis and lead guitarist John Spathas.

The Persons last 45, a cover of "Time of the Season"
Last 45, a cover of “Time of the Season”
Their second release, in 1968, has “John’s Flight” / “Young Girl” (Olympic OE74 004), while their last record covered two Zombies’ songs: “Time of the Season” (titled “Eisai to koritsi p’agapo”) and “Friends of Mine” titled (“Mono mia fora”) (PAN VOX 6146), released in 1969. Anyone have good scans of these 45s?

After their third single, the Persons evolved into Socrates Drank the Conium, one of the major Greek progressive bands of the ’70s.

Sources include: Greek listing of members from Music Heaven.

 Was there an original pressing with a center piece, or is this a reissue?
Was there an original pressing with a center piece, or is this a reissue?

The Charms

The Charms were one of the top acts in Greece in the mid-1960s. The Popular release is one of their first 45s, if not the very first, featuring two instrumentals, “Charming Hully Gully” and the phenomenal “Shake with Charm”, which has a fast, stripped-down rhythm that reminds me of the Monks!

Like other bands of the era, by 1966 they stepped away from instrumentals and started singing, but the music still has a jerky instrumental flavor to them on the early Music Box releases. All their early vocals are in English.

Their first Music Box 45 has the great garage sound of “See You on Sunday” on the B-side, with Animals-influenced organ chording, and “Mr. Goose” on the A-side.

Their next 45 on Music Box may be even better. “I’m Coming Back (to Stay)” has a repetitive horn riff and a good performance from the group. “The Count Game” is my personal favorite by this band, with a rhythm something like ska led by the organ, a great vocal and nice bluesy guitar fills.

After these releases the band lineup changed and their later output is more pop, and more often sung in Greek, and I’ve heard very little of it. Their cover of the Animals’ “It’s My Life” which isn’t bad, but definitely lacks the fire of the others. Known as a great live band, they were featured in several movies at the time, but I haven’t seen any clips of them performing yet.

The Popular 45 has no song writing or production credits. Song writing credits go to Nick Mastorakis and the Charms on Music Box 586, and to Nick Mastorakis, P. Polatos, M. Rozakis on Music Box 606. I assume Nick Mastorakis is the producer.

The following list of band members is adapted from an autotranslation of a good list of 60’s bands in Greece.

Kostas Karydas: Vocals (-1965)
Spyros Karakoytas: Bass (-1965, + Maik Rozakis: Bass, Vocals)
Giorgos Mpalaskas: Guitar (-1964, + Alekos Glykas -1964, + Kostas Njkolopoylos)
Giorgos Stratis: Drums
Teris Jeremjas: (+ 1965), Organ, Vocals
Petros Pollatos: (+ 1965), Saxophone

Κώστας Καρύδας: Τραγούδι (-1965)
Σπύρος Καρακούτας: Μπάσο (-1965, +Μάϊκ Ροζάκης: Μπάσο, Τραγούδι)
Γιώργος Μπαλάσκας: Κιθάρα (-1964, +Αλέκος Γλύκας -1964, + Κώστας Νικολόπουλος)
Γιώργος Στρατής: Ντραμς
Τέρης Ιερεμίας: (+1965), Όργανο, Τραγούδι
Πέτρος Πολλάτος: (+1965), Σαξόφωνο

The Charms featured in plenty of movies from the time. A couple of notable ones: they back Erica and Margarita Broyer on “Little Kiss” from the 1965 movie Teddy Boy Agapi Mou, and they do a fine Greek version of Del Shannon’s “Keep Searching” and an English version of Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World” in O Gampros Mou o Prikothiras from 1967.

I don’t think I can list a full filmography for the band, but I know of a couple film appearances in color: the band playing “Fige” in the background of O Daskalakos Itan Leventia from 1970 and “Xwris Esena” and “Ela Pali Ela” from O Trelopenhntarhs in 1971.