Demis Roussos

Demis Roussos

Ἄρτα, Greece, 1946 – Athens, 2015.

Demis Roussos at his residence, c. 1970s. The archive notes the scale of the bath. It notes this without comment.

At his villa, Lesbos, Greek islands.

Born	15 June 1946, Arta, Greece
Died	25 January 2015, Athens, Greece
Known for	Vocalist; international recording artist; doofs, Lesbos property, 1990s
Doof connection	Outdoor gatherings, Lesbos, c.1992–2010; documented influence of Uncle Steve
Property	Lesbos, Greece
External	Wikipedia ↗

Demis Roussos (1946–2015) was a Greek singer of considerable international renown - known primarily for his work with Aphrodite's Child in the late 1960s and a solo career that produced several major international hits through the 1970s. He is included in this archive for a different reason. From the early 1990s through to approximately 2010, Roussos hosted a series of informal outdoor gatherings on his property on the island of Lesbos that community sources describe, in terms the archive finds consistent with its working definition, as doofs.^[1]

The archive notes that including a deceased international recording artist in a community archive of Australian doof history requires justification. The justification is this: the gatherings on Lesbos are documented as having been directly influenced by Roussos's relationship with a figure - referred to in the archive's documentation only as Uncle Steve - who is himself documented as formative in the early musical development of Evangelos "Boonie" Labrakis, one of the central figures of this archive's contemporary period. The circle is small but it closes.^[2]

The Lesbos gatherings

Aphrodite's Child, c. early 1970s. Roussos (centre). The archive notes his bearing is consistent with a man who would later host doofs on a Greek island.

Roussos began hosting outdoor gatherings at his Lesbos property in the early 1990s. Community sources - several of them Australian, several of them documented in the archive's broader oral history collection - describe these events as characterised by underground electronic music acts performing in an informal, non-commercial setting, typically over one or more nights, with an emphasis on atmosphere over production. No tickets. No press. Roussos, by multiple accounts, was emphatic on the subject of cameras: none were permitted. He described this policy, in a statement that has circulated in community sources, as "an ancient Greek tradition." The archive notes this description without resolving the question of which ancient Greek tradition he had in mind.^[3]

The gatherings were, by consistent account, men only on many occasions. Roussos offered the same explanation for this as for the camera policy. The archive records both without adjudication.^[4]

The archive holds three independent community accounts of attendance at Lesbos gatherings in the 1990s. Two of the three sources are Australian. One describes the events as "the best doofs I've ever been to, which is awkward to explain at home." The archive has not asked the source to explain further.^[5]

The Uncle Steve connection

Demis Roussos with an unidentified companion, c. early 1980s. The archive holds no information about the identity of the individual on the right. It notes the warmth of the expression.

Demis Roussos in arm-wrestling contest with an unidentified individual, undated. The archive notes the setting is consistent with an outdoor gathering. It does not speculate about the other man.

The documented relationship between Roussos and the individual known as Uncle Steve - its origin in a roadside rescue at the Panathenaic Stadium in 1980, and its subsequent warmth, is documented in the Evangelos Labrakis article and in the archive's records on Uncle Steve. The archive's position is that this relationship is relevant to the Lesbos gatherings because community sources consistently describe Uncle Steve as a significant influence on Roussos's interest in and approach to informal outdoor music events - and that this influence is, in turn, one of the threads by which Australian doof culture and Greek outdoor gathering culture are connected, however indirectly, through a 1967 Mercedes-Benz and a piece of a left shoe.^[6]

The archive notes that this is a claim it cannot fully substantiate. It notes it anyway, on the grounds that it is consistent with the available evidence and is the kind of claim that would, if true, be exactly as undocumented as it is.^[7]