career in music spanning over 50 years and having composed and performed more than 50 albums, Vangelis is one of the most important figures in the history of electronic music, and modern film music. He used many electronic instruments in a fashion of a "one-man quasi-classical orchestra" composing and performing on the first take. Early life Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou was born on 29 March 1943 in Agria, Greece, a coastal town in Magnesia, Thessaly, and raised in Athens. His father Odysseus worked in property and was an amateur sprinter; Vangelis described him as "a great lover of music". His mother Foteini Kyriakopoulou was trained as a soprano. Vangelis had one brother, Nikos. Vangelis developed an interest in music at age four, composing on the family piano and experimenting with sounds by placing nails and kitchen pans inside it and with radio interference. When he was six his parents enrolled him for music lessons, but Vangelis later said that his attempts to study "failed" as he preferred to develop technique on his own. He considered himself fortunate to have not attended music school, as he believed that it would have impeded his creativity. He never learned to read or write music, instead played from memory. "When the teachers asked me to play something, I would pretend that I was reading it and play from memory. I didn't fool them, but I didn't care". One of his piano teachers was Greek composer Aristotelis Koundouroff. In a 2008 interview, Vangelis stated that he had a peaceful and happy childhood and that his parents never interfered in his life, letting him to just be and be involved in his activities, mainly consisting of playing the piano, painting and constructing things with his hands. Vangelis found traditional Greek music as particularly important in his childhood, but at 12 developed an interest in jazz and rock. At 15, he started to form school bands, not to cover other musicians, but to have fun. Vangelis acquired his first Hammond organ at 18. In 1963, Vangelis and three school friends started a five-piece rock band The Forminx (or The Formynx), playing cover songs and original material largely written by Vangelis with English lyrics by radio DJ and record producer Nico Mastorakis. After nine singles and one Christmas EP, which found success across Europe, the group disbanded in 1966. Career 1963–1974: Early solo projects and Aphrodite's Child Following the