Roussos weighs in
Demis Roussos (pictured above), the Greek-born rock balladeer, is worth his weight in gold in any record company’s terms, says Nevin Topp. In Christchurch on a fleeting promotional visit, Roussos, who weighs
2601 b, has sold 35M albums of his music throughout the world. One comment made by a young journalist that Roussos was the biggest artist he had interviewed brought a chuckle from the Greek as he patted his body affectionately, knowing full well what the reporter meant. Roussos also knows what to say to be nice. Asked what he thought of New Zealand, he replied: “If there is a paradise on Earth, then this must be the place.”
When was he going to tour New Zealand then? “Next year,” he replied — but his manager was busy trying to organise a tour in September or October, unknown to him. It is obvious from his clothes and comments that Roussos loves the good life. He owns four English thoroughbreds, two of • hich he races. He also
owns a $500,000 wine cellar and is particularly fond of food, being careful to emphasise that one should be cautious of chefs and sauces.
But nothing is taken to excess, because Roussos says that when he has the opportunity he jogs, and that he rarely smokes. He also has definite ideas abaut who is Demis Roussos, in musical terms.
His last album, simply entitled “Demis Roussos,” was produced by Freddie Perren in the United States, but he said that Perren did not know how to use Demis Roussos, and that although he would like to have “American sauce” in his music he did not want to be 100 per cent Americanised. i However, Roussos still regards the United States market as a challenge, not being satisfied with having sold 35M albums in the rest of the world.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19790510.2.17
Bibliographic details
Press, 10 May 1979, Page 2
Word Count
306Roussos weighs in Press, 10 May 1979, Page 2
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.