Christos Demetriou
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| Chris Demetriou | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Christos |
| Also known as | Chris Dee |
| Occupation(s) | Pastor / Entrepreneur |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboards / Guitar |
| Years active | Mid 1960s - present |
| Associated acts | John Kongos, Mike d'Abo, Cat Stevens |
| Website | [1] |
Chris Demetriou (born 22nd June, Paphos, Cyprus) is a musician / songwriter / record producer. He was raised in South Africa but now lives with his wife Loraine and daughter Xana in Surrey in the United Kingdom. Chris started work as a professional musician playing keyboards in Johannesburg's finest R&B group, John E Sharpe & the Squires. Chris appeared on all of the Squires classic singles, including covers of The Kinks' "Stop Your Sobbing" and Paul Simon's "I Am A Rock", as well as the highly sought after 'Maybelline' album. His distinctive organ sound can be heard on the Sharpe/Demetriou collaboration, "I'll Explain", which can be found on the Springbok Beat Records compilation 'Savage Sounds From South Africa', alongside two other band tracks, "Yours For The Picking" and "Monkey Shine."
After leaving South Africa for London, Chris joined the group Floribunda Rose (with Henry Spinetti and John Kongos) - who then became Scrugg. They recorded numerous singles on the Pye Label (produced by John Schroder}. A Forgotten gem "One Way Street" c/w "Linda Loves Linda" was expected to be a resounding hit, but despite being plugged incessantly by several major radio stations, it barely made a ripple. However, Chris did go on to attain success as a songwriter - with two top 5 hits in the UK and a number one hit in Germany and Switzerland. Most of his early work as a musician / writer (including his recordings with Floribunda Rose and Scrugg) were released on a compilation called "Lavender Popcorn" in 2001.
One of his songs “Step On” - recorded by the Happy Mondays - appears in Q magazine’s top hundred singles of all time, and the original version “He’s Gonna Step On You Again” (written with John Kongos) and produced by Gus Dudgeon was eventually cited by The Guinness Book of Records as being the first sample ever used on a record (it also made the Billboard Hot 100 twice and the Daily Mail’s list of the “500 Greatest Songs Ever”). The follow-up single in the UK was also written with John Kongos entitled "Great White Lady." "He's Gonna Step On You Again" was recently recorded by Def Leppard and appeared on their Yeah album which got to number 16 in the US Charts.
As a record producer, Chris worked with Mike d'Abo - "Down at Rachael's Place" and "Little MissUnderstood"; Cat Stevens - "Buddah and the Chocolate Box"; as well as various other established UK artists. He produced five albums for A&M Records and worked on both sides of the Atlantic. He also joined Tony Defries and Laurence Meyers when Gem Productions was handling David Bowie. In total, Chris has produced nine albums and over a dozen singles.
Chris’ diverse and multifaceted career, spans three decades. As an entrepreneur, his past and present ventures include; Chestnut Productions (record production and music publishing), The Connaught Group (sports sponsorship and management), Demco (public relations), Promise Productions (mail order), Avalon Services (financial services), ACTS International Corp. (media brokerage and rights acquisition), New Africa Networks (terrestrial broadcast network), and ShowRights Inc. (entertainment exchange portal).
Chris is also an ordained Christian minister and notable public speaker. He is founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Ministries [http:www.cornerstonethechurch.com], a local church and registered charity situated in Surrey, England. The church services are filmed and broadcast weekly on SKY television, and the website has over 150 thousand visitors each year and 14 thousand people download his notes.
As a motivational public speaker, Chris has influenced the lives of tens of thousands of people, by teaching them to process, filter and simplify universal principles. He has written two books - "What Matters Most" (ISBN 978-0-9557280-0-6) and "It’s Your Life, It’s Your Choice" (ISBN 978-0-9557-2801-3).
References
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums, 19th, London: Guinness World Records Limited, p. 306. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. ^ Berry, Mark "Bez" (1998). Freaky Dancin', 1st, London: Pan, p. 285. ISBN 0-330-37054-5. ^ http://music.phoenixnewtimes.com ^ http://cornerstonethechurch.com ^ http://artistdirect.com/nad/ music/artist/card/0,,698539,00.html ^ ht"tp://discogs.com/artist/Christos+Demetriou Warchive@aol.com
References
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums, 19th, London: Guinness World Records Limited, p. 306. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. ^ Berry, Mark "Bez" (1998). Freaky Dancin', 1st, London: Pan, p. 285. ISBN 0-330-37054-5. This 1970s single-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
