Rox,I know there was another group around with the same name but I am positive that the Greek "Bang" made it into the chart...I got that info from the online Billboard magazine.The song did well in UK that year as well.

****I am attaching the article dated Feb 25,2005....You can find it on billboardradiomonitor.com

"Anna Vissi, Greece's most successful female artist ever, and a woman known to her fans simply as "The Goddess," is finally getting some U.S. success. Her single "Call Me" is already in the top 25 of the Dance Airplay Chart, but most importantly, it is making some great strides on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. After entering the chart last week as the Hot Shot Debut at No. 38, she advances to No. 30 this week and is set to crack the top 10.

Anna's career goes back to the late '70s when, as a teenager, she released her first album in 1977. Since then she has had a series of multi-platinum sellers (more than any other Greek artist) and has performed live in front of billions during the closing ceremonies of the Athens Olympics. She has represented both Greece and Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest and she is legendary for her three-hour plus concerts. Now she has set her eyes on the United States and she is certainly doing well.

This rare Greek diva advance also got me thinking on other Greek artists that made the Billboard charts over the years. Unfortunately the list is not that long (I excluded artists of Greek heritage like Cat Stevens and George Michael).

Vangelis has got to be the most successful Greek artist in Billboard's history. He topped the Hot 100 and album chart back in 1981 with his classic "Chariots of Fire" and appeared on various charts on several other occasions.

Nana Mouskouri had a decent chart run on The Billboard 200 album chart during the '90s. She is another Greek artist with a series of multi-platinum albums in several European markets including the United Kingdom (where her album "Passport" spent more than 100 weeks on the chart), Germany and France.

Most recently, Mario Frangoulis had some success with his opera albums and even scored a huge dance hit with his version of "Nights in White Satin" (remixed by Junior Vasquez).

As far as I know, the only other Greek artist to make the Hot 100 is the group Bang, which reached the lower part of the main chart n 1988. The group represented Greece in the 1987 Eurovision song contest and had a moderate success in the clubs here and in Europe before its lead singer went solo.

Unfortunately these are the only Greek artists I could find on Billboard charts. I will be monitoring Anna's success and hope to see her become a bona-fide dance diva in this country as well.

One last comment: You might be interested to know that Greece will be represented in Eurovision 2005 by Elena Paparizou, who will perform a song to be chosen March 3 by the Greek TV viewers. Elena (another candidate for international success) was the lead singer of the duo Antique, which placed third in the 2001 ESC with the awesome "(I Would) Die for You" (I think that was a fave of yours, am I right?). Hopefully this year she will finally give Greece our first-ever ESC win (we are long overdue for that -- no other country has participated as many times, without having won at least once"


-- Edited by GreekCA at 04:32, 2005-04-18

-- Edited by GreekCA at 08:58, 2005-04-18

hrthee h ora tis ELLADAS na parei to call me sto #1 ton poliseon kai ton airplay anna thea CALL MEEEEEEE

quote:

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Originally posted by: Anna Vissi Rox
"Oh really, because there is a letter by someone, written to billboard that says that same thing, but then the responder from Billboard told him different. Lol! ill try to find it and post it up later."

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Rox,
I went back and checked...and you are right!...I like it that you give me a hard time,anyway!LOL

There was a reply to the posting saying that!...I APPOLOGIZE FOR THE WRONG INFO,GUYS!
Hopefully Anna will be 1st Greek artist to make it into the Hot100 then.

I am attaching the magazine reply to the posting above...

"Thanks for the thorough report on the success of Greek artists on the U.S. charts. You've inspired me to play Anna Vissi's "Call Me" on an upcoming edition of "The Billboard Radio Countdown." While the show is mainly a countdown of songs from the Hot 100, every week we feature a song from another Billboard chart, and "Call Me" would fill the bill with its dance chart success. We also play one song from the "Hits of the World" international charts every week, and have featured a number of songs from Greece over the last seven years.

You can also hear quite a few songs by Greek artists on my own Internet radio station, shamelessly plugged in this column last week. Antique's "(I Would) Die for You" is just one selection heard on Radio Fred Bronson at www.live365.com/stations/seeaboutme.

Along with my friend Brady L. Benton of the peermusic office in Los Angeles, I program the EuroBeat channel on United Airlines, and we have played many songs by Greek artists over the years. Earlier this evening, before writing "Chart Beat Bonus" and "Chat," Brady and I put together our May-June program, and included "Anapandites Kliseis" by Elena Paparizou & Christos Dantis.

I do plan to attend this year's Eurovision Song Contest; it will be the 11th one I've covered for Billboard, and I'd love to attend the 50th anniversary celebration in Copenhagen in October. I look forward to meeting Elena in Kiev.

You made reference to Greece's entry in the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest, "Stop" by Bang, a song I've always liked. There were two different acts named Bang that charted on the Hot 100, but as far as I can tell, neither one were the Greek act that recorded "Stop." In 1972, "Questions" by a rock trio from Florida named Bang peaked at No. 90. In 1990, a British duo called Bang went to No. 93 with "Holding My Heart."

The best is yet to come!

Hahaha! sorry for giving you a hard time. I didnt really mean too though. Lol!