Iraklis & Lernaia Hydra

Iraklis & Lernaia Hydra was a Greek rock band. It was formed in 1972 by musician Iraklis Triantafyllidis and it was active until 1995.

History

Many musicians participated in this band:

- 1972-1995: Iraklis Triantafyllidis, core member and founder of the band (vocals, guitar, violin, banjo-mandolin, fife, harmonica and others)

- 1972-1974: Fondas Xatzis (drums), Giorgos Maglaras (violin), Petros Protopappas (flute, vocals) and Giorgos Jagger (bass) join the band. Later, the following musicians also participated: Christos Stimagiotis (flute), Lakis Papadopoulos (guitar, vocals), Tolis Dimitrakopoulos (guitar, vocals) and Nikos Pavlakos (bass).

- 1974: Giorgos Filippidis (bass), Giannis Pachoulis (guitar, vocals). In Spring, 1974, Iraklis goes to Germany where he forms a band with German musicians and plays live in gigs where other international musicians also played. He returns to Greece in October, 1974 and records “Se Allous Kosmous”, which was released by EMI as double LP in January, 1976.
- 1976: Dimitris Zafirelis (guitar, vocals), Giorgos Sieras (guitar, vocals), Vasilis Stamatiadis (drums), Nikos Doikas (bass), Giorgos Gavalas (flute, vocals), Nikos Sakelis (keyboard), Nikos Milionis (harmonica) and Marianna (vocals)

- 1977: Pier Choremis (guitar), Spiros Fatouros (drums), Nikos Giannatos (bass) and Marianna (vocals)

- 1978: Iraklis Saridakis (guitar), Michalis Nikolaidis (bass), Thanos Apostolou (drums), Tasos Kalianiotis (guitar, vocals), Stelios Zachariou (drums).

- 1979] Vasilis Lemonis

- 1980-1984: “Iraklis & Lernaia Hydra” plays live quite often in “Sofita”, a place owned by Iraklis, a place where bands and artists can perform live. Most of the rock musicians – bands of the time performed at some point in “Sofita”.

- 1980: Tasos Fotodimos (drums), Giannis Giokarinis (keyboard, vocals), Panos Patsoglou (trombone), Giannis Kikinis (saxophone, flute). They play live in many gigs in Athens and other Greek cities.

- 1981: Christos Lagos (guitar), Nikos Ziogalas (vocals). With this formation and Giannis Giokarinis and Katerina Metsini contributing to vocals, album “Pezis Me tis Michanes” (“You’re playing with machines”) is recorded.

- 1982: Panagiotis Gianoselis (drums), Giorgos Grekousis (vocals).

- 1982-83: Giannis Giokarinis (keyboard, vocals), Nikos Sidirikastritis (drums).

- 1983: Akis Perdikis (drums), Matt Daryan (saxophone), Milena Triantafyllou (keyboard).

- 1984: Vaggelis Efstathiou (drums), Makis Simitis (keyboard, vocals), Panos Streklas (saxophone). With these members, and Giannis Giokarinis, Sophia Noiti and Marianna Varvadouka in vocals, rock album “I stigmi” (“The Moment”) is recorded. “Legame”, a song which was recorded in 1981 is included in this record.

- 1985: The band plays live in Belgrade

- 1986: Stratos Alimonos (keyboard, vocals), Costas Papanikolaou (bass), Manolis Skoulas (guitar, vocals), Nikos Makrakis (drums).

- 1987: Petros Pelelis (drums)

- 1988: Charis Antoniou (drums), Tolis Voultzatis (guitar), Manolis Petalakis (keyboard), Costas Papanikolaou (bass), Michalis Nikolaidis (bass), Vangelis Efstathiou (drums), Stratos Alimonos (keyboard).

- 1995: Akis Mouchlianitis (keyboard, vocals), Dimitris Papanikou (bass, vocals), Charis Antoniou (drums), Giorgos Rallis (drums), Alexandros Triantafyllidis (guitar, vocals), Irini Triantafyllidi (vocals)

Discography

*"“O Giannis”", LP 45’s, Polygram, 1972
*"“Se Allous Kosmous”", 2 (LP), EMI, 1976. This album has been reissued six times:
**LP, Polyavlos, 1981
**LP, EMI-Columbia, 1988
**CD, MINOS-EMI, 1995
**2 (LP), Polyavlos, 2002
**CD, MINOS-EMI, 2003
**CD, Polyavlos, 2006
*"“San Oneiro Glyko”", LP 45’s, EMI, 1976
*"“Pezis Me tis Michanes”", LP, Polyavlos, 1981
*"“I stigmi”", LP, Polyavlos, 1984