We left Greece before the junta ended but we were there when it began. The coup and CIA involvementįifty-five years ago, Greek military tanks rolled through the city center, ushering in seven years of repression, imprisonment and torture for anyone who spoke out. Darkness spread across the surface of my childhood. The moment I read this quote, my sweet memory turned cold. I see my child self smiling dutifully up at the guests as I ask politely, “Thelete tipota?” Would you care for anything? And that’s when I imagine that I approached with the silver tray mama piled high with dolmades. Maybe the Station Chief arrived at the group of men, someone patted him on the back, and then Dad rushed over with a drink.
A group of embassy men stood in our yard near our small fish pond, talking and laughing. Suddenly, it was 1970 and I was five years old again. The possibility that it might have been true was enough.
Did I know for sure that this quote was accurate or that it was said at one of our parties? No. Everyone smiled down at me as they lifted dolmades from my tray. I carried a small tray from one group to another. I walked around the yard in tight patent leather shoes and offered mezedes to men from the embassy, my father’s colleagues. Guests strolled into our yard, men in crisp shirts and women in bright evening dresses. Often, during our Athens years, my parents threw parties. I had no idea what took place down the avenues inside interrogation centers like the one on Bouboulinas Street.
Famous artists and composers were arrested and sent away too. They were sent to remote islands for years. A group of colonels-not generals as some had predicted-began arresting anyone who spoke out. The world’s oldest democracy turned into a dictatorship overnight. Ten days after my sister was born, the Greek military rolled its tanks into the city center and took over the government. "But it's politically charged music.Greek military stage coup The front cover of the forthcoming book by Leslie Absher "We're not saying go out and blow up the buildings," Funk said. Naturally, many of the reviews came accompanied with pictures of the original CD cover, complete with exploding buildings.įunk said The Coup, known for lyrics with an edgy, anti-establishment bent, chose the original cover for its powerful imagery.Īnd, as was the case with The Coup's previous three releases, "Kill My Landlord," "Genocide and Juice" and "Steal This Album," not all harsh statements are meant to be taken at face value. Before the album's release got pushed back to November, The Coup received reviews in several publications, including print editions of Wired Magazine, Spin and CMJ. "Ultimately, they reserve the right to use whatever cover they want because they're the label," he said.Īdding to the confusion is the fact that the original CD cover had already gone out to members of the press, distributors and others. It's not out of respect to the victims."Ĭhris Funk, The Coup's manager, said it's most likely that 75 Ark will prevail in its plan to change the cover, however.
"But they can't sidestep that the reason this is being censored is a political one, not a sympathetic one. "My condolences go to the families of the victims and all their friends and anybody affected at all by the catastrophe," Riley said. It should not be interpreted as a call to violence, particularly in light of Tuesday's tragedy, he said. Riley said the cover design, completed in June, was "supposed to be a metaphor for the capitalist state being destroyed through the music." The move to switch covers has not been without opposition.Ĭoup founder Boots Riley said he argued with the label to keep the original design, which a distributor had threatened not to release. However, the decision making is particularly difficult due to the fact that 75 Ark has been unable to reach officials with The Coup's publicist, Girlie Action, which is located in lower Manhattan. They're looking at pictures from an old photo shoot as well as an image based on the group's logo. Isabella said the label hasn't decided on a new cover. The fictional picture depicted on the cover, it seemed, was a bit too close to the horrific images occupying the television screen. The printers were set to crank out copies of the fiery World Trade Center image on Tuesday, Isabella said, when the label put in a last-minute call, urging them to stop the presses.
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