Alec Rupen Costandinos, (born Alexandre Garbis Sarkis Kouyoumdjian, 20 March 1944) is a French composer, music producer, songwriter and singer, known for his contributions to disco music. He dominated the disco and Euro-disco genres in the late 1970s.
Biography
Costandinos was born on 20 March 1944, in Cairo, Egypt. His father was Armenian and his mother was Greek.
He began his career as a publisher and producer for various artists, including French pop star Claude Francois and chanteuse Dalida. After writing Cerrone's "Love in C Minor" (1976), Costandinos was signed to Barclay Records. He released his first album, a self-titled effort under the name Love & Kisses in 1977, which featured the tracks "I Found Love (Now That I Found You)" and "Accidental Lover", which together reached #1 on Billboard's disco chart. Costandinos went on to release a number of wildly successful records under the prominent American disco label, Casablanca. His album, Romeo & Juliet has been credited for bringing the concept album to dance music. Its title track also went to #1 on the Billboard disco chart for one week in 1978.