Vassilis Tsitsanis (Βασίλης Τσιτσάνης January 18, 1915 – January 18, 1984) was a Greek singer and songwriter. Vassilis Tsitsanis became one of the leading composers and singers of rebetiko music, which was banned in Greece during its early years, and on the later laika style.

His best-known songs include:

• Synnefiasmeni Kyriaki (Cloudy Sunday)
• Eimaste alania (We are Tramps) lyrics: Eftichia Papagianopoulos
• To Vapori apo tin Persia (The Boat from Persia, about a hashish-laden boat that was captured by the police in Corinth harbor)
• O Sakaflias
• Ta leromena ta aplita (The Dirty Laundry)

Vassilis Tsitsanis may be the most well known Rebetis from the " Classical "  era , as well as one of the most prolific and respected composers of the genre. One of the things that set him apart from the other Rebetis who had preceded him, was the fact that he had the benefit of a formal education and had actually been trained as an Attorney. Thankfully he did not allow this fact to inhibit his evolution as a musician and went on to pen some of the most poignant Rebetic compositions ever created , many of which are now recognized as " standards "  for the art of  " Ta Rebetika".

Biography Vassilis Tsitsanis

Vassilis Tsitsanis was born in Trikala on January 18, 1915. From a young age, Tsitsanis was interested in music and learnt to play the mandolin, violin and the bouzouki which were the mainstay of so many of his songs. In 1936 he left for Athens to study Law, and by 1937, had made his first musical recording.

During the German occupation of Greece, Vassilis Tsitsanis lived in Thessaloniki. There he wrote many of his best songs that were later recorded after the end of the World War II.

In 1946, Vassilis Tsitsanis returned to Athens and began recording many of his own compositions that made famous many of the singers that worked with him, such as Sotiria Bellou (Σωτηρία Μπέλου), Marika Ninou (Μαρίκα Νίνου) and Prodromos Tsaousakis (Πρόδρομος Τσαουσάκης). From then on, Vassilis Tsitsanis enjoyed wide acclaim throughout Greece. Tsitsanis died in London on January 18, 1984; the day he was born sixty-nine years prior. He was mourned across Greece, where his music is still enjoyed to this day and he is regarded as a legend of rebetiko music.

Vassilis Tsitsanis

Markos Vamvakaris

Markos Vamvakaris was born on May 10, 1905 in Ano Chora, Syros, Greece. Markos Vamvakaris family belonged to the sizeable Roman Catholic community of the island, the Frankosyrians, a name deriving from the common Greek reference to West Europeans collectively as "Franks".

At the age of 12, Markos Vamvakaris believing he was wanted by the police, Vamvakaris left Syros and went to Piraeus. He worked as a stevedore, employee at a pit-coal mine, polisher, paperman, butcher and other jobs in Syros. Markos Vamvakaris heard a bouzouki player called Crazy Nick playing in Syros, and swore that if he did not learn to play the instrument in six months he would cut off his hand with a cleaver (he was working in the Athens slaughterhouse at the time). He learned bouzouki, becoming an innovative virtuoso player, and began to compose music, and write songs. At first he often played in hashish smoking establishments known as Tekes, later he and his band, which included Giorgos Batis, Anestis Delias and Stratos Pagioumtzis played in more legitimate clubs. They were extremely popular, and Markos Vamvakaris made many recordings.

Markos Vamvakaris  recorded his first rebetiko disc, Na 'Rchosouna Re Magka Mou (Να 'ρχόσουνα ρε μάγκα μου) in 1934. Among other songs in that period, he wrote the classic love songs "Frangkosyriani" (Franco-Syrian Girl) and "Ta Matoklada Sou Lampoun" (Your Eyelashes Shine).

Markos Vamvakaris is considered by many to be the father of bouzouki playing and rebetika. In 1932 he recorded for the first time and, although he didn't consider himself a singer, he ended up doing the vocals on his first record. It became a hit and his gravely singing became the norm. He made hundreds of records through the 30's and early 40's but eventually faded from the scene as the music began to change.

After the liberation of Greece from the occupation of Nazi Germany, difficult times arrived, since his kind of music was no longer fashionable. Markos Vamvakaris had to amend many of his songs during the dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas. Markos Vamvakaris also suffered badly with arthritis in his hands. The slump in his fortunes lasted until the end of the 1950s, when after initiatives by Vassilis Tsitsanis, many of his old songs were revived, sung by famous artists including Grigoris Bithikotsis, and Stratos Dionysiou. Markos Vamvakaris died on February 8, 1972 at the age of 66.

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