Vassilis Tsitsanis

Vassilis Tsitsanis made his debut recording just before World War II erupted, yet his creative identity took shape in the years that followed, shaped above all by the outlook of postwar Greece. Born to a craftsman who performed on the bouzouki yet barred his son from the instrument, Tsitsanis found himself drawn to it after his father’s death and quickly developed mastery. Although he had planned a career in law, circumstances pulled him instead toward a life in music. In contrast to earlier rembetika musicians, he avoided lyrics celebrating excessive hashish use and turned instead to songs steeped in romantic melancholy. His first release, issued in 1937, bore the title “This is Why I Wander the Streets of Athens.” Works composed during the occupation of Greece earned widespread notice, even though they remained unrecorded until the conflict ended. In the postwar years he formed productive partnerships with singers Sotiria Bellou and Marika 'Ninou' Nikolaidou, and he continued to record through the 1970s.