V. Tsitsanis

Vassilis Tsitsanis (Greek: ╬[]╬▒¤[]╬»╬╗╬À¤[] ╬ñ¤[]╬╣¤[]¤[]╬¼╬¢╬À¤[] 18 January 1915 Ô[][] 18 January 1984) was a Greek songwriter and bouzouki player. He became one of the leading Greek composers of his time and is widely regarded as one of the founders of modern Rebetika. Tsitsanis wrote more than 500 songs and is still remembered as an extraordinary bouzouki player. Tsitsanis was born in Trikala. From a young age, Tsitsanis was interested in music and learnt to play the bouzouki, violin and the mandolin which were the mainstay of so many of his songs. In 1936 he came in Athens to study Law, and by 1937, had made his first musical recording. In 1937 he moved to Thessaloniki, where he served his military service, and stayed there for about ten years, during the German occupation of Greece. There he became famous and wrote many of his best songs that were later recorded after the end of the War. By the shut-down of the record companies by the German occupation Forces in 1941, he had already recorded about 100 of his own songs and played on many recordings of other composers.