Greek rock

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Rock and roll spread around the world in the 1950s and 60s, entering Greece in the middle of the latter decade. Greek performers in the field include Jimi Quidd (born Jimmy Hatzidimitriou, later member of the The Dots and producer for Bad Brains), the Bob Dylan of Greece, Dionysis Savvopoulos, who also plays rembetika and laika, and Pavlos Sidiropoulos, the most important representative of Greek folk-rock and rock.

1970s

Greek rock first peaked in the early seventies, while Greece was still ruled by a military dictatorship. Bands include Socrates Drank The Conium (anglophone progressive rock), Exadahtylos (political/satirical lyrics), Pelóma Bokioú (Santana-like Latin rock with Greek lyrics), Poll (folk with vocal harmonies, Greek lyrics).

The fall of the dictatorship was followed by a total cultural dominance of left wing intellectuals (though the government was still moderately right-wing). For them, rock was an "imported" (xenoferto - ξενόφερτο) form of music and they instead promoted music based on local traditions like Theodorakis' compositions. Greek rock was revived at the end of the seventies, with the first punk and new wave bands, as well as some older artists. The ex-frontman of Exadahtylos, Dimitris Poulikakos made an LP in 1976, and Sidiropoulos, ex-frontman of Damon ke Fintias and Bourboulia in the early 1970s made an LP with his new band Spyridoula.

1980s

At the beginning of the 1980s, there is a musical enrichment in the scene as more and more bands flourish, despite the extensive censorship on forms of art that in the later years gradually stopped. One example of this era is that of Mousikes Taxiarhies - Μουσικές Ταξιαρχίες (Greek for Musical Brigades) with frontman Tzimis Panousis. The lyrical content of the band for the time was considered to vary from humorous and lightly satirical to all-out criticizing towards the political life of Greece -- nevertheless the band played music with rich musical content; a mixture of many influences besides rock such as reggae and funk.Pavlos Sidiropoulos formed his own band "Aprosarmostoi"(The Misfits) and produced some of his best albums with them. In early 1981 a new band Fatme was formed who combined very creatively elements from Greek popular music roots and rock for the very first time.Their frontman was Nikos Portokaloglou who is still a recording singer/songwriter of great acclaim.

With the second generation, the scene produced also some of the finest electric guitar players such as Christophoros Krokidis and Spyros Pazios who to date are still active in various projects. During the mid-1980s, a band called The Last Drive appeared, whose outstanding performance both in Greece and internationally deeply influenced the scene. In 1985 it was the great birth of the modern greek rock as it is known today and this thanks to two bands from Thessaloniki: Trypes with their first album and two years later in 1987 a trio-band called Mora Sti Fotia - Μωρά στη Φωτιά (Babies on Fire), whose name was inspired by the song's title "Baby's on Fire" by Brian Eno. The band plays a combination of new wave, punk, soft and hard rock).

1990s

The 1990's is when Greek rock culture was at its highest. It was dominated the the group Ksilina Spathia, Trypes and Stereonova. For the first time in Greek rock history, there were sold-out appearances in large venues of Greek bands. For the first time in Greek history were there rock songs hits played on the radio. Thousands of fans cheered these groups; Greece was a great place, musically, to live in during this period. Other groups followed including Maskes, Diafana Krina, Endelekheia, The Flowers Of Romance, Pyx Lax, Katsimihas Brothers,Giorgos Dimitriadis kai Oi Mikroi Iroes,Manolis Famellos kai Oi Podilates,Ypogeia Revmata

Trypes broke up in early 2000's just as Ksilina Spathia.

See also

• Greek punk

External links

• Poll on Last.fm
• Official site of Mora sti Fotia (Greek)
• Ksylina Spathia on Last.fm
• Official site of Giorgos Dimitriadis (Greek)

References