Takis Binis

Takis Binis was born the year 1923 in Thessaloniki to parents refugees from Asia Minor. He began his musical career at a young age in Thessaloniki, where he met with Yiannis Papaioannou and Vasilis Tsitsanis.

During the dictatorship years of Ioannis Metaxas, he was held in prison, with other kids of his age, because they had joined the National Youth Organization (EON (Eθνική Oργάνωση Nέων)). During German occupation in WWII he is held in prison again (Pavlos Melas Camp) for participating in sabotaging activities.

In 1944 he moves to Piraeus where he finds work in "shady" clubs in Troumba, along with other excellent musicians of the time. While in Piraeus he meets and becomes close friends with Dimitris Stergios or Bebis, a bouzouki virtuozo.

In 1946 he goes to Athens, where he sung in every well know club of the capital and its suburbs and worked every songwriter of the times: Yiannis Papaioannou, Markos Vamvakaris, Vasilis Tsitsanis, Bayadera, Apostolos Hadjichristos, Gerasimos Klouvatos, Babis Bakalis, Yiannis Tatasopoulos, Costas Kaplanis and more. He also collaborated with Manolis Chiotis for many years.

In 1958 to the United States and Canada. He returns to Greece in 1983 and records "Rebetiko" - a work by Stavros Xarhakos and Nikos Gatsos, soundtrack to the movie by the same name, directed by Costas Ferris.

Some of his best know songs are "Θα κάνω ντου βρε πονηρή" and "Καβουράκια" by Vasilis Tsitsanis, "Όσο βαριά είναι τα σίδερα" by Mitsakis, "Πές μου αν με βαρέθηκες" by Chiotis.

He died on a Wednesday, December 21, 2005 afternoon at age 82. He was hospitalized at Sismanoglio Hospital and treated for kidney problems.