Yiannis Papaioannou

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Born in Kios, Asia Minor (Turk. "Gemlik"), in 1914, Yiannis Papaioannou came to Greece as a 9-year old refugee boy. He is considered by many as the first song writer to have taken bouzouki music out the the "tekke" (drug den) and into the respectability it still enjoys today. The multi-talented Papaioannou's music varies from old-style rebetika ("Pente Ellines ston Adi", "O boufetzis"), to oriental ("Cifteteli", "Karabiberim") and even island music ("Kapetan Andrea Zeppo"). Although primarily a song writer, Papaioannou was also an accomplished bouzouki player whose "Taksim" remains a unique instrumental masterpiece to this day. He died in a traffic accident near Elefsina in 1972.