How I became addicted

[Apostolis 2,082]

I'm very happy for you Melissa, that you discovered Dalaras!!! From now on, your life is going to be more and more beautifull by the time.

[Olga Fendrych 0]

You won't believe me, that part of the Website is existing already more than one year and I looked into it the first time yesterday! Thanks, Melissa!

I did not write my story like the others, but - from "Ta megala tragoudia" of S. Koujoumtzis there is now the time exactly for "Mi mou thimoneis, matia mou", for my dearest lullaby and the beloved song of my dad for more than 20 years (24 in fact).

How could I not be forced to look for more - and more - and more - in the last years, since my parents discovered the name of the singer by their first trip to Greece.

The first thought afterwards, I remember: Ach, it was you... I know similar discoveries and feelings by every song of the old time I am able to identify now. Odysseus hiimself travelled 20 years, too, to discover his πατριδα again. "I foni tis patridas" was this radio broadcast we were listening soo long years together in my family.

I can't find a really suitable word for it. Agapi? Eyxaristia? gliko xamogelo? Och, perhaps the last one. I seem to be "addicted" to this smiling these days, because I got it personally three weeks ago. My parents and I are so lucky - listening to Greek songs is the common passion of us up till now. Και αν περασαν τοοσα χρονια...

Ολγιτσα

[christos-regnis 57]

I would like also add my own story but I don't think there is a story .... My love for Dalaras came gradually ..

My family listened to Dalaras (or Aleksiou - i was a great admirer of "Mana tha pao sta Karavia" as I said it then the song "7 Nanoi in the C/S Cyrenia" in the age of 3-4! , Protopsalti and Arvanitaki too, since the early 80's) since i was born some 19 years ago. I have a lot of stray memories of dalara's songs or dalara's appearances on TV... but it's not really easy to put them in an order!!

However, my first strong memory of a Dalaras song was sometime around 1990 (I was 7 years old) with the "Min Milas, Mi Gelas". It may not be great song (as far quality is concerned) but it was a huge radio success during that year.... I remember playing with my lego (!!) and listening to that song !!!! The disc LATIN was also a great success of those years and i knew some of the songs.

I continue listening to Dalaras songs the following years in the radio of the house or in the car when we travel as a family.... In addition I discovered a cassete (in our house) of Dalara's best songs of 1970 and also the cassete of LATIN, and I started listening to it. In the first cassete, the song of course that impressed me the most was "Paraponemena Logia" as it has great lyrics that have something strange and new for me (you know .... all this complaint ...- παράπονο) and also it was a difficult song for somebody to sing it or the great and high corona at the final part ....

After these songs .... i continued listening to Dalaras either in the TV, the radio or in cassetes (we didn't have any LPs of Dalaras except a collection of Loizos of 1980 where Dalaras and other singers sing). In the age of 13 or 14 and so on, my occupation (ενασχόληση) with singing and music generally is getting more and more great and i start recording Dalaras songs from the radio (the era of "Methysmena Tragoudia" or "Ta Veggalika Sou Matia").

It's also the time to go to my first Dalara's concert: Dalaras comes (07/1998) to my neighbourhood Stavroupoli of Thessaloniki in the brand new open-air theatre "MONI LAZARISTON" and the city is full of posters.. i try to persuade my father and friends to go .... but my father finally takes his vacation and we leave away form Salonica .... What a pity .... Dalaras near my house and i can't even hear him ......

But I' m still very lucky Dalaras recomes in Thessaloniki (Theatro Dasous) in 16 and 17 (I came on the 16th) of September and so i persude a friend of me and we are finally there.... Little Antigoni Psyhrami (widely known as POPI) is opening the concert with "Hartino to Feggaraki" and after that Dalaras and Tsaligopoulou come out on stage singing "Lunna Rossa" (an unknown song for me then.... as the cd from Iera Odos hadn't released by that time).... Dalaras was superb, Tsaligopoulou also and the duets with Fragoulis fascinating !!!! As I was fond of classical music and opera voices by that time, i was impressed by the voice of Fragoulis but also from the ability of Dalaras to stand in the same level with an opera voice like Fragoulis and sometimes overcome him !! I was also impressed by his great ability singing different kind of songs.... The concert was exciting and it was finalised with the traditional macedonic song "Milo Mou Kokkino" in trio with Fragoulis and Tsaligopoulou and of course with the "Mi Mou Thymoneis Matia mou" .... When my father came to take me back home with the car , i didn't stop talking to him about my new great experience....

(Last week i also learned that Nikolas was at that concert)

The next thing was to wait until the release of the live CD IERA ODOS II LIVE, to listen to some of the songs of the concert. In the meanwhile i started searching information about Dalara's life, discography etc. and in the next 2 years i bought many of his CDs (the LIVEs first of all as I prefer the live versions of songs and then the original CDs) .... Sometime in 1998 I also discovered some pages about Dalaras on the net... and it was not until 1999 that i discovered this page !! (dalaras.com) After that my interest for dalaras multiplayed by 10 or so ..... My more serious occupation with song (as i commenced in 99 singing courses) helped me so as to increase my interest and my admiration for Dalaras, as i found in his way of singing the ideal way .... !!!!

I continued going to Dalara's concerts in Thessaloniki (Fix 99, Aristotelous 99, Fix 2001 etc...) and I also commenced to have a greater interest about the song's lyrics and the passion of dalaras (and not only the music and the voice that I admired when I was younger) and in this case i found dalara's songs and performances great!! with great feeling and emotions....

My love for Dalara's increased even more during last weekend when i met some of the Dalara's Club members more closely (από κοντά) and I realised why this man is so special and remarkable for all of us .....

[Geske 37]

I've been trying for a long time to imagine what it's like, growing up with Dalaras always around. I can't.

Thanks for the story. Yes, it's a story.

[Olga Fendrych 0]

Hej, Geske, how it is? So, that being an adult human being from the completely other part of Europe you can't fall asleep without hearing one of two music works. The one is written by Johann Sebastian Bach, the second one by Stavros Koujoumtzis and sung by Giorgos Dalaras.

You know, what song I mean?

How it is? So, that one's nights are shorter and shorter after getting the possibility to hear Greek radio after some 15 years of break. I wonder myself, how long this periode of an extremely serious addiction would last now...

Christo, thanks for your great story!

[gazakas 0]

Dalaras was one of these singers I was born with(almost literally).I don't remember when I first-listened his Kougioumtzis' and Loizos' songs of the '70s;my family listened and still does in large exactly that part of greek music that is called έντεχνο λαϊκό(and of course,λαϊκό & ρεμπέτικο).My parents refer to him always with the best comments and they call him "our guy"(Ο δικός μας),although politically they seemed to be in different,not to say opposite, parties.Unfortunately,until 1986 we didn't have any hi-fi(or even lo-fi) system at my home,so I knew Dalaras from the (public then) radio, his tv appearances and from the family meetings when my father was singing along with his guitar some of his songs.Of course,I was a little boy back then(I was born in 1977), but I remember clearly Το πουκάμισο το θαλασσί & Παραπονεμένα λόγια...

1986 was a year of great enlightment for me;my father brought home a Fisher hi-fi set and some records.Among them were the double LP "Αφιέρωμα στο Μάνο Λοϊζο",were Dalaras sings along with some others and gives a great performance ,especially when he sings political songs,"50 χρόνια ρεμπέτικο τραγούδι" and "Καλημέρα κυρία Λύδια".So,I had three pieces of work that ,back then,were representative enough of Dalaras' musical choices and voice capabilities: έντεχνο,ρεμπέτικο,λαϊκό.

Also,my father brought me then a tape with ’πονα μάτια in it.Well,that was it;I was listening those recordings so often that after a while,even though I was only nine,I had learnt all the songs in them by heart.

That year we went at a Dalaras' concert at Giannitsa's football stadium.I remember the crowd and the fact we came a little before it was scheduled to begin. We,and a lot of other people ,were to sit quite away from the scene So,the first thing I remember from the first time I saw Dalaras is a guy with long hair,white shirt and black trousers and a guitar on his neck calling the people that was far away from the scene to come down and sit on the grass ,just 10 meters or less in front of the scene I remember we liked the program very much but I can't recollect any particular songs besides two latin songs,that made me a great impression-maybe because they were in a foreign language;one of them was almost surely L'Emigrante.Finally,the night ended with me and my family almost running after him when the concert ended and it stroke me how tiny he seemed to me as a person in comparison with his voice and his scenic appearance.

But the real shock for me came at 1991,specifically at the Christmas' holidays,when my father-aware of my music preferences-took me at a record shop and told me to choose some LPs. I chose "Αττικόν" ,"Συγγνώμη για την ’μυνα",and my father insisted also in acquiring "Γραμμές των Οριζόντων".It's needless to say that for the next months those LPs almost melted on my pickup.I learnt all songs in them by heart ,and even I don't think I have a very good voice,I believe I had tried to copy all his singing patterns and shifts and so on(forgive this act of sacrilege to a 14-year-old boy).Since that period I think he became "my guy" ,too.....

[soc 1]

I've been trying for a long time to imagine what it's like, growing up with Dalaras always around. I can't.

You don't grow up with him. He grows up in you.

[Olga Fendrych 0]

I admire the stories in this topic... Do you know, Soc, how severe are your last words? And I like them, because I know a similar experience.

[Christo 9]

Olga

Ok tell me now, I know all the songs by Kouyoumtzis, but which one are you referring to exactly from Johann Bach cuz I haven't a clue?

[Christo 9]

Hello Melissa

just now read your story how you got addicted and welcome aboard.

You'll find that there is no cure for this special magic in the Dalaras world. But then again not to worry cuz I don't think you'd want one anyway,.

LOls

Liked your story and if you don't mind telling me what cd's do you have that your first started to buy? His newer ones or older classiscs?

The reason I ask is maybe I can help to give you a little insight for you to decide which ones to buy next and so forth even though as you said there all good.

Happy listening

[Olga Fendrych 0]

Thanks, Christo! I meant my beloved Cantate 82, "Ich habe genug", a solo cantate for bass or baritone. This is why would like to hear this excellent work sung by Dalaras himself...Even, if that's a completely other kind of music. But, on the other hand, why not?

Melissa? The "must": Otan anthizoun paschalies + Methismena tragoudia. If you find that: Giorgos Dalaras 1969 + Trelloi kai angeloi (or, I can suppose, you have the last album I mean now?) Simply everything written by Stavros Koujoumtzis at first, then the whole rest...

[Geske 37]

Melissa, what happened with the Papoutsia could be a sort of warning. You and I, we want to catch up thirty-five years and nearly a hundred records all at once - and it can't be done...

I suppose every person has their own limit, but I've found that one new record every other week is more than I can absorb, under normal circumstances. Of course there are times when I devour a lot more. Holidays. But normally I have to work and so on, too.

Acutally, with the "heavier" stuff, like recently To Aksion Esti, it takes longer, sometimes a lot longer, before my ears clear.

I've found it worthwhile to give myself time to listen carfully, before going on to another record. I'm not saying it's the best way - just that it works for me...

[Olga Fendrych 0]

Melissa, this I forgot for you before: the two photos from "Methismena tragoudia". Even, if you don't know the album yet, never mind: one of them, the cover one, was put some time ago by Frabcois to the drawer "Dalaras Photos".

And, as for the songs, taste them carefully one after another, so that they can become like a honey on your tongue. You find a song, which became so for me, in the last days, in the "Favourite songs".

[Olga Fendrych 0]

Kane kouragio, Melissa, I know, what you mean. Since I know the face of Kyrio Giorgo (not so very long time!), his smiling is the most important feature of his personality.

A great, great addition to his voice, perhaps simply the most important voice of my life. I had a few seconds of hesitation, before I wrote the last sentence, but - yes. So bound with my parents and their greatest passion.

I can - again - hardly avoid a comparison and association: : this smile is, as if my own father were smiling.

After all, there are still, from all the Greek songs I heard in my life, the two songs of GD the most important: Pou einai ta xronia (me) and Mi mou thimoneis (my dad).

And "Methismena... " is perhaps not my Number One, but still among the first 5-6 beloved albums.

The photos: on the second place.

[christos-regnis 57]

I would like to add another unexpected incident I had 2,5 years ago (May 2000) that may not be so important but I influenced me a lot as I appreciated Dalaras even more ....!!

I was in Prague with my school in educational trip (we had a work-group about european issues with some other schools -school-exchange) and while I was walking with some firends in a beautiful pittoresque street of the city looking around .... I start hearing a very familiar voice singing ...

Who was? Of course Dalaras .... Not himself but his voice:

A nearby cd-shop has played a cd of G.D. and not only that .... They had put some external loudpeakers out of the shop .... so as the music goes around the street....

It was really amazing .. The beautiful scenery of the city accompanied by the voice and the songs of Dalaras..!! And this happened not in Athens or a city with many Greeks but in Prague .. I had him in a great level but after this I valued even more .. Dalaras known in the heart of Eurpope ..!!

[Olga Fendrych 0]

Do you perhaps remember, which songs have you heard this time? It is important in such circumstances (see above...)

[christos-regnis 57]

I can't exactly remember which song it was ....

I think that it may was something from his live cds from Iera Odos....

[aldebaran 7]

''Methismena tragoudia''is one of more favourites albums for most of us.This CD has some songs that I called ''diamonds''.Why we like this CD so much?

[Christo 9]

Hi Christo,

Tell us do you recall what cd of GD the record store owner guy was playing? Was this a Greek music store or general one in their city?

Just curious becuase it doesn't happen here where I'm at.

[christos-regnis 57]

Hello Christo, I didn't manage to enter the disc-shop as we were a great company and we were in a hurry to do a lot of things during that morning..! I think - as I managed to have a quick glance at the dispaly window of the shop - that is sold mainly classical/opera , ethnic and some jazz (something of all that categories!) mainly cds ! It was a small small shop at a pedestrian street. I can't remember neither the cd name nor the song .. I was amazed having this great experience and also worried not to lose the others (my friends) that walking around ..

I think, however, that the whole experience is a very difficult-to-happen event and of course extraordinary and beautiful ..!!

[aldebaran 7]

Melissa ,a few months before the cd ''methismena tragoudia''GD-in a intervew- has told that he thinks this cd mayby is the best-from the others two of Nikolopoulos''o tragoudistis -1983''and ''mi milas kindinevei i ellas-1989''.Then I heard cd ,I disagree with opinions' GD.My opinion changed the next 2-3 years.In cd there are some beautiful songs.''Ego milo ki esi ise allou'',''thelo na figo se eparxia'',''ti neotero tha vris ti perissotero'',''mes tous vious twn agiwn'',''odysseas'',''irtha sto bar gia na se vrw'',''stin agia methi''.Methismena tragoudia is not the best cd of GD,but I think for a magic reason this cd is one of our favourites.Of cource one of magic reasons is the voice of Giorgos.

[Olga Fendrych 0]

The voice -the very melodious, relatively slow waltzes (as you told it, Melissa) - the "invitations to dance" every of this song is, very clear and simple texts (important, for me at least) and, last but not least the really very nice photos. It's because of the cover photo I thought the album may be a "lighter" one; and....? Odos Aristotelou, Saloniki, April 2002, one hour free time. "And, what did you buy, Olga?" "Five Cd's of Dalaras...". (the meaning: Are you nuts?). One of these CD's was "Methismena tragoudia", a record I need soon a copy of, should it not get scratched....

Young voice of Dalaras? Still admired, and how! Today is the time of "Na'tane to 21"; no changes in my CD-player wished.

[francois 4]

What! To be in Greece and buy only 5 CDs of GD! Definitely you are nuts

The next time I go to Greece, I'll probably not buy more than 5 or 6 CDs by GD, as I 'd have to buy many other CDs by other artists, and books too, of course, unless you give me 100 000 and a lorry to take everything I want to buy back to France.

[Olga Fendrych 0]

Melissa? Hehehehe, read please my messages carefully! It was only one hour free ime in the very center of Saloniki, I had been in Greece almost two weeks that time! Don't multiplicate 5 x 14, but my rest of money was just enough to drink something!!

Hihihihihi.

[Olga Fendrych 0]

Attagirl, Melissa? I am afraid I don't understand it so completely, as I wish! It's only a pity, I can't send you a sound of my laugh your words are the reason of, the second time this day (well, the first time this night). Thank you.