Rebetika

There was a really nice programme on Radio 4 this afternoon about Rebetika music, often referred to as the Greek blues. Peter Paphides, the presenter, makes that link explicit in a documentary that survived the fact that the makers went to Athens when all the Rebetika bars were closed. You can listen again for a week here.

If that has whetted your appetite there are two old series on You Tube, Music of the Outsiders, a really excellent film featuring a young George Dalaras, and a more glossy and romanticised, though interesting, BBC 2 documentary narrated by Anthony Quinn.

If you just want a song, there are plenty of gritty, early recordings from the first half of the 20th Century on You Tube, but this is a modern version of a standard from Glykeria.