New Good-time Girl, written by Kostas Tzovenos

Man in fedora and suit

Kostas Tzovenos, born in Athens just before the arrival of the 20th Century, was a musically-educated santouri player (similar to the hammered dulcimer). He started playing Smyrneika-style rebetiko, but after the explosion bouzouki-and-guitar rebetiko, he turned his hand to writing “hasiklidika” — songs that dealt with the rebetiko culture of tekes, hard drinking and hashish.


His output was small — only eight compositions — but they are among the best of the era. He retired from playing music and composing in 1940. New Good-time Girl was recorded in 1933 by Marika Kanaropoulou.


(Note: New Good-time Girl is my best stab at translating Νέα Μερακλού based on a lot of digging. It may not be totally correct.)


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts