Takis Nikolaou was one of several names adopted by Tetos Dimitriadis, a major force in the recording of Greek and other international music during the 20th Century. It was under the Nikolaou name that he sang on a number of influential rebetiko songs in the 1920s and ’30s.
Dimitriadis was born in Istanbul. He began recording in 1922 in the U.S. and by 1942 had reportedly produced recordings of more than 400 Greek songs in all genres. In 1930, he took over as head of the foreign repertoire for RCA Victor. He travelled to Athens that year and recorded 57 songs – appearing on a handful of them as singer – for the U.S. market. (Among those recordings were the 12 rebetiko recordings of A. Kostis (Kostas Bezos)
After WWII, Dimitriadis launched the Standard International recording, which recorded music from around the world. It is reported that by the end of the 1940s, the company was producing 10-15 records a month in 21 different languages.
The Mangas from Psyrri was among the songs he recorded in 1930. It is a staple on many of the rebetiko anthologies released during the 1990s and 2000s. It was also recorded in 1930 by Dalgas, who is credited with writing the lyrics. (Psyrri is one of the oldest areas of Athens that, by the turn of the 19th century, had become home to gambling, prostitution and, of course, mangas.)
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