Santouri player and singer Dimitri’s ‘Mitsos’ Arapakis was a major artist in the 1920s and ’30s. Between 1928 and 1934, he recorded around 130 songs – Smyrneika, rebetiko and folk.
He was born Dimitris Kallinikos-Tsoussis in the late 1800s in Prezeva, Greece, and died in 1964 in Athens leaving behind rich legacy. He earned the nickname Arapakis (the Arabian) for having travelled to Egypt in his youth.
Arapakis had one of the most distinctive voices of the Smyrneika singers: smooth, clear and melodic. With Kostas Roukounas and Antonis Diamantidis (Dalgas), he was mainstay of the early years of recording in Athens.
While he did not record much after 1934, he continued to perform before and after World War II, at clubs in Athens.
Memetis is one of the standards of early rebetiko that was recorded many times. Arapakis recorded this version, which starts with him playing a taxim on santouri, in 1931.
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