Panayiotis Tountas was a composer of hundreds of songs, and in his work with recording companies in Athens, he played a huge role in shaping Greek music in the first part of the 20th century.
He wrote in many styles, but a lot of the songs that he wrote (or adapted from other sources) are classics of rebetiko, and Smyerneika rebetiko in particular. His composition drew on Asia Minor influences, but also featured a complexity of composition and arrangements that wasn’t always present in classic era rebetiko.
The Asia Minor influence came naturally to him: he was born in Smyrna and learned music there, before arriving in Athens in 1922 or ’23. He was soon writing his now-classic songs as well as directing the recordings on dozens of others. Tountas died in 1942 in occupied Athens.
Why I Smoke Cocaine shows the clear Asia Minor influence he brought to his music. One of the first recordings was by Marika Politissa (Marika Frantzeskopoulou) in 1932.
As a bonus, here’s a 2014 video from the wonderful singer Maria Koti:
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