Results of the 2003 Musical Odyssey survey (better late than never as they say)

During Spring, 2003 I created an online survey for all current and former hosts of Musical Odyssey.

The response rate was pretty good. However at that time I was not updating the Musical Odyssey website and I never posted the answers.

So 4 years later, below is a summary of the responses. The names and emails of the participants have been deleted. Let me know if you have any questions or comments at greekmusic@gmail.com or you can send me an IM during the show on Sunday: wprbdj

What years did you host the show?
1987-1989
1989 - 1991
1990-1993
1995 (Fall) - 1997 (Spring)

Did you host the show yourself or did you co-host the show?
Usually we were taking turns; sometimes we were two or more at the studio.

A few Saturdays I was alone. Most of the time I co-hosted the show.

Where do you live now?
Cyprus
Greece
USA (Illinois)
Corfu, Greece

Favorite Musicians:
Hatzidakis, Theodorakis, Mikroutsikos, Savvopoulos, Laika (popular) songs, singers like Protopsalti and Arvanitaki, Dalaras, Dionisiou, Mariza Koch, Zabetas and older stuff (Vembo, Attic) etc.

I think I was one of the first and few to play folk and Byzantine music: especially Chronis Aidonides and Asia Minor folk songs, Domna Samiou and cantors like Lykoyrgos Aggelopoulos and Theodoros Vasilikos.

Hatzidakis, Marinella
The Group "Fatme"
Dionissis Savopoulos
Vasilis Papakonstantinou
Eleftheria Arvanitaki
Thanasis Mikroutsikos
Yiorgos Dalaras
Mimis Plessas

Frequent Requests:
Surely not the Byzantine ensembles I used to play :)

Vasilis Tsitsanis

Eleutheria Arvanitaki

Other comments:
I really liked the opportunity to host Musical Odyssey and I am grateful to my friends and older DJs like ………… who introduced me to Musical Odyssey.

The moment for which I felt that my Sunday afternoons were worth was when somebody called me from the prison and asked me to play "To 13 to kelli" (= cell number 13) by Kazantzidis.

Some special shows we had: "Comedy / fun show" with jokes, funny/satirical songs, and the live singing of a song by a couple of friends at the station.

In 1989 or 1990 (after I left Princeton) there was a live interview with singer Ms. Paspala who was visiting NYC at the time.

Memorable Listeners Comments:
On a national holiday (or some other date of historic importance for Greece) I made some comments about the political connotations of a song and received a phone call with further information / clarifications about the politics of the situation I was discussing. I was happy I triggered this reaction.

I hope that Musical Odyssey is sustained.

I was even asked to play Vembo (known for her songs before WWII).

Musical Odyssey - August 26, 2007

Here is the playlist.

During the show I talked about Yiannis Poulopoulos and Poly Panou. Here is a link to a great page about Rebetika music that mentions her.

Below is a video of Yiannis Poulopoulos performing "Hlie mou ourane."

We also heard music from Dionissis Savopoulos album "Long live the Greek song," a TV series that was broadcast from From October 1986 till June 1987. The album was released on December 1987.

Comments and requests can be sent to greekmusic@gmail.com or you can post here.

Also you can take part in the poll to the right. Have a great week.

Musical Odyssey - August 12, 2007

The WPRB online playlist system is down but you can view the playlist for today's show here.

Today I spoke about and played music by the great Rebetika singer Giorgos Katsaros. There do not seem to be any YouTube videos of his music so instead I am posting parts 1 & 2 of the BBC Documentary on Rebetika which is hosted by Anthony Quinn. Enjoy.

Musical Odyssey will not be on the air next Sunday, I will be taking a short break. In the meantime requests and comments are welcome at greekmusic@gmail.com or you can leave a message on the blog. See you in two weeks!

Musical Odyssey - August 5, 2007

Here is the playlist

We played music and spoke about the new release by Apostolos Nikolaidis.

A bit of info on the new release is below. I recommend that you visit the Apostolos Nikolaidis website and youtube page.

From the Apostolos Nikolaidis website:
The new release is “O Gialinos Kosmos (The Glass World)”, a collector’s edition CD featuring ten performances. This meticulous and remastered CD is the authorized release of Nikolaidis’ 1969 LP “O Gialinos Kosmos” (The Glass World)”, a collection of favorite Greek popular (laika) songs by renowned composers such as Kaldaras, Vamvakaris, Hiotis, Papaioannou and others. It was recorded in Toronto, Canada in 1969 and is being relased in its entirety and as intended on CD for the first time.

Regarded as having one of the best voices to ever grace the Greek music scene, Apostolos Nikolaidis is considered one of the great authentic representatives of the Kazantzidis style of “old-school laiko” (contemporary people’s or popular) song, a genre he served consistently and and passionately for more than 35 years. Nikolaidis appeared on the Greek musical scene in 1962. During the 1960s he recorded songs by great Greek composers
such as Manolis Hiotis, Vasilis Tsitsanis, Apostolos Kaldaras and Giorgos Lafkas.

In 1968, while on tour in Canada, Apostolos entered into a collaboration with the great bouzouki virtuoso Harry Lemonopoulos. Their partnership resulted in a celebrated recording achievement: Apostolos’ first long-play (33RPM) album entitled “O Gialinos Kosmos” (1969).