Manos Loïzos

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Manos Loïzos (Μάνος Λοΐζος)

Background information
Born	October 22, 1937
Origin	Ayious Vavatsinias, Cyprus
Died	September 17, 1982 (aged 44) Moscow, USSR
Occupation(s)	Composer

Manos Loïzos (Μάνος Λοΐζος, also transliterated as Loizos and Loisos) is considered to be one of the most important Greek music composers of the 20th century.

[edit] Biography

He was born on October 22, 1937 in the small village of Ayious Vavatsinias, in the district of Larnaca, Cyprus.^[1] His family then moved to Alexandria, Egypt in search of a better life. He moved to Athens at the age of 17 for university studies in pharmacology but soon gave up to concentrate on his musical career. He was a self-taught musician, with no formal musical arts training. His first recordings started in 1963 but he started gaining widespread popularity in 1967.

He died on September 17, 1982 in a hospital in Moscow, Soviet Union. He was well known for his leftist political ideology and was an outspoken critic of the Greek military junta. He was also an active member of the Greek Communist Party. 2007 was declared as the Manos Loizos year in Greece .

[edit] Discography

He composed many well-known Greek songs and has co-operated with various important composers, singers and lyricists like Mikis Theodorakis, Haris Alexiou, George Dalaras, Vasilis Papakonstantinou, Christos Leontis, Fondas Ladis, Yannis Negrepontis, Manolis Rassoulis, Giannis Kalatzis, Nazim Hikmet and many others. His best known co-operation was with his very personal friend, lyricist Lefteris Papadopoulos who wrote the lyrics of many of Loizos' most successful hits.

Some of Manos Loizos' most famous songs are :

- Ola se thymizoun Lyrics: Manolis Rassoulis

- Jamaica Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos

- S' Akoloutho Lyrics: himself

- To Akordeon Lyrics: Yannis Negrepontis

- O Dromos Lyrics: Kostoula Mitropoulos

- Che (dedicated to Che Guevara) Lyrics: himself

- Ah Helidoni mu Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos

- De tha xanagapiso Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos

- Paporaki tou Burnova Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos

- O Koutalianos Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos

- Evdokia (Instrumental Zeibekiko)

In 1985, a big concert dedicated to his memory took place in the Athens Olympic Stadium, attended by more than 50,000 people. Manos Loizos' songs and music remain popular until today among all ages of the Greek society.