Music Feature

The Greek Blues

Tuesday 8 July 2008 13:30-14:00 (Radio 4 FM)

Repeated: Saturday 12 July 2008 15:30-16:00 (Radio 4 FM)

Rock critic Peter Paphides goes back to Athens, the city where his parents grew up, to chart the history and roots of Rembetika, the Greek blues. Played on violins, ouds and bouzoukis and featuring extremely impassioned singing, Rembetika is the music of the lower classes in Greece and Asia Minor. Typical lyrics are concerned with lost love, impending death, hashish, sex, prison and gambling.

Followed by News.

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