Stratos Dionysiou ( el, Στράτος Διονυσίου; November 8, 1935 – May 11, 1990) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

laika Laika (russian: link=no, Лайка; – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. A stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she flew aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecra ...

singer.

Early life

Dionysiou was born in Nigrita,

Serres Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northe ...

prefecture, to

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

refugees Angelos and Anastasia Dionysiou. At age 13, he lost his father. These early childhood experiences had a deep impact on the style of Stratos' music and were a great influence on him. Dionysiou went to work as a tailor and was married, at age 20, to Georgia Laveni. The couple had four children. While still working as a tailor, he also appeared in night clubs in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, where he had moved to.

Singing career

Dionysiou left

for

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

to further his singing career. He appeared in

Nikaia Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and se ...

nightclub "Asteras" with well-established singer Kaity Grey and in 1959 recorded his first song. The 24-year-old singer was signed by recording company "Columbia" and started singing songs by Babis Bakalis, Kostas Virvos, and others with some success. He next re-recorded older songs by laika masters such as

Vassilis Tsitsanis Vassilis Tsitsanis ( el, Βασίλης Τσιτσάνης 18 January 1915 – 18 January 1984) was a Greece, Greek songwriter and bouzouki player. He became one of the leading Greek composers of his time and is widely regarded as one of the foun ...

, Yiannis Papaioannou,

Giorgos Mitsakis Giorgos Mitsakis ( el, Γιώργος Μητσάκης; Constantinople, 1921 - Athens, 17 November 1993) was a Greek composer and lyricist of numerous ''rebetika'' and folk songs, as well as a skillful bouzouki player. He was also known by the ni ...

and

Manolis Chiotis Manolis Chiotis (Greek: Μανώλης Χιώτης; March 21, 1921 – March 20, 1970) was a Greek rebetiko and laiko composer, singer, and bouzouki player.English translation He is considered one of the greatest bouzouki soloists of all tim ...

. Success, however, did not come until the late 1960s, when he turned several Akis Panos songs into hits: "Και τι δεν κάνω" (What don't I do), "Γιατί καλέ γειτόνισσα" (Why, my good neighbour?), "Του κόσμου το περίγελο" (The laughing stock of the World), "Εγώ καλά σου τα 'λεγα" (I told you so), "Στο σταθμό του Μονάχου" (At Munich Station), "Ήταν ψεύτικα" (They were false) and many others. Composer

Mimis Plessas Mimis Plessas ( el, Μίμης Πλέσσας; born 12 October 1924) is a Greek composer born in Athens. He began his career in 1952 and has written music for over 100 films, television and radio programs, and theatrical events. He has worked wit ...

then came into the picture and gave him his hit "Βρέχει φωτιά στη στράτα μου" (Fire is raining down my path), a song whose lyrics were written by

Lefteris Papadopoulos Lefteris (Eleftherios) Papadopoulos ( el, Λευτέρης Παπαδόπουλος) is a Greek lyricist, writer and journalist. Lefteris Papadopoulos was born in Athens, Greece on 14 November 1935. He is the son of Greek refugees, with a fath ...

. Dionysiou toured the United States with great success. He was rising to stardom when his career was abruptly halted by his arrest due to a gun and cannabis possession. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment which he served in

Nea Tiryntha Nea Tiryntha ( el, Νέα Τίρυνθα) is a village and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Nafplio, of which it is a municipal unit. ...

Argolis Argolis or Argolida ( el, Αργολίδα , ; , in ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese, situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula and part of the tri ...

prefecture. Dionysiou recorded even in prison and continued after his release in 1976. He successfully switched from laika to a more western "elafro laïko" ("elafro" meaning light) a lighter and brighter form of the

laïko Laïko or laïkó ( el, λαϊκό �ραγούδιlaïkó 'tragoúdi'' ; “ongof the people", "popular ong, pl: ''laïká'' 'tragoúdia'' is a Greek music genre composed in Greek language in accordance with the tradition of the Greek peopl ...

genre and enjoyed great popularity even with the younger crowd into the 1980s.

Death

Dionysiou died in

on May 11, 1990 as a result of

abdominal aortic aneurysm Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a localized enlargement of the abdominal aorta such that the diameter is greater than 3 cm or more than 50% larger than normal. They usually cause no symptoms, except during rupture. Occasionally, abdominal, ...

at the age of 54.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dionysiou, Stratos 1935 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Greek male singers Greek laïko singers Greek songwriters Minos EMI artists Burials at the First Cemetery of Athens Singers from Thessaloniki Greek prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Greece People from Nigrita