Death of Giannis Papaioannou

On August 3, 1972, at the age of 59, Giannis Papaioannou tragically died in a car accident after leaving the club where he worked with Tsitsanis. His breakthrough in discography came in 1937 with Faliriotissa. He became a member of the Piraeus Company, which included Markos Vamvakaris, Stratos Pagioumtzis, Stelios Keromitis, and Anestis Delias. He has composed around 800 songs, for which he said: "My songs are my hardships, my daily bread, my dreams, my serenades, my whole life and the life of the underprivileged people". He improved the Rebetiko song with added stylistic features such as serenades, music from the Greek islands, and sounds from Asia Minor. He is considered a pioneer since he was the first to use in his recordings the so-called "primo secondo" (duet). Giannis Papaioannou was the first Greek popular composer to promote authentic folk songs beyond Greek borders (Istanbul 1952, USA 1953, and more).