Mihalis Daskalakis

Michalis Daskalakis (Piraeus, 1914 - Pikermi, Attica, 1 February 2004) was a Greek singer, songwriter and instrumentalist of rebetiko music. He was born in 1914 in Piraeus. He graduated from the Scholarcheio in Hadjikyriakeio and then got a job, while in his free time he would go to his family's tavern "O Daskalakis", which was located near the church of Agios Nikolaos in the port of Piraeus. There in the tavern he would listen to the musicians who came and fell in love with the bouzouki. In 1943, together with his brother Yiannis, he opened a shop in Athens called "To Kare tou Assou". After the end of World War II and the Liberation, he worked in many popular music centers in Athens, such as "Bouquet" in Menidi and "Pindos" in Nea Philadelphia. In 1963 he opened his own shop in Gerakas and in 1968 he moved to a new center in Pikermi, where until 1996 when it closed, he appeared on stage himself with an orchestra and always played without electric sound and with his own genuine personal style in playing and interpretation. Some of the songs he created are "Vlamis apo to Milano", "Naziara Marigoula", "Otan mortaro valte me", "Nykhtoshe pali", while he has also recorded many well-known songs by other folk artists such as "Ego kakos den evanmai", "Antilalou oi fylakes", "To minore tis avgis", "Ton Charo ton thamosaan", "Anthrope mou", "I alepou", "Dyo portres hehe Ι ζωι", "O zitianos", "To thampo phanari", "O psaras", "Tha bro mmurmouri baglama". He died on February 1, 2004, at the age of 90, and was buried in Kalyvia, Attica.