Manos Loïzos

• Name — Manos Loïzos • Born — 22 October 1937 • Birthplace — Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt • Died — 17 September 1982 • Place of death — Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR • Occupation — Composer

He was born on 22 October 1937 to Greek Cypriot immigrants in Alexandria, Egypt. His parents came from the small village of Agioi Vavatsinias, in the district of Larnaca, Cyprus. Loizos moved to Athens at the age of 17 intending to study pharmacology but soon gave up his studies in order to concentrate on his musical career. He was a self-taught musician, with no formal musical arts training. His first recordings were made in 1963 but he started gaining a larger audience after 1967. By 1975 Loizos had become one of the most popular artists in Greek music. He died on 17 September 1982 in a hospital in Moscow, Soviet Union after suffering several strokes. 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 Communist Party of Greece. The year 2007 was declared "Manos Loizos Year" in Greece.

• Year — Title — Chart positions — Certification • GRE — CYP • 1968 — O Stathmos (Greek: Ο Σταθμός; English: The Station) *Début studio album *First album ever in Greek market bearing the ‘MINOS’ logo *Lyrics by Lefteris Papadopoulos *Singers of the album were Giannis Kalatzis, George Dalaras, Litsa Diamanti and Dimitris Efstathiou *Released: December 1968 *Language: Greek *Label: Minos EMI *Formats: LP, cassette, CD — — — — — * IFPI Greece: – • 1970 — Thalassografies (Greek: Θαλασσογραφίες; English: Sea Drawings) *2nd studio album *Lyrics by Lefteris Papadopoulos *Singers of the album were Manos Loizos, George Dalaras, Giannis Kalatzis, Yiannis Parios and Mariza Koch *Released: October 1970 *Language: Greek *Label: Minos EMI *Formats: LP, cassette, CD — — — — — * IFPI Greece: – • 1971 — Evdokia (Greek: Ευδοκία) *1st soundtrack album *Movie Evdokia was directed by Alexis Damianos *Released: December 1971 *Language: Greek *Label: Minos EMI *Formats: LP, cassette, CD — — — — — * IFPI Greece: – • 1972 — Na Chame Ti Na Chame (Greek: Να ‘Χαμε Τι Να ‘Χαμε; English: If We Had) *3rd studio album *Lyrics by Lefteris Papadopoulos *Lyrics of the album were censored due to dictatorship. *Singers of the album were George Dalaras, Giannis Kalatzis, Manos Loizos and Haris Alexiou (backing vocals) *Released: December 1972 *Language: Greek *Label: Minos EMI *Formats: LP, cassette, CD — — — — — * IFPI Greece: – • 1974 — Kalimera Ilie (Greek: Καλημέρα Ήλιε; English: Goodmorning Sun) *4th studio album *Lyrics by Dimitris Christodoulou *Lyrics of the album were censored due to dictatorship. *Singers of the album were Kostas Smokovitis, Haris Alexiou and Aleka Aliberti. *Recording sessions were made in November 1973 during riots against the Greek military junta. *Self-titled song has been used as the anthem of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement since 1974. In 2011, Myrsini Loïzou, Manos’ daughter, forbade the use of the song as political anthem due to severe disapproval of the government's policy. *Released: April 1974 *Language: Greek *Label: Minos EMI *Formats: LP, cassette, CD — - — - — * IFPI Greece: – • 1974 — Tragoudia Tou Dromou (Greek: Τραγούδια Του Δρόμου; English: Songs of the Road) *5th studio album *Lyrics by Manos Loizos, Lefteris Papadopoulos, Dimitris Christodoulou, Federico Garcia Lorca and Kostoula Mitropoulou. *Singers of the album were Manos Loïzos, Vasilis Papakonstantinou and Aleka Aliberti. *Released: November 1974 *Language: Greek *Label: Minos EMI *Formats: LP, cassette, CD — - — - — * IFPI Greece: – • 1975 — Ta Negrika (Greek: Τα Νέγρικα; English: The Negro Songs) *6th studio album *Lyrics by Yiannis Negrepontis *All songs of the album sung by Maria Farantouri. *Released: November 1975 *Language: Greek *Label: Minos EMI *Formats: LP, CD, cassette — - — - — * IFPI Greece: – • 1976 — Ta Tragoudia Mas (Greek: Τα Τραγούδια Μας; English: Our Songs) *7th studio album *Lyrics by Fontas Ladis *All songs of the album sung by George Dalaras. *9 out of 11 songs were censored by the Greek National Television and Radio *Released: October 1976 *Language: Greek *Label: Minos EMI *Formats: LP, CD, cassette — 1 — 1 — * IFPI Greece: Platinum • 1979 — Ta Tragoudia Tis Haroulas (Greek: Τα Τραγούδια Της Χαρούλας; English: Haroula’s Songs) *8th studio album *Lyrics by Manolis Rasoulis and Pythagoras. *All songs of the album sung by Haris Alexiou. Includes one of her biggest hits ‘Ola Se Thimizoun’. Manos Loïzos and Dimitra Galani assisted with backing vocals in most of the album's songs. *Due to heavy criticism by the media, the album had failed to chart for four months after its release. Further promotion by Alexiou helped album sales rise to platinum status. *Released: May 1979 *Language: Greek *Label: Minos EMI *Formats: LP, CD, cassette — 1 — 1 — * IFPI Greece: Platinum • 1980 — Gia Mia Mera Zoïs (Greek: Για Μια Μέρα Ζωής; English: For One Day’s Life) *9th studio album *Last album recorded while alive. *Lyrics by Manos Loizos, Lefteris Papadopoulos, Manolis Rasoulis, Tasos Livaditis, Fontas Ladis and Dora Sitzani. *Singers of the album were Manos Loizos, Vasilis Papakonstantinou and Dimitra Galani. *Released: December 1980 *Language: Greek *Label: Minos EMI *Formats: LP, CD, cassette — - — — — * IFPI Greece: Gold • 1983 — Grammata stin agapimeni (Greek: Γράμματα στην αγαπημένη; English: Letters To The Beloved One) *Posthumous release. *Lyrics by Nâzım Hikmet. *Manos Loizos sung himself all the album's songs. *The album is a compilation of previously unreleased recordings made by Loïzos sporadically throughout his career. *Released: October 1983 *Language: Greek *Label: Minos EMI *Formats: LP, CD, cassette — — — — — * IFPI Greece: –