Melina Mercouri

Here is a famous Greek song (Ta paidia tou Peiraia - "The children of Piraeus"), from the movie Never on Sunday (Pote tên Kyriakê), performed by the great singer and actress Melina Mercouri.
Melina Mercouri (Μελίνα Μερκούρη) (Athens, Greece, 1920 - New York City, 1994) was born Maria Amalia Mercouri, and became well-known to international audiences when she starred in the 1960 film Never on Sunday, directed by her husband Jules Dassin. In fact, she had been making movies since 1955, first appearing in the Greek film Stella. Nominated for an Academy Award for Never on Sunday, she went on to star in such films as Topkapi, Phaedra, and Gaily, gaily. During the period of dictatorship in Greece from 1967 to 1974, Mercouri lived in France, where she recorded four records, one with Greek lyrics and the other three with French lyrics, all created by Greek musicians. They were highly popular, and they are still critically acclaimed and remastered. When democracy returned to her home country, she returned, and became first a member of Parliament and then Minister of Culture. Mercouri retired from film acting in 1978. Melina Mercouri died in 1994 in a New York hospital at the age of 73. Her body was returned to Athens and she received a state funeral equivalent to that of a Prime Minister.
Melina Mercouri's husky and unusual voice made her the perfect performer of some great Greek songs which are known classics and performed by hundreds of singers. Listen to this tune, let yourself gain by Mercouri's Greek charm and enjoy!