“Thessaloniki ksimeromata, I guess because it’s got the words Thessaloniki and ksimeromata in it. When the song came out, it was the first time I’d been back to Greece after going there as a child in 1968 for my grandfather’s funeral.
“Other songs I like include: Soma mou, Psila ta heria, and Astatos (you know… the one about the lobster). Notis Sfakianakis is my favourite male Greek singer, his name sounds like someone swearing in English. “Funnily enough, there are some non-Greek songs that remind me of Greece as well including Land Down Under and Life is Life that were on high rotation in the beach bars of the Greek islands in 1996.
“My first and most favourite Greek concert was Anna Vissi at Asteria in Glifada Athens (where I was taught to say gamiseta instead of ksexaseta) followed closely by Remo in Thessaloniki where we followed up the concert with a trip to a late night patsadiko. Anna Vissi was my all time favourite until I did a support for her at Rod Laver Arena. When I went up to say hello to her, she totally ignored me, something I would never do to my fans let alone my work colleagues. Mind you the drunkest I’ve ever been at a Greek concert was both times at Vissi shows in Greece. The drunker I got, the better she sang. I was so drunk I was calling her Anna Vrissi… pity she wasn’t doing any tap dancing.”
“Glykeria, I’d glick her anything! The nicest Greek singer I’ve ever met. In fact, when I first met her in Adelaide I thought she was maybe the star’s assistant. When I asked what she did for a living she said she was a singer. When I asked her what her name was she said it was Glykeria and it was, Kaigome? Kaika!
“Lefteris Pantazis, I’ll be sharing the stage with him at the Thalasa Cruise next January. If he doesn’t say hello to me I’ll be that upset I will jump off the boat, and I’ll take the Zorba brothers with me!”