#sotiria bellou

[moiroloi]

Sotiria Bellou and Christopher Lee, circa 1980

A journalist had been horrified when, upon coming into Bellou’s house for an interview, he caught sight of a framed picture of Dracula. “Don’t be scared now,” Bellou had soothed, “Dracula’s my fan!”, then went on to explain that Lee had been an avid collector of her records ever since the 1950s.

[gemsofgreece]

Christopher Lee and Sotiria Bellou, the emblematic Greek rebetiko singer in the 80s. 

Fun fact: Lee had met Bellou during his vacation in Greece in the late 80s. Lee described himself as a fan; he was a collector of her 50s recordings and he told her her voice reminded him of Billy Holiday. Naturally, Bellou took a liking to him. When a journalist visited her at her house for an interview, he was startled by a frame of Lee as Count Dracula hanging on the wall. This is how Bellou told him and we know about their encounter and mutual appreciation.  

We all know Christopher Lee but here’s a song with the unique voice of Sotiria Bellou from 1951, so he definitely knew this song and probably loved it :) 

This is rare footage from a live in 1972. The man with the mustache playing the bouzouki, Vassilis Tsitsanis, is also the composer of the song and extremely prominent in Greece’s music history. 

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Σωτηρία Μπέλλου στον Διονύση Σαββόπουλο: "Αχ Διονύση με έκανες και τραγουδάω ποπ!"

Εγώ στη Σωτηρία Μπέλλου: "ΚΑΙ ΚΑΛΑ ΕΚΑΝΕ"

[alwayswiselight]

Wow! I knew nothing about this courageous and talented woman. Just another good reason for me being here. Thank you!

AUGUST 22: Sotiria Bellou (1921-1997)

On this day in 1921, the Greek singer Sotiria Bellou was born. Today, she is remembered as one of the greatest performers of the traditional rebetiko style to ever live and as one of the few celebrities of her time to live openly as a lesbian.

Although she was forced into marriage by her family in 1938, the marriage ended after Sotiria threw sulfuric acid onto her husband and spent several months in prison. After escaping her abusive husband and moving to Athens, she lived as an out lesbian (x).

The oldest of five siblings, Sotiria was born on August 22, 1921 in Halia on the island Euboia. Her grandfather was an Orthodox priest and her family was one of great wealth and prestige. She was first exposed to music in the form of Byzantine hymns heard in her grandfather’s church and she began singing at the young age of 3. As a child, Sotiria made homemade guitars out of wood and wire, but after much internal discord between her family – her conservative mother disapproving of artistic careers – it was decided that Sotiria could began studying music seriously.

Sitting in the center of a crowd with her guitar, Sotiria performs live with her band in 1948 (x). 

Sotiria moved to Athens to pursue music in 1940, but in the madness of World War II, she lost touch with her family and without their financial assistance she was forced to take on menial jobs. For a while, she worked as a waitress in a rebetiko club in the Exarheia neighborhood of downtown Athens and one night after losing a bet with a customer, she was force to sing a song. Wowed by her obvious talent, an agent named Kimonas Kapetanakis signed her on the spot and introduced her to the powerful music producer Tsitsanis, with whom she recorded the first of her many 78 rpm gramophone records. Sotiria would go on to become one of the most sought-after nightclub acts in Greece and performed in some of the most popular clubs of the time such as the Rosiniol, Tzimis o Hontros, Hydra, Triana, and Falirikon.

Sotiria Bellou’s performance of “O Bohoris” in the traditional Rebetiko style.

Although she was a celebrity, Sotiria was also a hugely controversial figure. It was well-known that she had joined the Greek resistance against the Nazi occupation of World War II, had supported the leftist Greek People’s Liberation Army during the Dekemvriana (Greek Civil War), and made no effort to conceal her many lesbian love affairs. In December of 1948, Sotiria was performing at a club called Tzimis O Hontros when a group of extreme right-wing men entered the club and demanded that she perform a nationalist anthem. When Sotiria refused, the men dragged her out of the club and beat her severely. The inability of anyone else in the club to intervene on her behalf haunted her the rest of her life. Although the Greek government and many public figures were reluctant to acknowledge her fame or her artistic contributions during Sotiria’s lifetime, after her death on August 27, 1997, her discography slowly but surely came to be a staple of 20th century Greek art and culture.

-LC

[sotiriabellou]

Ειδα το υρλ σου και εσπευσα να σε ακολουθησω. Η Σωτηρία Μπέλλου έκανε λαικ/ριμπλογκ το ποστ μου!? Τρελάθηκα

τα url μου κάνουν θραύση βλέπω λλ

[kittyit]

If you missed the Lesbian Heritages show, you can still see it stream on demand til April 15. Just register and Max Dashu will send you the link.

Regular $20: https://py.pl/1zNJJD

Supporter $25: https://py.pl/1H2wsh

Low-Income: $15: https://py.pl/wkOhd

Lesbian Heritages

International view of woman-loving women, from archaeological finds of paired and embracing women, up to recent history. Khotylevo, Çatal Hüyük, Mycenae, Nayarit, Etruria, Nok, and the Begram ivories. Lesbian love in Hellenistic art, Thai murals, Indian temple carvings, and Japanese erotic books. Some called us mati, zami, hwame, sakhiyani, bofe or sapatão. Lesbians as female rebels: the Amazons, Izumo no Okuni, Juana Asbaje, Louise Michel, Stormé DeLarverie. Women who passed as men in order to practice medicine and roam the world. Punishing the lesbian: in the Bible, Zend Avesta, Laws of Manu; and demonological fantasies. Lesbian musicians (Sotiria Bellou, Chavela Vargas, Ethyl Waters), artists (Edmonia Lewis, Romaine Brooks, Yan María Castro), writers (Emily Dickinson), and actors (Garbo!) Lesbian clubs and scenes in Paris, Berlin, and New York. Lesbian feminists, and Arab, South African, Australian lesbians. And more…

"I am a lesbian, I am reality; I insist on living in freedom: --Rebeldí­as Lesbicas, Peru

[glikozi]

posa aura points kerdizo me to na mazevo axladia akoygontas sotiria bellou?

[polyxrwmhpsyxh]

έτσι είναι η μέρα σήμερα.

[arsiaaaa]

nuxtes

[nofuckinlabels]

Το τσιγάρο αφήνει μια γκρι λάγνα επίγευση στο στόμα μου

Είναι απαίσια

Σχεδόν ερωτεύσιμη

Ερωτευόμαστε άλλωστε αυτό που μπορούμε να κοιτάξουμε στον καθρέφτη

Παρατηρώ λοιπον το τσιγάρο να τρέπεται σε στάχτη

Να χάνεται στον αέρα όσο με καταστρέφει

Το κρατώ ωστόσο σφιχτά στα χέρια μου

Τα δάχτυλα μου σφίγγουν όσα με φθείρουν

Ο έρωτας μου λοιπόν για εσένα είναι μεμπτός μόνο μέσα από την ποίηση

Είναι μια τυφλή υποταγή σε κάτι άσημο

Αδειάζω όσο γεμίζει το τασάκι

Το όνομα σου υπάρχει στα χείλη μου με τροπο αρχέγονο

Ήρθε πάλι το καλοκαίρι

Η ζέστη καυτηριάζει κάθε ελπίδα μου

Δεν υπάρχει μέρα που να μην έχω ερωτευτεί σαρκωσεις σου

Αν μπορούσα να πω κάτι σε εκείνο το αγόρι που ήρθε μετά από εσένα

Είναι πως δεν θα με γδύσει ποτέ

Δεν θα κοιτάξει ποτέ το φόρεμα μου που στρατηγικά αποκαλύπτει το στήθος μου με λαγνεία

Δεν θα δει ποτέ το πρόσωπο μου να υποχωρεί στο άγγιγμα του

Το δέρμα μου είναι εύθραυστο

Σαν εκείνα τα αγάλματα που αλλοιώνονται με την τριβή

Είσαι ο μόνος που θέλω να με φθείρει

Ο μόνος που θέλω να λειάνει τις αιχμηρές μου άκρες

Ο μόνος που θέλω να με κάνει να θυμίζω κάτι θνητό

Κλείνω λοιπόν τα μάτια μου και είναι απόγευμα

Είναι Ιούλιος και ο καιρός γλυκαίνει

Μοιάζει με χάδι και είμαστε μαζί κάπου στο κέντρο

εγώ φοράω ένα φαρδύ φόρεμα και μπαλαρίνες

Σε κρατάω από το χέρι και δεν κατευθυνόμαστε πουθενά.

Ξαφνικά περνάμε από όλες εκείνες τις ξεχασμένες παιδικές μου εικόνες στις Κυριακάτικες βόλτες

Ξαφνικά στα μάτια σου με βλέπω να μεγαλώνω

Ξαφνικά το παρελθόν μου με αγκαλιάζει όσο με φιλάς

Ξαφνικά ο χρόνος είναι μια κάλπικη κατασκευή για κυνικούς ανθρώπους

[brucequeensteen]

slayed

[leninqrad]

11 & 19 for the ask game 💘

11.) what is one song that’s able to bring you to tears?

‘Μ’ aεροπλάνα και βαπόρια’ by Sotiria Bellou for uh, many reasons. And also Kemal (the Hadjidakis version)! When I was younger my dad used to play it on his guitar and I would sing.

19.) what was the last concept that inspired you?

The Sublime (but more in a Herder sense than a Kant sense).

[mikeylivesattheend]

Day 7 of finding Queer Songs Barbie Characters would Enjoy!

Unnamed Naiad/Water Fairy (Barbie Fairy Tales: Rapunzel)

She's the guardian of a large river, and is kind to all who pass through. She doesn'tuse human words to describe herself,,,, but she does admire the grace of womanhood. The music she hears is often muffled through walls; and only flows freely in the freedom of night. One night, as her waters flowed along Athens edges, in a way totally not ripping off the little mermaid, she heard a beautiful song and knew that humans were gorgeous and ethereal, actually.

O Ageras Stous Dromous by Sotiria Bellou

[sotiriabellou]

just remembered i dont have pronouns name gender in my bio.i wonder what im perceived as by the tumblr population

[odeonrecint123]

Discover the Genius of Vasilis Tsitsanis: Music Masters Series

Vasilis Tsitsanis (18 January 1915 – 18 January 1984). Tsitsanis was an extraordinairy bouzouki player and composer. He was one of the leading Greek composers of his time and is  regarded as one of the founders of modern Rebetiko and Laiko music. Tsitsanis wrote more than 500 songs which were recorded by some of the most populars Greek singers like Stelios Kazantzidis, Prodromos Tsaousakis, Giorgos Dalaras, Sotiria Bellou, Marika Ninou, Poli Panou, and more. He not only was the music composer of his songs but also the lyricist of many of them. Tsitsani was also an attorney but his main love was his music.