# The 7 Best Rebetiko Tracks of All Time

The urban song of Greece's dispossessed, made in Piraeus by refugees expelled from Asia Minor after 1922. Bouzouki and baglamas, Ottoman modes, and lyrics about hashish, prison and exile that the state repeatedly banned.

- **Origin:** Piraeus and Smyrna, 1922
- **Tempo:** 70–130 BPM
- **Also known as:** rembetiko, rebetika, greek blues, smyrneiko
- **Tracks:** 7
- **Updated:** 2026-08-30
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/rebetiko/

## The list

### 1. [Markos Vamvakaris](https://waxonia.com/artist/markos-vamvakaris/) — [Frangosyriani](https://waxonia.com/track/markos-vamvakaris--frangosyriani/)

*1935*

A love song to a Catholic girl from Syros, by the man who assembled the classic line-up of two bouzoukis, baglamas and guitar. The most covered rebetiko there is.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Markos%20Vamvakaris%20Frangosyriani) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=t6QBeEndBPQ)

### 2. [Vassilis Tsitsanis](https://waxonia.com/artist/vassilis-tsitsanis/) — [Synnefiasmeni Kyriaki](https://waxonia.com/track/vassilis-tsitsanis--synnefiasmeni-kyriaki/)

*1948*

Begun in occupied Thessaloniki in 1943 and finished in Athens after the war. Greeks treat it as an unofficial anthem, which tells you what the occupation did to the song's subject.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Vassilis%20Tsitsanis%20Synnefiasmeni%20Kyriaki) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG8AiQQrrTc)

### 3. [Michalis Patrinos](https://waxonia.com/artist/michalis-patrinos/) — [Misirlou](https://waxonia.com/track/michalis-patrinos--misirlou/)

*1927*

An Eastern Mediterranean melody of unclear parentage, recorded in Athens, and thirty-five years later surf-picked by Dick Dale into something unrecognisable. Both versions are correct.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Michalis%20Patrinos%20Misirlou) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=_vJPpuL14bA)

### 4. [Rita Abatzi](https://waxonia.com/artist/rita-abatzi/) — [To Minore Tis Avgis](https://waxonia.com/track/rita-abatzi--to-minore-tis-avgis/)

*1938*

Smyrneiko — the Asia Minor style, more ornamented and closer to Ottoman practice than the Piraeus school. Abatzi's voice is the argument for it.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Rita%20Abatzi%20To%20Minore%20Tis%20Avgis) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=whlSIL5mmVs)

### 5. [Giorgos Batis](https://waxonia.com/artist/giorgos-batis/) — [Ta Kavourakia](https://waxonia.com/track/giorgos-batis--ta-kavourakia/)

*1934*

One of the Piraeus Quartet, singing about crabs and meaning something else entirely. Rebetiko's coded humour, written for people the police were listening to.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Giorgos%20Batis%20Ta%20Kavourakia) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=nNtSYPLA84I)

### 6. [Vassilis Tsitsanis](https://waxonia.com/artist/vassilis-tsitsanis/) — [Ftohologia](https://waxonia.com/track/vassilis-tsitsanis--ftohologia/)

*1949*

Tsitsanis moved the form off the hashish den and onto the general condition of being poor, which is how it survived the ban and became national music.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Vassilis%20Tsitsanis%20Ftohologia) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm_PyA_mwK8)

### 7. [Sotiria Bellou](https://waxonia.com/artist/sotiria-bellou/) — [Ah Pou Ta Niata Mou](https://waxonia.com/track/sotiria-bellou--ah-pou-ta-niata-mou/)

*1950*

Bellou sang in a low register, drank, gambled and refused to be presentable. The greatest female voice in the tradition, and the least accommodated by it.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Sotiria%20Bellou%20Ah%20Pou%20Ta%20Niata%20Mou) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=0dhzAkCJzWQ)

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Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.