the Athenian songs were not autonomous artistic creations (in contrast with the serenades) and despite their original connection with mainly dramatic forms of Art, they eventually became hits as independent songs. Notable actors of Greek operettas, who made also a series of melodies and songs popular at that time, include Orestis Makris, Kalouta sisters, Petros Epitropakis, Vasilis Avlonitis, Afroditi Laoutari, Rena Vlahopoulou, Eleni Papadaki, Aris Maliagros, Marika Nezer, Marika Krevata and others. Italian opera had also a great influence on the musical aesthetics of the modern Greeks. Some popular operettas include: Kritikopoula (Spyridon Samaras, 1916) The Godson (Theophrastos Sakellaridis, 1918) I want to see the Pope (Theophrastos Sakellaridis, 1920) Oi Apachides ton Athinon (Nikos Hatziapostolou, 1921) Beba (Theophrastos Sakellaridis, 1928) After 1930, wavering among American and European musical influences as well as the Greek musical tradition, Greek composers begin to write music using the tunes of the tango, samba, waltz, swing, bolero, foxtrot, some times combined with melodies in the style of Athenian serenades' repertory. Nikos Gounaris was probably the most renowned composer and singer of the time (often called "Mr. Greece"). Giorgos Mouzakis was a prominent virtuoso trumpeter (borrowed latin jazz elements), while Attik and Michalis Souyioul were also among the most succeeded and popular composers. Notable singers of this style include also Fotis Polymeris, Sofia Vembo (a star of the era), Mary Lo, Danaë Stratigopoulou, Stella Greca and Tony Maroudas. Notable artists (1910s–1960s) Composers: Attik (Kleon Triantafyllou) Kostas Giannidis Kostas Kapnisis Giorgos Mouzakis Theophrastos Sakellaridis Michalis Souyioul (Souyioultzoglou) Giorgos Giannakopoulos (lyricist) (lyricist) Alekos Sakellarios (lyricist) Mimis Traiforos (lyricist) Singers: Ioannis Filandros/Spyros Koronis duo Nikos Gounaris Tony Maroudas Kakia Mendri Fotis Polymeris Luisa Poselli Danaë Sofia Vembo Rebetiko Rebetiko was initially associated with the lower and poor classes, but later reached greater general acceptance as the rough edges of its overt subcultural character were softened and polished. Rebetiko probably originated in the music of the larger Greek cities, most of them coastal, in today's Greece and Asia Minor. Emerged by the 1920s as the urban folk music of Greek society's outcasts. The earliest Greek rebetiko singers (refugees, drug-users, criminals and itinerants) were scorned by mainstream society. They sang heartrending tales of drug abuse, prison and violence, usually accompanied by the bouzouki. In 1923, after the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, many ethnic Greeks from Asia Minor fled to Greece as a result of the Greco-Turkish War. They settled