(Manos Hatzidakis, 1972) Eighteen Short Songs of the Bitter Motherland (Mikis Theodorakis, 1973, poetry by Yiannis Ritsos) Our Great Circus (Stavros Xarchakos for the theatrical play of Iakovos Kambanellis, 1974) Tetralogia (Dimos Moutsis, 1975, poetry by Constantine P. Cavafy, Kostas Karyotakis, Yiannis Ritsos and Giorgos Seferis) Stavros tou Notou (Southern Cross) (Thanos Mikroutsikos, 1979, poetry by Nikos Kavvadias) Notable artists Composers: Manos Hatzidakis Manos Loïzos Yannis Markopoulos Thanos Mikroutsikos Dimos Moutsis Mimis Plessas Mikis Theodorakis Stavros Xarchakos Argiris Kounadis Nikos Gatsos (lyricist) Manos Eleftheriou (lyricist) Singers: Anna Vissi Haris Alexiou Grigoris Bithikotsis Giorgos Dalaras Maria Dimitriadi Maria Farantouri Antonis Kalogiannis Giannis Koutras Manolis Mitsias Vicky Moscholiou Nana Mouskouri Nena Venetsanou Laïkó Laïkó (λαϊκό τραγούδι 'song of the people' / 'popular song' or αστική λαϊκή μουσική 'urban folk music'), is a Greek music genre that is composed in Greek language in accordance with the tradition of the Greek people. Laïkó followed after the commercialization of rebetiko music. Until the 1930s the Greek discography was dominated by two musical genres: the Greek folk music (dimotiká) and the elafró tragoudi (literally: "light song"). The latter was the Greek version of the international urban music of the era. Classic laïkó (κλασικό/παλιό λαϊκό) as it is known today, was the mainstream popular music of Greece during the 1960s and 1970s. It was dominated by singers such as Grigoris Bithikotsis, Marinella, Stelios Kazantzidis, Panos Gavalas and others. Among the most significant songwriters and lyricists of this period are considered George Zambetas, Manolis Hiotis and Vassilis Tsitsanis; of course the big names of this kind are still in Greek business. The more cheerful version of laïkó, called elafró laïkó (ελαφρολαϊκό, elafrolaïkó 'light laïkó') and it was often used in musicals during the Golden Age of Greek cinema. Contemporary laïkó (σύγχρονο λαϊκό), also called modern laïkó, is currently Greece's mainstream music genre. Some of the strongest Greek dances and rhythms of today's Greek music culture laïká are Nisiotika, Syrta, Hasapika, Kalamatiana, zeibekiko, syrtaki and Greek belly dance and the most of them are set to music by the Greek instrumental bouzouki. Thus, on the one hand there is the homogenized Greek popular song, with all the idioms of traditional Greek folk music, and on the other, the peculiar musical trends of the urban rebetiko (song of the cities) known also in Greece as αστικό. Other significant songwriters and lyricists of this category are considered George Zambetas, Akis Panou,