I awoke Wednesday morning to find out unexpected news. I must admit there were tears that came to my eyes as I read the Greek news in disbelief. A morning that I will never forget, April 17, 2012, the world lost one of its greatest talents and human beings.
Dimitris Mitropanos, or as all of my friends and parea like to call him, Theo Mitso, passed away after suffering a heart attack caused by pulmonary edema. He was an influence on generations of Greeks around the world. His voice and songs gave hope, comfort, and solace to a people who, at many times, have had to cope with harsh surroundings.
The world will never experience such character, talent and, for lack of a better word in English, mangia.
Mitropanos was born in Trikala, Greece, and began his musical career in 1964. His career quickly took off as he appealed to the masses with his first major album, Laiki Parelasi (1971). From that point on, he went on to create 39 albums, with his last being Tragoudia Mias Zois (2009), which included songs from throughout his career along with appearances by other well-known Greek artists.
He was the type of performer who, by saying one word, could do anything he wanted to a crowd. He was respected and loved by all who knew him and listened to him, as he was such a huge influence on everyone around him.
My personal favorite album of his is Laika ’76 (1976). THE GREATEST SONG EVER WRITTEN IS ON THIS ALBUM, AND IT IS CALLED DIO NIHTES.
As far as personal experience, I can only say that I saw him live once. It’s actually a crazy story.
He came to America on July 1, 2010 to perform at Radio City Music Hall in New York. I remember it like it was yesterday, down to every single detail, and I will never forget it until the day I die.
My entire group of friends and family decided to go together and we bought an entire row of seats for the concert. We hit so much traffic on the way that we thought we would miss it altogether. As the opening time got closer, we all started to worry if we would actually make it. From that point on, insanity ensued.
Turns out we ended up arriving on time and the show was an unforgettable experience. We had never seen such passion from a performer, and it showed when he came out for an encore that lasted for half an hour.
He was truly an entertainer for the people and will remain close to our hearts as long as we live. His songs are pure feeling and can touch the lives of anyone who listens to them. He will truly be missed.
In closing, I just want to say how much I admired the man’s style, charisma and talent. Like I said at the beginning of this post, “the world lost one of its greatest talents and human beings.” That is not an exaggeration.
I challenge anyone to come to me 30 years from now and tell me that anyone has or will ever come close to Mitropanos’ talent. If that happens, I will be thankful that someone could continue to entertain us and inspire us the way “Theo Mitso” did.
But until then, know that there will be a void the size of Thessaloniki in the Greek music world.
Someone said to me yesterday:
“Τουλάχιστον θα μάθει στον ΠΟΥΣΤΗ ΤΟΝ ΧΑΡΟ να χορεύει ζεϊμπέκικο για να καταλάβει ποιoν πήρε…”
Which translates to:
“At least he will teach that bastard Death how to dance zeimbekiko so he understands who he just took from us.”
No words could ever be more true.
Mitso, καλό ταξίδι. You will be missed and remembered by all of us.
Dimitris Mitropanos
April 2, 1948 – April 17, 2012