Nana Mouskouri - Hymettus

 Every once in a while it seems like a good idea to take a brief detour from the world of rebetika / bouzouki / drunken-zembekiko-dancing and go upscale to hear some pop; this particular video is a doozy and features the future worldwide star Nana Mouskouri.  The video quality is excellent, the dress and hairdo are exquisite, and the band is dope (plus they whistle -- this might be the only video on this blog with such enchanting whistling).  To top off everything, there is a woman in the crowd who seems to be having one of the When Harry Met Sally -- "I'll have what she's having" moments...

Nana Mouskouri's career took her far beyond Greece and Greek music -- she studied opera and jazz and is best known for her work in French (I believe this video was recorded just before she emigrated to Paris).  For more head to her wikipedia page or check out your parents Long-Play albums.  At this point she is still living (if you are reading this Nana: Howdy from the great state of Oregon, USA -- We're big fans!)

I have to assume that this song is a paean to the Hymettus mountains near Athens.  

This is from the 1959 film "Η Λίζα το 'σκασε" -- Google, in it's infinite wisdom, translates this as "Lisa Shut it Up", but my guess is that the filmmakers and producers gave it a much more sensitive title.  Here is a summary of the (rather labyrinthine) plot, from the always informative Greek Movies website (as translated by Google). At the Athens airport, Lisa (Xenia Kalogeropoulou) runs away from her father, who wants to marry her off to a wealthy groom from Paris. He hitchhikes to go to town and thus meets the handsome driver of the car, George (Kostas Kakkavas). Then she runs away from him too and looks for her mother's brother, Jordan, whom she has never seen. Her father publishes a picture of her in the newspapers, offering a reward of one hundred thousand drachmas to anyone who finds her. Lisa is now afraid that anyone can recognize her and to hide she sneaks into a group of tourists, who, unbeknownst to her, are being led around by her uncle. George, who follows her to find out why she suddenly left him, takes her back to his car, and the two young people spend the night together. The next day, Iordanis finds Lisa who in the meantime has fallen in love with George, so the three together arrive at Mr. Papadea's and bring him the mantas.