" In the time of Lilipoupoli, the biography of a radio show"
FOUGARO and Topos Books invite you to meet Yorgos I. Allamanis and his book
In the time of Lilipouloli, the biography of a radio show, on Sunday 7 April 2024 at 18.00 at the LIBRARY.
The author shall present audiovisual material from his archive on the radio show and the Third Programme in the time of Manos Hadjidakis.
See you all there!
about the book
First, the working hypotheses. Then the exhaustive documentation. Finally, the memories of the living: the dozens of interviews. Adherence to this Holy Trinity preceded the writing of this book.
It is the outcome of five years (2016-2021) of research by Yorgos Ι. Allamanis which sheds light on the “Edo Lilipoupoli” radio programme, “the best-ever children’s show made for grownups”. The book re-sets the show in the historical context of Radio Three of Hellenic Radio & Television [HRT] under the directorship of Manos Hadjidakis (1975-1982), examining the expectations and the illusions of the time right after the dictatorship.
It follows the show step-by-step along the corridors and the first-floor studios of HRT, at the restaurant of Magemenos Avlos, in the mazes of officialdom, in private and public discourse. It has amassed anecdotes, photos and documentary evidence (among which some poems by Marianina Kriezi that had no time to become songs for the show, and 73 lost episodes) about that erstwhile miracle of the radio. It redraws its imprint on our collective memory.
It is read at an allegro con spirito pace as a documentary on paper addressed to intelligent readers, especially to those who know Lilipoupoli because they love its songs. It reveals what they do not know: an entire universe, the fresco of a time of Hadjidakian renaissance.
Yorgos Allamanis
For some 35 years now, there have been two handmade products in the Greek media market going under the same brand name of Yorgos Ι. Allamanis: one journalist specializing in international news (since 1984) and one radio professional and writer with a heightened interest in songs, Greek and foreign (since 1987).
The former has worked diligently for newspapers (Kathimerini, Vima, Document) and in TV newsrooms for Mega and Alpha, occasionally losing his way into the editorship of TV shows, reporting and feature writing. He loves to delve into everything down the humblest caption. He has never been employed in Press offices. He is not overly concerned about seeing his name and photos everywhere.
The latter has worked for HRT, Channel 15, Melodia (for ten years) and En Lefko, and is currently a proud member of www.metadeftero.gr, a self-managed web radio station. He has not shied away from music reviews and cultural/political opinion features, either. His texts have been published by HXOS & Hi-Fi, Scholiastis, Metro, Difono and Pontiki, among others. He has conducted hundreds (perhaps a few thousands) of interviews and has written a biography of song maker Nikolas Assimos (2000).
What is schizophrenically remarkable is that both of them believe to be a single person. On the basis of this conviction, Yorgos Ι. Allamanis, born in Athens in 1964 and a resident of Pangrati, father of three daughters and one son, hopes to be doing radio for as long as he lives, to be able to write several more books and to age in peace at an altitude of 608m above sea level, contemplating the fir trees of Mt Parnon rather than any industrial-scale wind parks.
