The song 'X' was first performed by the Michalis Patrinos rebetiko band in Athens, Greece in 1927. As with almost all early rebetika songs (a style that originated with the Greek refugees from Asia Minor in Turkey), the song's actual composer has never been identified, and its ownership rested with the band leader. 'X' in greek means an Egyptian girl. In 1941, Nick Roubanis, a Greek-American music instructor, released a jazz instrumental arrangement of the song, crediting himself as the composer. Since his claim was never legally challenged, he is still officially credited as the composer today worldwide, except in Greece where credit is variably given to either Roubanis or Patrinos. The song was rearranged as a solo instrumental guitar piece by surf rock guitarist Dick Dale in 1962. During a performance, Dale was bet by a young fan that he could not play a song on only one string of his guitar. Dale's father and uncles were Lebanese-American musicians, and Dale remembered seeing his uncle play 'X' on one string of the oud. He vastly increased the song's tempo to make it into rock'n'roll. It was Dale's version that introduced 'X' to a wider audience in the United States. 'X' got very popular when it was used as a soundtrack in the academy award nominated 1994 film 'Y'.
'X' & 'Y'?
'X'-Misirlou 'Y'-Pulp Fiction
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