Jacky Baron – Charly Run (1979)
Jacky Baron is pretty mysterious, although he does appear to have his own youtube channel with seven (now 8) loyal subscribers. Most of the twelve songs on Don’t Play That Song were co-written by Elliouz Rabin, a prolific Israeli songwriter and former goalkeeper for Beitar Ramla F.C., a second-tier Israeli football club.
David Dor – Saperi Tama (1977)
The roots of Mizrahi (or “oriental”) music in Israel date back to the 1950s and the mass influx of immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East, each with its distinct religious music as well as its favorite Arabic music. The result was fusion music far ahead of its time, and by the 1960s, Tel Aviv’s Yemenite quarter was home to a brand new sound.
The son of Yemeni immigrants, David Dor’s star began to rise at an early age. In addition to his widely hailed personal appearances in nightclubs he performed throughout Europe and eventually became a star in Mexico of all places. In the 1970’s he released several albums of haunting and classic Jewish Yemenite melodies.
Gadi Elon – Smilin’ Eyes (1976)
Gadi Elon was an Israeli lounge singer who captivated audiences from the trenches of the Israeli wars to the nightclubs of New York and Las Vegas. Presumably he sold this privately pressed record at his shows. According to the liner notes the song “Smilin Eyes” was especially written for Gadi by Butch Poverno and George Bitzer, who are also credited with background vocals. A bit of googling revealed that George Bitzer was also the main keyboardist on Andy Gibb’s Shadow Dancing LP and wrote the theme song for the cartoon “Galaxy High”.
Kavaret – שיר המכולת (The Grocery Store)
Called “Poogy” outside of Israel, Kaveret apparently had quite a following among the Israeli community in Southern California and elsewhere.
