July 7, everyone who has ever been interested in local art knows, is an important day in Israeli music.
Berry Sakharof and Rami Fortis, the cornerstones of rock in Zion, celebrate birthdays there, and the very cosmic connection between them has always been a good enough reason to believe in astrology, or at least in fate.
Fortis is celebrating 68 years today, and since this is not a round and too symbolic date, all that remains is to wish him good luck and wait to celebrate him properly in two years beyond a new decade that is, hopefully, no less crazy than its predecessors.
Sakharof, on the other hand, now marks 65 years of existence.
And this is a great opportunity to return to five particularly beloved songs by the writer of these lines, a great fan of the singer for 27 years (that is - about since it was his current age), and to recall the importance of the career of the Israeli guitar prince.
This is a short and subjective list (which does not include favorite works such as "Click", "Come Home", "Until Brides", "Moments" and a host of other favorite songs), compiled in an attempt to point out their importance in the musical way of Sakharof and the station they mark.
A new old secret, if you will.
Or just a moment to touch something a little perfect.
How much Yossi
Expected choice?
Maybe.
The Sakharof cliché that even those who are unfamiliar with the faucets of his work know?
It is possible.
A must-have hit at every show and piece of Israeli pantheon classic?
hell yeah.
It's hard to think of a song that represents Berry Sakharof more than "Kama Yossi", a distortion of "Kama Yofi" (apparently), and one of the greatest Israeli rock works of all time.
It's not just the mesmerizing guitar and aggressive riff that make "Kama Yossi" the highlight of 1993's "Signs of Weakness".
This song, which has received cover versions from names such as Tislam and Balkan Beatbox, combines the story of the musician's childhood and youth, combined with a statement about how the Eastern community was integrated into Israeli society in the 1950s and 1960s.
It is full of cultural references (Delilah from the annual hymn parade is that of singer Tom Jones; the Speaker of the Knesset after whom that neighborhood is named is Joseph Sprintzak; "Fanny Hill" is an erotic book that was then passed between teenagers "right next door, right next to" Let's hope they at least washed their hands first), and paints a socio-economic picture of Bat Yam surrounded by the sands of the second decade of the State of Israel.
Important credit should of course also go to bad proves, without which neither the album nor the song would have sounded as they are.
I do not like her
In almost every album of his, except for a few, Sakharof makes sure to combine alongside his and his colleagues' songs such as Fortis, Dan Toren, Noam Rotem or Eran Tzur, composed melodic poets.
"All or Nothing," Berry's 1991 declaration of independence after accustoming the public to consuming it as part of Fortisharof (a duo that would have also gotten along well under the name "Sakharoportis") or the ensembles Poren Affair and Minmill Compact, contained several such.
"There is" written by Jonah Wallach received a treatment surrounded by a nightmarish atmosphere accompanied by a children's choir.
David Avidan's "Invitation to a Daily Show" was similarly adapted in terms of opal, but less delusional and more rhythmic.
Later in his career will include the famous performance of Alterman's "Od Hozer Hanigun" (originally composed by Naftali Alter), "The Lord of the World" written by the late Barry Hazak, "The Whisperer to the Cars" by the poet and author Haviva Pedia, and of course the album "Red Lips" based On the songs of Shlomo Ibn Gvirol.
But above all shines in his iconic "I do not love her," written by Shaul Tchernichovsky in 1925.
A matter of personal taste, and perhaps it is a statement of intent of those who have engraved on their banner a reference to great past writers and the transmission of their works to future generations.
Hot on the moon
In 1995, Sakharof focused on the sound of living instruments.
"Hot on the Moon", the album as its theme song, was led by electric guitar and distortion, and fitted like a glove next to the profit sound of the period.
It was the golden age of Israeli rock.
Bands such as Where's the Boy, Safed's Elders and Dr. Casper's Rabbit Show (which then took a change of direction from the devilish content that published them and released a psychedelic concept album - which failed, but is considered a favorite work by connoisseurs) dominated radio stations with a high hand.
In the days leading up to Rabin's assassination, Israel still allowed itself to give in and not give in to the "calm weekend" concept, which within a few years would kill almost any attempt by rock to invade the mainstream.
The Jews are also releasing their legendary debut album that year, and the rock scene in Israel is buzzing like never before.
The festivals, the ones that for the average teenager in the ’90s were a first chance to taste youthful freedom, alcohol and loss of innocence, were the highlight of every summer and Independence Day eve.
More than anyone else, the stages of "Youth City" and "Independence Rock" sometimes waited until dawn, for those who established at that time his status as the most beloved rock singer of his generation, and as a composer with the same importance as Shalom Hanoch for the generation born several Years earlier.
This song, with the chilling line "We will be good when it's hot on the moon", and that album, marked the process of making Sakharof from the prince, a legitimate heir to the throne.
That's how it is to love you
This is not the best song on "Touches," Sakharof's most commercially successful album.
Everyone knows that this title actually belongs to "Life Opposite" and his crab dance, go ahead.
But "That's How It Is to Love You" heralded the next stage in Berry's career, and his well-developed adaptability.
At times when he was not the one who foreshadowed the change, Sakharof made sure to be the one to recognize him and make the right adjustments to the sound of the period.
And this is the story of the electronic "Touches", an album released just before the beginning of 1999, when rock as we know it began to change and lose its status, in front of the computer music that had been bubbling beneath the surface for some time.
"Kzala" is also considered a big radio hit, just like "Slaves" from the same record, and it also served as the opening song of the esteemed "Saturdays and Holidays". The new millennium was the perfect timing to continue to evolve in these directions, and not long after that came Assaf Amdursky's "Silent Engines", another rocker who showed interest in electronics (even greater than Berry's), and the sound of the coming decades began to shape Israeli music as well.
A city of summer
The dark and sweaty songs in "Touches", a song written by Micha Sheetrit, are on this list not only because it is a record moment on the album and in every performance.
An important thing should also be said about the way long before it became standard, Sakharof began to incorporate in his work what is called - sounds from his father's house, and especially oriental influences from Izmir Turkey, from which he immigrated to Israel at age 3. It was not obvious then to combine the popular guitar sound of The period and between oriental influences.
But Sakharof, who over the years added to the story the influences of Southern California seraphim, light electronics and later also Jewish piyyutim, was also a pioneer in terms of soldering between styles.
He did so on the same album with "Whole Heart," a song with a heavy Mediterranean melody that Haim wrote for Rose.
But "City of Summer" perfectly combines the various influences on the singer, and in a sense made the oriental sound accessible to guitar rock lovers, many of whom until then thought the division between genres was dichotomous, long before the era of shatanz and stylistic fluidity.
Were we wrong?
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