Israeli rock
Encyclopedia
Israeli rock is rock music
created by Israel
i bands and singers.
and later on HaMasger Street in Tel Aviv
. These bands mainly performed cover versions of popular rock songs by bands like The Beatles
and The Shadows
. Rock culture, in the social and political sense, was nowhere in sight. Bands that stood out in the first wave of Israeli rock were The Lions, The Churchills
, The Fat and the Thins, The Styles, The Electric Stage, The Seventh Radiance, The Goldstars, The Sing-Sing, The Blue Stars and The Spiders.
In the euphoria that followed the Six-Day War
, the performing groups of the Israel Defense Forces
rose in status, with a steady stream of songs about victory, bereavement and loss. Rock was part of the alternative music scene, played mostly in clubs such as "Hakarish" and "Calypso", formerly known as drug dens.
Towards the end of the decade, rock and roll began to gain legitimacy. Western musicians began to arrive in Israel and influences of the pop revolution began to permeate local culture. Some of the local bands added English musicians to their ensemble and thus several new bands were created based on the original rhythm bands. In the second wave of rhythm bands, three main bands led the local rock scene. The first was The Churchills, which consisted of five musicians including Canadian singer Stan Solomon, and British guitarist Robb Huxley
. These were the most adventurous of the Israeli rock bands; they played innovative combinations of psychedelic rock
mixed with Mediterranean Arab music. In 1970 the Israeli composer Noam Sheriff
initiated a concert played by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
and The Churchills, and their shared work with Arik Einstein
, Oshik Levi
and other artists from the mainstream Israeli pop music scene granted the Israeli rock scene a public stamp of approval.
The second band, The Lions, was considered to be the first Israeli band to experiment with reggae music. In 1968 The Lions became the first Israeli band to insert a song at the top of the British charts ("Our Love's a Growing Thing").
The third prominent Israeli band of those years was the supergroup
Uzi and the Styles, created by the former lead singer of The Fat and the Thins, Uzi Fox. The band's varied style was based not only upon British pop music but also on American soul music and was characterized by the compound-rich processings of wind instrument
s similar to Blood, Sweat & Tears
, Chicago
, etc.
Between the 1960s and the 1970s, successful Israeli musicians started to show interest in rock music and many of them recorded songs in the rock style by themselves or with bands. The artist who took the most significant step towards the adoption of rock as a dominant force in Israeli music was the popular singer Arik Einstein, who in 1969 made The Churchills his backup group. Einstein's albums from those years, Pozi (1969), slug (1970), Plastelina (1970) and Badshe etzel Avigdor (1971), are considered to be groundbreaking in the way in which they combined rock melodies with Hebrew texts. They were revolutionary both in the fresh musical perception which they demonstrated, and in creating more personal mainstream songs rather than the military bands which were prominent in the previous decade.
scene. One of the first performers was Shlomo Gronich
, whose 1971 debut was Why Didn't You Tell Me?. This was however, preceded by Danny Ben Israel Bullshit 3 1/4, which was released in 1970 and promptly forgotten about for some thirty years. Other 70s prog bands included The Churchills
, Zingale
, and Sheshet.
Israel also developed a new style of rock/metal named Oriental metal, which is a crossover between death metal
and doom metal
, influenced by ancient Jewish traditions and the oriental culture, both in lyrics and melody.
In the seventies a lot of bands were formed. The rock band Tamouz
gained a lot of success in the 1970s. The most successful Israeli Rock band of the seventies was Kaveret
which combined a rock music and unique sense of humor. At the end of the seventies singers whom performed rock music became very popular and successful: Shalom Hanoch
, Ariel Zilber
, Tzvika Pick (in combination with a pop music), Efraim Shamir, Yitzhak Klepter and Gary Ackstein.
", "Benzin", "T-Slam
" and "Mashina
" which proved to be the most successful Israeli rock band of that decade and continued to perform until 1995 when they disbanded but formed back together in 2005 due to popular demand.
, Berry Sakharof
and Aviv Geffen
, and young bands like Eifo HaYeled
, The Elders of Zfat
, Rockfour
and Dr. Kasper's Rabbits Show whom became very popular. An essential role on the raise of those bands and artists was the former Roxanne club in Tel Aviv which hosted known artists and emerging artists of rock and alternative rock, thus allowing fast exposure to new bands, and cultivated a listener audience for those music styles. Since then, most of those bands have disbanded, but their members still continue to act in the same different setting and mostly constitute the community of the Israeli music of today.
Notable in the field of Glam metal
and Heavy metal
was the band Stella Maris
from Haifa, which began performing in the early 1990s. Stella Maris later integrated in the mainstream Israeli music scene and its vocalist, Pavlo Rosenberg
, launched a solo career of his own.
In spite of different crises and low point periods which affected the world of the Israeli rock (like the Arad festival disaster of 1995, after which the popularity of such events descended), during the next decade the Israeli rock music style became to the central and most acceptable music style, and important bands like The witches and Monica Sex
were formed.
, which tends to have a melodic nu metal
sound. Additional successful emerging Israeli rock bands and artists of this decade include: HaGirafot, Sheygets, HaYehudim
, Yoni Bloch
, Hadag Nahash
and many more.
At the end of the 2000s Mizrahi music
gained massive popularity in Israel which only added another factor to the weakening in popularity of Israeli rock.
In addition, during the 2000s, many veteran disbanded Israel rock bands began playing again, such as T-Slam
, Mofa Ha'arnavot Shel Dr. Kasper, Eifo HaYeled
, Monica Sex
, Mashina
, etc.
List of Israeli rock music groups
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
created by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i bands and singers.
The development of Israeli rock in the 1960s
Israel's initial attitude toward rock music was extremely negative. Israeli musicians of the time believed it was a trend that would soon pass. The first Israeli rock bands began performing in the mid-1960s in nightclubs and discos, first in RamlaRamla
Ramla , is a city in central Israel. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 AD by the Umayyad Caliph Suleiman ibn Abed al-Malik after the Arab conquest of the region...
and later on HaMasger Street in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
. These bands mainly performed cover versions of popular rock songs by bands like The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and The Shadows
The Shadows
The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...
. Rock culture, in the social and political sense, was nowhere in sight. Bands that stood out in the first wave of Israeli rock were The Lions, The Churchills
The Churchills
The Churchills was an Israeli band founded in 1965, active until the mid-1970s. It was a part of the rhythm bands scene that were active in Israel in the 1970s, especially in Ramla. The band played rock music in English, from psychedelic rock to hard rock...
, The Fat and the Thins, The Styles, The Electric Stage, The Seventh Radiance, The Goldstars, The Sing-Sing, The Blue Stars and The Spiders.
In the euphoria that followed the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
, the performing groups of the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
rose in status, with a steady stream of songs about victory, bereavement and loss. Rock was part of the alternative music scene, played mostly in clubs such as "Hakarish" and "Calypso", formerly known as drug dens.
Towards the end of the decade, rock and roll began to gain legitimacy. Western musicians began to arrive in Israel and influences of the pop revolution began to permeate local culture. Some of the local bands added English musicians to their ensemble and thus several new bands were created based on the original rhythm bands. In the second wave of rhythm bands, three main bands led the local rock scene. The first was The Churchills, which consisted of five musicians including Canadian singer Stan Solomon, and British guitarist Robb Huxley
Robb Huxley
Robert William Huxley, known as Robb Huxley is a vocalist and musician.-Early life:Huxley was born in Gloucester, England and educated at Sir Thomas Rich’s Grammar School...
. These were the most adventurous of the Israeli rock bands; they played innovative combinations of psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
mixed with Mediterranean Arab music. In 1970 the Israeli composer Noam Sheriff
Noam Sheriff
Noam Sheriff is an Israeli composer, conductor and arranger. Sheriff is one of Israel’s most versatile and world renowned musicians. Currently, he is the music director of the Haifa Symphony Orchestra.- Early life :...
initiated a concert played by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is the leading symphony orchestra in Israel. It was originally known as the Palestine Orchestra, and in Hebrew as התזמורת הסימפונית הארץ ישראלית The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit...
and The Churchills, and their shared work with Arik Einstein
Arik Einstein
Arik Einstein is an Israeli singer-songwriter.Einstein was a vocalist for Batzal Yarok , Shleeshiyat Gesher Hayarkon and Hahalonot Hagvohim . His collaboration with Shalom Hanoch and the Churchills planted the seeds for the first Israeli rock albums...
, Oshik Levi
Oshik Levi
Oshik Levi is an Israeli singer, actor, and entertainer.He started his career in the late 1960s, as a rock singer, first in the group Shlishiyat Ha-Teomim Oshik Levi (Hebrew: אושיק לוי, born April 7, 1944) is an Israeli singer, actor, and entertainer.He started his career in the late 1960s, as a...
and other artists from the mainstream Israeli pop music scene granted the Israeli rock scene a public stamp of approval.
The second band, The Lions, was considered to be the first Israeli band to experiment with reggae music. In 1968 The Lions became the first Israeli band to insert a song at the top of the British charts ("Our Love's a Growing Thing").
The third prominent Israeli band of those years was the supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
Uzi and the Styles, created by the former lead singer of The Fat and the Thins, Uzi Fox. The band's varied style was based not only upon British pop music but also on American soul music and was characterized by the compound-rich processings of wind instrument
Wind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
s similar to Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American music group, originally formed in 1967 in New York City. Since its beginnings in 1967, the band has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a multitude of musical styles...
, Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
, etc.
Between the 1960s and the 1970s, successful Israeli musicians started to show interest in rock music and many of them recorded songs in the rock style by themselves or with bands. The artist who took the most significant step towards the adoption of rock as a dominant force in Israeli music was the popular singer Arik Einstein, who in 1969 made The Churchills his backup group. Einstein's albums from those years, Pozi (1969), slug (1970), Plastelina (1970) and Badshe etzel Avigdor (1971), are considered to be groundbreaking in the way in which they combined rock melodies with Hebrew texts. They were revolutionary both in the fresh musical perception which they demonstrated, and in creating more personal mainstream songs rather than the military bands which were prominent in the previous decade.
1970s
In the early 1970s, Israel had a burgeoning progressive rockProgressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
scene. One of the first performers was Shlomo Gronich
Shlomo Gronich
Shlomo Gronich is a male Israeli composer, singer, songwriter, arranger, and choir conductor.- Biography :Shlomo Gronich grew up in a musical family in Hadera. He holds a B.A. in Music Education from Tel Aviv Educational Academy, and a B.A. in Composition from the Mannes School of Music, New York...
, whose 1971 debut was Why Didn't You Tell Me?. This was however, preceded by Danny Ben Israel Bullshit 3 1/4, which was released in 1970 and promptly forgotten about for some thirty years. Other 70s prog bands included The Churchills
The Churchills
The Churchills was an Israeli band founded in 1965, active until the mid-1970s. It was a part of the rhythm bands scene that were active in Israel in the 1970s, especially in Ramla. The band played rock music in English, from psychedelic rock to hard rock...
, Zingale
Zingale
Zingale is a village in Mingin Township, Kale District, in the Sagaing Region of western Burma.-External links:*...
, and Sheshet.
Israel also developed a new style of rock/metal named Oriental metal, which is a crossover between death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
and doom metal
Doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
, influenced by ancient Jewish traditions and the oriental culture, both in lyrics and melody.
In the seventies a lot of bands were formed. The rock band Tamouz
Tamouz (band)
Tamouz was an Israeli rock band which released the influential album "End of the Orange Season" in 1976.The band did not attain much commercial success, but they are a reference point in Israeli Rock, with hits like: "Sof Onat Ha'Tapuzim" and "Ma She'Youter Amok Yoter Cachol"...
gained a lot of success in the 1970s. The most successful Israeli Rock band of the seventies was Kaveret
Kaveret
Kaveret , also known as Poogy , was an Israeli rock band in the mid-1970s that won much fame around the world for their often humorous songs and unique style of music. Their shows included many skits, among which are the Sipurey Poogy...
which combined a rock music and unique sense of humor. At the end of the seventies singers whom performed rock music became very popular and successful: Shalom Hanoch
Shalom Hanoch
Shalom Hanoch is an Israeli rock singer, lyricist and composer.He is considered to be the father of Israeli rock and the most important artist of that area. His works have profoundly influenced Israeli rock and modern Israeli music...
, Ariel Zilber
Ariel Zilber
Ariel Zilber is an Israeli singer-songwriter and composer. He is considered one of the most prominent musicians and singer-songwriters in Israeli music, known for his highly literate lyrics and for his simple yet profound style.Zilber became a Baal Tshuva following the 2005 disengagement from...
, Tzvika Pick (in combination with a pop music), Efraim Shamir, Yitzhak Klepter and Gary Ackstein.
1980s
During the 1980s a small number of rock bands became popular. Notable rock bands of the decade were "The ClickHaClique
HaClique is an Israeli rock band founded in 1980 composed of Dani Dothan , Eli Avramov , Ovad Efrat and Jean-Jacques Goldberg ....
", "Benzin", "T-Slam
T-Slam
T-Slam was an influential Israeli rock band, founded in 1978 by Dani Bassan, Izhar Ashdot and Yair Nitzani. The band dissolved on October 23, 1983, but has reunited at least three times since then.-History:...
" and "Mashina
Mashina
Mashina are an Israeli pop rock band which was active from 1984 to 1995, and then again from 2003 to the present. The band is considered by many to be Israel's most important and influential rock band...
" which proved to be the most successful Israeli rock band of that decade and continued to perform until 1995 when they disbanded but formed back together in 2005 due to popular demand.
1990s
1991 was the year of the break though of the Israeli alternative rock bands and singers, which was led by Rami FortisRami Fortis
Rami Fortis , often Fortis, is an Israeli rock singer.-Biography:Rami Fortis is of Iraqi and Italian origin. He served in the 1973 Yom Kippur war and was influenced by his experiences at the front. He began his musical career in 1975 as a lighting-man in the shows of Tamuz - one of Israel's...
, Berry Sakharof
Berry Sakharof
Berry Sakharof is an Israeli rock guitarist, songwriter and singer.-Biography:Sakharof was born in Izmir, Turkey in 1957. His family immigrated to Israel when he was 3 years old.-Start of career:...
and Aviv Geffen
Aviv Geffen
Aviv Geffen is an Israeli rock musician, singer, songwriter, producer, keyboardist and guitarist. He is the son of writer and poet Yehonatan Geffen and Nurit Makover, brother of actress Shira Geffen, and an alumnus of Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music.Geffen was and is extremely popular...
, and young bands like Eifo HaYeled
Eifo HaYeled
Eifo HaYeled is an Israeli rock band that influenced the Israeli rock scene and culture greatly.-Band members:*Hemi Rodner - lead vocals, bass guitar.*Asaf Sarig - vocals, guitar.*Asaf Meroz - drums.*Ofir Bar-Ami - vocals, guitar.*Arad Shiff - guitar....
, The Elders of Zfat
Zikney Tzfat
Zikney Tzfat were a grunge / punk band formed in Tel Aviv, Israel around 1990 by Maor Cohen, Yoni Bentovim, Oren Lutenberg, and later joined by Rea Mochiach...
, Rockfour
Rockfour
Rockfour is a Psychedelic rock band, formed in 1988 in Holon, Israel. Most of their catalog is in English, and they regularly tour the United States.-Early years:...
and Dr. Kasper's Rabbits Show whom became very popular. An essential role on the raise of those bands and artists was the former Roxanne club in Tel Aviv which hosted known artists and emerging artists of rock and alternative rock, thus allowing fast exposure to new bands, and cultivated a listener audience for those music styles. Since then, most of those bands have disbanded, but their members still continue to act in the same different setting and mostly constitute the community of the Israeli music of today.
Notable in the field of Glam metal
Glam metal
Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...
and Heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
was the band Stella Maris
Stella Maris
Stella Maris may refer to* Polaris * A title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in English as Our Lady, Star of the Seaplaces or organizations named for the Virgin Mary:...
from Haifa, which began performing in the early 1990s. Stella Maris later integrated in the mainstream Israeli music scene and its vocalist, Pavlo Rosenberg
Pavlo Rosenberg
Pavlo Rosenberg is an Israeli singer.Pavlo Rosenberg was born in Argentina. His family immigrated to Israel when he was 6 years old...
, launched a solo career of his own.
In spite of different crises and low point periods which affected the world of the Israeli rock (like the Arad festival disaster of 1995, after which the popularity of such events descended), during the next decade the Israeli rock music style became to the central and most acceptable music style, and important bands like The witches and Monica Sex
Monica Sex
Monica Sex is an Israeli rock band that is very popular among young fans and the contemporary music scene. Their music is generally characterized by its alternative rock sound and catchy lyrics, which led many of their songs to become radio hits and greatly recognizable in Israeli culture.One of...
were formed.
2000s until today
Israeli Rock in the 2000s became less popular relative to previous decades. Israeli Pop artists took the place of the Israeli rock artists. Nevertheless, Israeli rock never stopped being popular, and many new rock artists and bands become popular in this decade. Amongst the most prominent Israel rock bands of the 2000s are Beit HaBubot, which plays melodic rock which focuses on the acoustic guitar sound and SynergiaSynergia
Synergia is an Israeli rock band. The band was first formed by two childhood friends Ron Hoffman and Roy Geffen . The two used to perform as a cover group in Tel Aviv called "HaTzayadim"...
, which tends to have a melodic nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
sound. Additional successful emerging Israeli rock bands and artists of this decade include: HaGirafot, Sheygets, HaYehudim
HaYehudim
HaYehudim is an Israeli hard rock band, formed in 1992 by married couple Tom Petrover and Orit Shachaf, who share guitar playing and vocal duties. The band has achieved tremendous success in Israel despite commercial disregard in its first years, and has sold over 200,000 albums in Israel.The band...
, Yoni Bloch
Yoni Bloch
Yoni Bloch is an Israeli musician, song writer, composer, rock singer and hi-tech entrepreneur.- Early life :Bloch grew up in Beer Sheva and at the age of 17 moved with his family to Lehavim...
, Hadag Nahash
Hadag Nahash
Hadag Nahash is an Israeli hip hop/funk band, founded in 1996 in Jerusalem. The band is known for its leftist political statements in many of its songs.- Name and symbols :...
and many more.
At the end of the 2000s Mizrahi music
Mizrahi music
Mizrahi music refers to the music integration that combines elements from Europe, the West, and Middle Eastern/North African countries transported to Israel by migrating Jews. It is usually sung in Hebrew, literary Hebrew and Arabic slang...
gained massive popularity in Israel which only added another factor to the weakening in popularity of Israeli rock.
In addition, during the 2000s, many veteran disbanded Israel rock bands began playing again, such as T-Slam
T-Slam
T-Slam was an influential Israeli rock band, founded in 1978 by Dani Bassan, Izhar Ashdot and Yair Nitzani. The band dissolved on October 23, 1983, but has reunited at least three times since then.-History:...
, Mofa Ha'arnavot Shel Dr. Kasper, Eifo HaYeled
Eifo HaYeled
Eifo HaYeled is an Israeli rock band that influenced the Israeli rock scene and culture greatly.-Band members:*Hemi Rodner - lead vocals, bass guitar.*Asaf Sarig - vocals, guitar.*Asaf Meroz - drums.*Ofir Bar-Ami - vocals, guitar.*Arad Shiff - guitar....
, Monica Sex
Monica Sex
Monica Sex is an Israeli rock band that is very popular among young fans and the contemporary music scene. Their music is generally characterized by its alternative rock sound and catchy lyrics, which led many of their songs to become radio hits and greatly recognizable in Israeli culture.One of...
, Mashina
Mashina
Mashina are an Israeli pop rock band which was active from 1984 to 1995, and then again from 2003 to the present. The band is considered by many to be Israel's most important and influential rock band...
, etc.
See also
List of Israeli rock singersList of Israeli rock music groups
- Rock Mizrahi
- Music of IsraelMusic of IsraelThe music of Israel is a combination of Jewish and non-Jewish music traditions that have come together over the course of a century to create a distinctive musical culture. For more than 100 years, musicians have sought original stylistic elements that would define the emerging national spirit...
- List of Israeli musical artists