Teapacks retires…
Referencing the once flourishing music scene they once called Sderot the “Seattle” of Israel due to the influential bands coming out of the area. The most popular of these bands was Teapacks who went on to be one of the top selling bands in the country and even represented Israel at the Eurovision song competition. Now before I moved to Israel back in 1997 my taste in Israeli music… was…uh…misguided. I’ll save myself the embarrassment and hold off on the listening habits of a previous life. I have my army buddies to thank for getting me in line.
When I was enrolled in Ulpan (intensive Hebrew course) I listened to Teapack’s earlier albums endlessly. They were an amalgamation of ethnic music and rock with somewhat witty lyrics. I learned a tremendous amount of Hebrew transcribing their lyrics. Their live show was always better than their records and I had the opportunity to see them probably about ten times.
As is the case with bands that have integrity, their sound evolved. My music tastes evolved as well and I no longer connected to their more disco pop oriented sound (though their lyrics remained filled with humor and wit). They are widely known for their song “Push the Button” which they performed at Eurovision in 2007 which was all about the threat of Nuclear destruction. I didn’t get it and certainly couldn’t connect with lyrics such as “I wanna see the flowers bloom/Don’t wanna go kaput kaboom.”
After over 18 years as a band, ten albums and numerous hits Teapacks is calling it quits. And not a moment too soon.
Third place for Shiri
The buzz over Shiri Maimon’s live performance Thursday at the 2008 MTV European Awards was formidable indeed, and the attractive singer didn’t disappoint her Israeli fan base. She might have taken fourth place at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest, but when all of the votes were tallied, she beat that mark by earning third place at the MTV awards in the “Europe’s Favorite Act” category (Turkey’s Emre Aydin took home the statuette).
At this rate, Maimon should win second place in the 2011 Soul Train Awards, paving the way for a 2014 Grammy.
The entire studio version of “Now That You’re Gone,” Maimon’s latest hit single in English, and the song she performed on MTV Europe, can be heard here.
Perhaps the 2008 MTV European Awards weren’t quite ready for Maimon, as the scale of the proceedings seems to have been more global than local, according to YNet’s coverage:
Former Beatle Paul McCartney stole the show at the ceremony, as he was named Ultimate Legend. The other big winner was Britney Spears, who won Act of 2008 and Album of the Year. She did not attend the event.
McCartney was one of several stars on the night to pay tribute to Barack Obama following his victory in the US presidential election this week.
In fact, being a down-home local girl thrust into the glitzy world of international power is exactly what was on Maimon’s mind leading up to the performance. In an interview with Ma’ariv La’noar, the singer defended herself against accusations that she had turned into a spoiled superstar, claiming that the Israeli market is simply too small to be able to support the whims of a real diva. To back up her claims, Maimon cited rumors that Mariah Carey demands 6000 flowers decorate her every dressing room.
Some day, you too shall merit such treatment, Shiri.
Maimon on MTV Europe
MTV might be the ultimate trendsetter when it comes to the Eighties niche cable programming revolution in the US, but until recently, many countries were able to establish their own local music video channels that competed for ratings against MTV Europe and MTV Asia, to name two examples of regional versions of the channel.
Over the past few years, however, MTV has aggressively gone local-global, offering its brand name to licensees in countries around the world. MTV Israel might not be much more than a glorified, Viacom-approved YouTube so far, but plans to go on TV are in the works.
Now the trend is coming full circle, with the 2008 MTV European Awards on November 6 offering a “Europe’s Favorite Act” category, its 23 nominees made up of regional winners. If nothing else, it’s a clever way to get esoteric markets to tune in to the mega-broadcast. Representing Israel at Liverpool’s Echo Arena will be Shiri Maimon, no stranger to international pop competition, currently starring in a recurring role on Bad Girls, a soap opera on the local MTV-competing Music 24 channel.
So a few weeks after Liverpool pop finally came to Israel, Israeli pop is finally going to Liverpool.
Following a second-place win on the American Idol-emulating local TV show Kochav Nolad, Maimon took fourth place at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. She also has released three hit albums on Helicon Records. Regardless, becoming the first-ever Israeli performer at the MTV European Awards feels special to her, as she told YNet:
“For me, it is amazing to represent Israel in Europe again,” said Maimon.
“This may be a cliché, but it is really a dream come true to appear on an MTV stage. I will try doing the best I can, just like I love,” she said.
The general public is invited to vote for a Shiri victory in Dublin by clicking here.
Nostalgia Sunday
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Music, Pop Culture
Probably it’s because “Mamma Mia!” starring Meryl Streep is coming to town but I can’t stop singing songs from the 1974 Eurovision contest. That’s the year ABBA won for “Waterloo” and changed the world’s musical landscape forever, providing a human face to Europop – and a very attractive one, too. Benny, Bjorn, Anni-Frid and Agnetha absolutely blew the crowd away with their glam-rock gear and flying-V guitars – not to mention tuneful vocals and a killer hook – so much so that some of the other amazing things that happened in that same competition have been forgotten.
For example, another singer who would later attain major pop star status in the US, Olivia Newton-John, represented the UK – what do you think of that?! Mouth and MacNeil, who’d already had a minor US chart hit with “How Do You Do?”, represented the Netherlands – who knew they were Dutch? The Italian entry, “Si“, was banned from broadcast in that country because of an upcoming referendum on divorce, and the Portuguese song was also a political hot potato – if you can believe it.
Plus, Kaveret, also known as Poogy, represented Israel.
That last one was so important to die-hard Kaveret fans such as my sisters and myself that our parents actually allowed us to skip out on the last part of the Passover seder to watch the competition. Unfortunately, their entry “I Gave Her My Life”, was lackluster both musically and visually.
Even I could tell that my beloved Gidi Gov in his knit wool vest was no match for the ABBA girls’ satin, silver and spangles, despite my severe romatic crush and undying loyalty (this still holds true so call me, Gidi!). Plus, they just stood in a line, singing and strumming, so the world never had a chance to find out neither what amazing musical technicians Yitzhak Klepter, Alon Oleartchick, Yoni Rechter, Danny Sanderson and Ephraim Shamir were, nor how exciting and funny was their onstage camraderie.
Only three years later, Israel would find the key to becoming a Eurovision hit-maker with “Abanibi” and “Hallelujah” (not to mention “Diva“) but those were still pre-formula, pre-Eurovision-as-Gay-funland days. And while Kaveret’s loss was pretty disappointing for the schoolyard set, it didn’t affect any band member adversely. They’ve all gone on to varying degrees of success (most in music, some in TV and drummer Meir Fenigstein founded the Israeli Film Festivals in New York and LA). Most importantly, Poogy’s place in Israeli pop culture history is assured, with taking 7th place in Eurovision just a footnote in their Wikipedia entry.
Eurovision Night
Tonight’s that annual fun night: Eurovision!!
Yahoo!
Get out the scratch pads & pencils and start scoring your favorite country/group while crossing fingers for Israeli contender Boaz Mauda who you can check here. This is the number he’ll be performing in Belgrade this eve…
Subscribe
Subscribe to Israelity via email:
Social Media
Categories
- A New Reality
- Art
- Blogging
- Business
- coexistence
- Crime
- design
- education
- Entertainment
- Environment
- Food
- Foto Friday
- General
- health
- History and Culture
- Holidays
- Immigrant Moments
- Israeliness
- Life
- Medical Breakthroughs
- Movies
- Music
- News
- Nostalgia Sunday
- Picture of the Week
- Politics
- Pop Culture
- Profiles
- Religion
- Science
- Social Justice
- Sports
- Technology
- Travel
- tv
- War
The Face of Israel Today
-
About Israelity
Free newsletter
Stories from ISRAEL21c.orgPopular Posts