Danny Sanderson
He is a lifetime achiever in Israeli music. He is a guitarist, singer, musician, songwriter, composer, and music producer. He is without a doubt one of the fathers of the Israeli rock and roll and he has done so much that it will take you two days to read everything he has created.
(Photo: Vardi Kahana)
1. Sanderson was born on November 30, 1950, in Kfar Bloom to an American couple. He grew up in Haifa and at the age of 10 emigrated with his parents to New York City.
2. As a child he learned to play the banjo and guitar and was greatly influenced by the music within the family as well as American culture.
3. He returned to Israel at the age of 18, enlisted in the army, and served in the Nahal Chorus. Already here he expressed his musical and entertainment abilities.
4. Sanderson, Gidi Gov, Ephraim Shamir, Alon Olarchik, and Meir Penigstein met while serving together in the Nahal Chorus. Outside the army, they played together in clubs and occasionally joined Sanderson's band, "The Schnitzels."
5. On one of the road tours of the Nahal Chorus was joined by Dori Ben Zeev, who at the time hosted a radio show called "From Him to You" on Galey Tzahal. He noticed the unique humor of Sanderson and his friends and suggested incorporating their sketches into his show. Every week, Sanderson handed over the recordings to Dori Ben Zeev, who broadcast them on his show. The success of the sketches led to their broadcast in a permanent slot on the show, called "Foggy's Corner".
6. In 1970, Sanderson composed a rock opera called "Foggy Opera", influenced by rock operas that were successful at that time and out of a desire to connect the songs created as part of "Foggy's Corner". The work did not receive a response or exposure from television or radio stations. Some of the songs created as part of the opera were later incorporated into "Kaveret" albums.
7. After his release from the army, Sanderson left to London and tried to interest record companies in recordings of "Foggy Opera". After seeing that the matter was hopeless he returned to Israel and decided to focus on the local production of the opera.
8. In 1972, Sanderson, with the help of his band friend and first organizer, Asher Bitansky, grouped: Gidi Gov, Yitzhak Klepter, Alon Oleartchik, Meir Penigstein, Ephraim Shamir, and Yoni Rechter into the band "Kaveret".
(Photo: Monty Abrahamson)
9. The band, which was characterized by a melodic rock style rich in nonsense humor and a combination of sketches, was a great commercial success and even reached cult status. It lived until 1976 and released three studio albums: "Foggy Stories", "Foggy in Pita" and "Crowded in the Ear". Aside from forming the band, Sanderson was also dominant in writing their lyrics and melodies.
10. After the dissolution of "Kaveret" in 1976, Sanderson wrote his first book called "Public Snoring."
11. In 1978 he produced a musical record for Jonathan Geffen's show: "Salon Conversations".
12. In the same year, Sanderson, together with Avraham Deshe (Peshanel), formed the band "Gazoz". The band was a business partnership of the two and all the other members of the band were employed by contract. The ensemble included Mazi Cohen and Gidi Gov as singers, Moti Dichna as bassist and singer, Danny Peer as a pianist, Meir Pfizer, Gary Reznik, and Ziv Ben as brass instruments, and Shlomo Hammi as a drummer.
13. Musically the band presented a line of soft rock, influenced by American rock and roll of the seventies, wrapped in rich arrangements of voices and brass instruments. The singing roles were divided between Gov, Sanderson, and Mazi Cohen. Similar to "Kaveret", the lyrics often included humorous themes and puns and many of them became hits, including: "Roni", "Mom and Danny", "Spaceship", "Tea makes you dizzy", and "Nine in the Square".
14. The band launched their songs on a special broadcast on Israeli television that included music videos and sketches in between the songs and was one of the first color broadcasts in the country. By the way, they are broadcast today on the "Kan 11" channel.
15. The band released two albums that year: "Trimmed" and "Second Roll". Although it even won the band title of the year in the charts it was disbanded immediately afterward.
16. During "Gazoz" shows Sanderson and Gov felt they wanted to create something more aggressive, a little stronger, and rougher rock n' roll, so after the dissolution of "Gazoz" they formed the band "Doda".
(Photo: Avi Ganor)
17. Sanderson and Gov were financially co-producers of the band. They added guitarist Yehuda Adar, who was Sanderson's replacement in the Nahal Chorus, and two of the show's call it "Osher" (by Jonathan Geffen and Esther Shamir), bassist Alon Nadel and drummer Dovi Kizelstein.
18. In 1980, the band released a studio album bearing its name from which came hits such as: "Hot Lydia", "Lost Evening", "Quiet Quiet" and "A Thousand Firefighters".
19. The audience did not respond positively to the musical style of "Doda" and Sanderson tried to put more songs of "Kaveret" and "Gazoz" into the shows. The matter caused disagreements between Gov and Sanderson and Gov's decision to leave led to the dissolution of the band.
20. The band recorded songs for a second album, but these were shelved. One of them, "In a Green Field," was recorded ten years later by Gov himself for his album "No More Day."
21. In 1982 Sanderson's first solo album was out, "Natural Size", from which came the singles: "I Fought", "Surfboard", "Reason to Live" and "Maybe Lela". Alon Hillel on drums and Alon Nadel on bass also participated in the recording of the album.
22. In 1984, the first reunion show of "Kaveret" took place.
23. That same year Sanderson's second album, "Innocent," came out, from which came the singles: "Remote Control," "Shepherd's Song," "Thinking About You" and "What's Your Devine."
24. In 1987, Sanderson's third album, "Wise about Little Ones", was released, from which the singles "With the Aunt and Uncle" (with a high budget music video directed by Motti Kirschenbaum) was released, "Do Not Move Away", "The Sense of Touch", "Wedding" and "light".
25. In 1990, the second reunion show of "Kaveret" took place.
26. That same year Sanderson's fourth album, "Jumping for a Second", was released, from which came the singles: "She and I", "Be Realistic", "The Gray House", "She's Sick" and especially the hit "It's All for You", along with Mazi Cohen.
27. In 1994, Sanderson co-produced with Alon Olearchik his fifth album, "Dead to Cry 2", from which came the singles: "The Chair Is Too Low", "Far Far Away" and "Yes No Yes". That same year he also went on a standup comedy show.
28. In the years 1995–1996, Sanderson began hosting a host tv-show on Channel 1 that featured various musicians who played together and separately with him.
29. In 1997 Sanderson's sixth album was released: "The Unknown". The album has been described by most critics (including Yoav Kutner) as the best album Sanderson has created. This album was characterized by a classic rock 'n' roll style from the 1960s when the theme song was accompanied by big-budget music videos and became one of the great hits of Israeli rock in the 1990s. The album also included other hits such as "His Forever" and "I Told Her to Come".
30. In 1998, the third reunion show of "Kaveret" took place.
31. In 2001, Sanderson's seventh album was released, a special album called "History of Water - Songs for Others". The album consisted of completely new songs that Sanderson composed for other singers, in a joint arrangement and production with the same singers. Sanderson himself was featured in only one of the songs on the album ("Quiet Life" performed by Mazi Cohen).
32. In 2005, Sanderson released his eighth album, "Congo Blue", which he recorded and produced in collaboration with Ran Shem-Tov.
33. In 2006, Sanderson won the Lifetime Achievement Award for author on behalf of ACUM.
34. In 2009 Sanderson's ninth album, "Nothing Will Separate" was released. In contrast to the other solo albums, the band members also sang on this album, including Tamar Eisenman, Kfir Ben Lish, Yotam Ben Horin and Keren Malka. The first two singles from the album, "You Are Alone" sung by Sanderson, and "If in Life Not Loved" sung by Ben Horin, were played extensively on radio stations.
35. In 2012, a musical called "I Gave Her My Life" based on Sanderson's songs was staged at the Habima Theater. The musical, directed by Maor Zaguri, tells the story of Yoram Zuckerman (Idan Alterman), a single man from Tel Aviv who is desperate for his life. The play uses the old songs while offering new interpretations and new connections to the familiar songs.
36. In 2013, the fourth reunion show of "Kaveret" took place.
37. On the occasion of the reunion, the band released a package called "Kaveret in a Box", which included recordings that were first released after being kept by Sanderson over the years. In November of that year, the single "Hence the Road" was released on the radio.
38. In 2017 came out his tenth album, "Hence the Road". Unlike previous albums, the album's songs present a more personal and private side of Sanderson and less humorous and plotted songs.
39. Sanderson was widowed in 2005 by his wife Naomi Sanderson. His children are director Adam Sanderson and actress Dina Sanderson. Since 2008 he has been the partner of actress Anat Atzmon
40. In 2021 Sanderson won the EMI Lifetime Achievement Award
Listen to a special playlist we assembled for Danny Sanderson