This time we built our coverage a little differently, this couple just does not allow us to do it differently.
They are both together and separately, they are inseparable but individual!
And how so cosmically they were born on the same day three years apart.
(Photo: Micha Kirshner)
It's a little weird to celebrate this couple's birthday since it feels like they are just not getting old !!
True, externally you may see their age but they seem to never stop creating and performing.
This is probably how it is when you have decades of creativity, cross-generational music, and a dramatic influence on Israeli music !!
So let's start with the eldest...
Rami Fortis
(Photo: Rami Fortis Facebook)
1. He was born on July 7, 1954, in Tel Aviv.
2. He served in the Air Force during the Yom Kippur War and was greatly influenced by the inferno at the front.
3. He began his musical career in 1975 as a stage worker in performances of the immortal band Tammuz. Occasionally the band allowed Fortis to take the stage, sing or just do nonsense like he usually likes.
4. In one case, Ariel Zilber invited him to sing his song "Incubator" accompanied by members of Tammuz (the specific performance is included in the "Osefortis" box and the reissue of "Plonter" from a series of landmarks).
5. In the same year he formed the band "Fly" which in 1978 was renamed "Hot Water". They performed in clubs such as the "Upper Basement" of the Beit Lessin Theater and created for themselves a small but loyal audience.
6. In 1978, Fortis' first album, "Tangle", was released, produced by the legendary guitarist Haim Romano, who also played the album, bass guitar, and drums. It was a groundbreaking album in the local musical landscape that brought punk from Europe to Israel. It was one of the loudest and wildest albums made in the State of Israel until then.
(Photo: Unknown)
7. Only one song has over the years become a well-known hit from the album "Get Off My TV Screen", but it still had quite a few gems like "Honey", "This Generation", "Incubator", "Death is not without work", "Sun you Expect "and more.
8. The person who collaborated with Fortis in writing some of the songs on the album is none other than Messi Birnbach, who will later be a member with him in the band "Minimal Compact".
9. Fortis began to create for himself a fan base and an image of an anarchist, boundless and crazy in light of his wild musical style. He is actually the one who brought to Israel the punk that was then in its infancy compared to the development that began in Europe and the US with bands like Television, Ramones, Iggy Pop, and more.
10. In 1981, Fortis together with Doron Eyal (the terrible Schultz) formed the band "Chromosome" together with Yaki Avimor, Ronen Ben Tal, and Rona Vered. They started performing in the Tel Aviv club scene and released one self-released album. Later, after Fortis fired Schultz, the band was renamed "Will Chromosome".
11. In 1983, Fortis formed the band "Jean Conflict" together with Jean-Jacques Goldberg, Ronen Ben Tal, Gil Smetana, and Vicky Avimor. The band did not receive much attention in Israel in those days, but its reunion performances in the late 1980s were very successful, especially in the penguin scene. The band has released two albums, one of which was a 1988 recording of Penguin.
(Photo: qube.co.il)
12. In 1988, Fortis' second solo album "Stories Out of the Box" was released. It includes ten songs that have all become classics of Israeli rock. The standout hits from it is "Sunset of the Sunrise," "Monster Cat," "No Contact" and "Star of the Apes." This is the first album released by "Nana Disk" and it is the first collaboration of the Fortiskharof duo in Hebrew, some say that this is their debut album even though Sakharof did not receive credit for the album.
13. In 1992 Fortis released his third album "Goodbye in My Dreams". As in his previous two albums, all the songs were co-composed by Fortis and Berry Sakharof, and co-produced by the four members of the band. All the words were written by Fortis. The songs "I Can't", "Here Comes the Silence", "Changing Situations", "London Tel Aviv Berlin or Brussels" and "What Kind of Sex?" Were some success but did not become big hits on the scale of "Stories from the Box" hits.
14. In 1994, after a break of almost a year in which he concentrated on raising his son, Fortis formed his new backing band "The Fortis Brothers", which included Amir "Django" Rossiano (bass, vocals, keyboards), Oren Kaplan (guitars, vocals) And Yuval Shafrir (drums, keyboards, and vocals).
(Photo: qube.co.il)
15. They released their first album that year "Criminal Cop and the Whispering Giant" which is considered Fortis' most commercially successful album and one of the most prominent Israeli rock albums of the 1990s. All the songs were composed by the band and the lyrics were written by Fortis.
16. Two years later, the Fortis Brothers released the album Where Are the Horses. The album, which included the only successful song from it "The Marble Man" (with Eli Luzon), received good reviews but was not a great commercial success.
17. In 1998, Fortis joined Shlomi Bracha (Mashina) to create the album "Runner on the Edge", which combines the familiar styles of the two musicians. The album featured, for the most part, a cleaner and lighter sound than Fortis' previous albums and it yielded several hits, including "Sand", "Sometimes", "Little Bossa Nova" and "Financial Truck".
18. In 1999 came out a special package called "Osefortis" which includes 3 CDs under the names "singles" (collection of singles), "ours" (a collection of prominent songs with two new songs) and "also a collection of stamps" (rare songs from different periods). "Singles" was also released separately as a single album. In honor of the collection, Fortis returned to collaborate with Berry Sakharof and they recorded three new songs together and also held a reunion performance in honor of the collection's release.
19. In the same year, Fortis participated as an actor in the first season of the drama series "Saturdays and Holidays".
20. In 2001, the film "1999? Fortis and Israel - A True Love Story" directed by Israel Yerushalmi, which documents Fortis in the shadow of the 1999 election, was screened at festivals and cinematheques.
21. In 2001, Fortis released the album "Semi-Automatic" on which he worked with Eyal Even-Tzur, lead singer of the band "Shoes" (whose name is a tribute to a song from the album 1900?). The album is quieter and more melancholy than before but has deep lyrics that touch on the truths of existence. Berry Sakharof returned to co-produce and also accompanied Fortis on some of the songs on guitar and vocals, with the duet "The Door" becoming a hit from the album. Another song that was successful from the album was "Playing the Cube".
(Photo: Tino Waka)
22. In 2002, a DVD was released called "Piano Case" documenting the joint performance of Fortis and Shlomi Shaban, which includes piano arrangements of Fortis' hits.
23. In 2008 Fortis worked on a piece called "The Frequency" which is the soundtrack to a performance by an alternative German dance troupe.
24. In the same year, Fortis was awarded an honorary fellowship by the Sam Spiegel School of Film and Television, for "powerful, musical and stage energy that changed the face of Israeli rock; for his daring and stubbornness to turn the fringes into a beacon; Compromising and in his revolutionary work, from the 1970s to the present day. "
25. In 2009, Fortis, with his band that includes Gil Smetana, Ido Agmon, and Yuval Shafrir, released a triangular album called "Triangle Fortis" which includes 18 songs, including the hits "Blondes on Autobianchi" and "Israeli Forest".
26. In 2010, Fortis produced most of the songs from Kwame's and 21st Century Strangers in the 21st Century. Among them is the song "Squeeze Me," which Fortis co-wrote with Kwame and participated in singing. The song was one of the singles that preceded the album and one of the most successful of it all.
27. In 2011 Fortis' 9th studio album was released, called "Friend I Am". The album is inspired by Serbian inventor Nicola Tesla. Fortis is once again accompanied by his band, which includes Gil Smetana, Ido Agmon, Yuval Shafrir, and Eyal Yonati. The first single from the album, the theme song "Friend I Am", was a success. Another single released from the album is "Place in the Head" which was also a success.
In 2013, Fortis participated as a judge in the first season of the "X-Factor Israel" program that was broadcast on Channel 2, as well as in the second season (2015).
29. In 2014, Fortis performed as the warm-up show for the Rolling Stones in Israel, in a show held at Hayarkon Park.
30. In 2015, his album "History of the Title" was released, which was distributed in digital format and as a vinyl record only. The pre-album "Single from the Disappearing City" was released, followed by the theme song "History of the Title", and finally the single "Fidgeting the Tail" was released.
31. Two years later he released a video on Facebook of his first song “The Flashing Oyster” ahead of his album “Fairy Section” which was released that year.
32. In 2018, Fortis won the Landau Lottery Award for the Arts.
Do not worry we have not forgotten, there is more, but before that, we will move on to the second half of this cosmic pairing ...
Berry Sakharof
(Photo: Eldad Shoshan)
1. Of course he was born on the same day but in 1957 in Izmir, Turkey, he immigrated to Israel when he was three years old.
2. Sakharof began his musical career at an early age, when at the age of 16 he was already a member of a band called "Cosmic Dream".
Immediately after the end of his military service, Sakharof traveled to Belgium, where he formed the alternative rock band "Minimal Compact" which we will talk about later.
In 1985, Sakharof was arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport with a small amount of cocaine in his possession. Sakharof was tried and sentenced to one year in prison, of which he ran 8 months.
5. In 1991 Sakharof released his debut album, "All or Nothing". The lyrics on this album were written by various artists, including Rami Fortis, Dan Toren, Yona Wallach, Eran Tzur, and Shaul Tchernichovsky. The album included many hits, including "Blind Faith," "Stress," "Spaceships," "I Don't Love It," "The Guardian of the Garden" and Sakharof's version of the song "The Man in the Wall," which was originally sung by Samson Bar-Noy. Most of the songs on the album were composed by Sakharof, and Sakharof, Uri Barak, and Danny Makov were responsible for the arrangements.
In 1993, Sakharof released a second solo album, "Signs of Weakness", in which he performed for the first time songs that most of the lyrics were written by him (some in collaboration with Dan Toren), without the help of his longtime partner Rami Fortis. Musically, the album is a joint work of Sakharof and Bad Mochich, who introduced many elements of electronic music and symbols that preceded their time in Israeli music. Sales of the album were weak in the first years of its release, although it yielded several hits, such as "Kama Yossi", "HaZiot", "Too bad you did not" and "White Noise". Over the years, he began to be considered by many to be Sakharof's best album, and one of the best Israeli rock albums of all time, thanks to his originality, innovation, and exceptional production quality.
7. In 1995 Sakharof released his third album "Hot on the Moon". The album differs from "Signs of Weakness" in a more rockish and lively sound. His successful songs included "Hot on the Moon", "77", "Come Home", "Turns Out" and "Birthday". After the release of the album, Sakharof, together with the band with which he recorded the album, embarked on a long and successful tour, which attracted more and more audiences and made Sakharof one of the most well-known rock stars in Israel.
8. In 1996 he produced singer Dan Toren's third album "Descending Low".
9. In the same year, Sakharof wrote soundtracks for the Israeli films "St. Clara" and "Against Western Eyes", and even won the Ophir Award for best soundtrack for his work in the film "St. Clara".
10. In 1997 Sakharof produced the only album of the post-punk band "Lawnmowers" called "Rotten".
11. In 1998, Sakharof co-produced with Yizhar Ashdot Micha Sheetrit's debut album, "Nails and Feathers". Sakharof co-wrote the melody of four of the album's songs, including the theme song.
12. In the same year, Sakharof's album "Touches" was released, which soon reached the status of a gold album and brought with it a successful tour. The album yielded hits such as "That's How It Is (To Love You)" (which became the theme song of the series "Saturdays and Holidays"), "A Whole Heart", "Summer City" and "Slaves", and also included his version of "Another Repeat".
13. In 2001 came out Sakharof's fifth album "The Other" On this album, Sakharof returned to collaborate with drummer and bad producer Mochich and Dan Toren.
In the same year, Sakharof wrote soundtracks for the films "Tomer and the Scratches" and "Immediately in Israel."
In 2002, Sakharof composed the soundtrack for the film "The Wisdom of the Pretzel", and recorded the song "The End of Summer" with Micha Sheetrit.
In the same year, Sakharof wrote and composed several songs for Sharon Rotter's album, including the biggest hit on the album, "I will run to you", which he co-wrote and composed with Rotter.
17. And in the same year, Sakharof was hosted on several albums by other artists. In the album of the fish band Snake "Move", in the album of the "Blains" duo "Songs of Wars" and in the album of Hava Alberstein's "Holiday Evening". Sakharof also recorded that year in a duet with Muki, a remake of Shalom Hanoch's song "Waiting for the Messiah".
18. In 2005 the album "11A" was released. The album is the result of about two years of joint work by Bad Proves and Sakharof. The album contains 11 excerpts that combined the electronics of Proof and the rock of Sakharof, the familiar recipe.
19. In 2009 Sakharof released another album in collaboration with Ra'a Mochich, "Ibn Gvirol, Red Lips", which included melodies to the songs of the poet Shlomo Ibn Gvirol. The song "What do you have a unit for" was especially successful on the album.
(Photo: Ido Erez)
20. In 2011, Sakharof released his eighth album, "You Are Here". The album often deals with Israeli identity, with the factors that make it up and that are in its environment. The album was dedicated to the memory of drummer Jean-Jacques Goldberg.
21. Five years later Sakharof has released his ninth and final solo album to date. The album contains 8 tracks: 5 songs and 3 instrumental tracks. In addition to the songs of Sheetrit and Halafi, the album includes the song "Moon" written by Natan Alterman, the piyyut "Eli Lema Izvatni" composed by R. David Bouzaglo, and "Purple Streets" written by Udi Sharbani. The album is opened by the instrumental section "Nashkini", a new arrangement for the section that appeared on the album of the band Foreign Foreign, which is shared by Sakharof and Rami Fortis.
22. In 2017, Sakharof released an album of Ladino songs translated together with Ehud Banai, entitled: "She Performed Like the Wind".
23. 23. In 2020, he released the album "Badel Shel Or" With Dudu Tassa. This is not Berry's first collaboration with Tassa, Berry has already been featured on Tassa's song "Trib ani utruch" from the album "Dudu Tassa and the Kuwaitis", released in 2011.
So after we have learned about the two parts of a relationship, we will move on to the relationship itself ...
Fortisakharof
(Photo: Michael Rorberger)
1. In 1980, "Minimal Compact" was formed by Sami Birnbach and Rami Fortis, as a sequel to a band called "S.O.B" which they formed in Amsterdam together with Fortis' then partner singer Malka Spiegel, Berry Sakharof, and Neti Weissman. The band's activities in Amsterdam were unsuccessful, and Fortis returned to Israel, but the other members of the group continued to work together in Belgium and their joint activities gave birth to "Minimal Compact".
(Photo: Roy Tee)
2. In 1981 the band was signed by the independent record company "Kramed" and produced an EP that included the song "Static Dancing".
3. In 1982 came out their first full-length album "One by One" which was recorded in London and included the songs "Babylonian Tower", "Disguise" and "It Takes a Lifetime". The inside cover of the album stated that Rami Fortis is a member of the band "In Exile".
4. In 1984, Fortis returned to "Minimal Compact" and took part in the recording of their album "Deadly Weapons", but his contribution to this album was relatively small.
5. In 1985 the band released its fourth album, "Raging Souls" which is considered the band's most successful. Fortis' role in the band grew, both in terms of writing and in terms of playing and singing roles.
6. In 1987, "Minimal Compact" released their fifth studio album "The Figure One Cuts". The album continued the line of the previous album with the growing dominance of Fortis and Sakharof.
7. In addition to the studio albums, "Minimal Compact" was involved in several soundtracks, including the film "Wings of Desire", "Fuck Your Dreams This Is Heaven", "Made to Measure Vol. 1", "Lowlands Flight (Made to Measure Vol. 10)" As well as the live album "Minimal Compact Live".
8. "Minimal Compact" was a great commercial success and recognized in Europe, but because it failed to obtain work visas to the United States, and due to disputes between the band members, the band members decided in 1988 to disband.
9. In 2003, director Natan Mandelbaum produced a documentary about the band called "Raging Souls", and following the success of the film, the band reunited for tours in Israel and Europe, while releasing a triple collection of songs "Returning Wheel" which included rare excerpts and new remixes of the band songs.
10. After the breakup, Fortis and Sakharof tried their luck in Israel and released the successful album "Stories from the Box", the album was released under the name of Rami Fortis alone, although Sakharof participated in the writing.
11. In 1989 Fortis and Sakharof tried to repeat their international success, and recorded another album in English, under the name Foreign Affair. The album is called "East On Fire".
12. In 1990 the album "1900?" Was released, this time under the common name "Fortisharoff". Rami Fortis wrote the lyrics and Berry Sakharof composed (together with Fortis), produced and sang solo "Sparks" and "Upside Down" and participated in singing additional songs.
This record had many hits, including "America," "No End to Childhood," "Sparks" and a silent version of "Blue Dream."
"1900?" Sounds like the creation of a more cohesive band than its predecessor and established Fortis and Sakharof's status as reputed musical artists and no longer marginal artists.
13. The tour that accompanied Sakharof's "Goodbye in My Dreams" was the last of the duo together. It ended in December 1992 with the release of the live album "When the Guitar Saws the Night".
14. In 1999, Fortisharof reunited for a one-time appearance and also re-collaborated on 3 new songs for Fortis' compilation album "Oseforts".
15. In 2006, Fortishsharof's successful comeback album, "On the Watch", was released, accompanied by an extensive and popular tour. The album contains a combination of rock, electronic music, hip hop, and oriental music, played by members of the original ensemble that accompanied the duo in the early 90s.
16. Fortis and Sakharof continued to participate in "Minimal Compact" reunions every few years, the last being in 2019, and in their honor, the band released a compilation album "Creation Is Perfect" which includes remakes of the band's songs as well as a new song.
17. After the recovery from the covid-19 virus and Israel, led by the nations of the world, Fortisharoff went on a series of shows at the Raanana Amphitheater to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the album "1900?", As we mentioned in the opening, the shows were a huge success.
There is no way to describe the influence of this cosmic couple together and individually on Israeli music and there is also no way to describe the amounts of talent and music they have given us as listeners. Hope we have done them a favor and given them the respect they deserve.