Zohar Argov

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Zohar Argov (July 16, 1955 - November 6, 1987) (born as Zohar Orkabi) is the most popular Israeli oriental Mizrahi style singer.

The most serious disadvantage that Argov met in his rise to stardom was his Yemenite background, which was considered inferior to the prevalent European Jewish culture that dominated Israel since the settlement of the state. His singing abilities were developed by his early participation in the song and chant of Yemenite Torah communities.

Most of the Orkabi family (NB: Only Zohar Argov used the surname Argov, which was a stage name chosen for him by his producer. This name modified to "Argov" was to attract European Israelis to the music and gain a larger audience) were disadvantaged to a certain degree by poverty following its immigration to Israel. Both his father and grandfather died of alcoholism when he was young, and he and his brothers and sisters were raised by their mother.

Argov was the first singer to achieve commercial and country-wide success with Middle Eastern (mizrahi) style music. The radio friendly music of the time pandered either to Zionist songwriters or shadowers of Western pop, both of which were influenced by 1960s American counterculture and dress. Mizrahi music was a deep backlash against integration of Yemenite, Moroccan, and other Oriental Jews, in that it rejected the often politicized bent of Ashkenazi (European Jewish) artists, and instead focused either on Torah themes, or far more often on personal ones. Though Argov's music was largely suppressed by radio as primitive Oriental crooning (he neither wrote nor played an instrument), the impoverished Oriental street embraced his music and created an underground hero in him. This despite the fact that none of his music ever moved from either Torah or personal/love subject matter.

Argov's debut album Eleanor (1981) featured the title track, "Sod HaMazalot" ("Secret of the Charms"), and "Mah Lakh Yaldah" ("What to You, Girl"), the last a tribute to the love of his life, his ex-wife Braha. Most of his popularity continues to be held among the working class, rather than the publishing media in Israel. What is beyond doubt is that throughout the late 1980s Argov fell into drug addiction to cocaine, and lived the life of a social outcast simultaneous to his massive success as an artist. Numerous legends surround his addictive rampages, which dragged members of his family with him.

Argov, whose criminal record stretched back to his teens and who served a year in prison for allegedly raping a woman, committed suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell after he was arrested for attempting to grab a police officer's gun, the officer having followed him on the street after he was beaten up by his best friend for cocaine debts he owed. The morning of his death was just hours from the previous night where he appeared on a popular Israeli talk show. On the show Argov discussed his life and his drug addiction, which he declared himself to be finished with because he realized that it creates a nightmare for anyone trapped in such a habit.

[edit] Legacy

Though after his death Argov was judged by many to have been little more than a social degenerate who got lucky, he has continued to retain his undisputed status as "HaMelekh" (the King) of Mizrahi music. However, that judgement is based mostly on the poor quality of recordings which he issued during his last few years of life, when heroin had ruined his voice. The parallels between him and Elvis Presley are obvious, although while Presley's music has long been accepted as part of American culture, Argov had been rejected by most sectors of Israeli media, but he was the subject of a play staged at the extremely mainstream and "Zionist elite" oriented Kameri Theatre in Tel Aviv. Such songs of his as "HaPerakh BeGani" ("The Flower in My Garden"), "Mah Lakh Yaldah", "Ba'avar Hayu Zmanim" ("In The Past There Were Times") and "Badad" ("Alone"), are considered today classics by most music observers in Israel as integral to the national culture. However disdain for the Oriental music genre as a whole has created an image of Argov's music as little more than a cliched culture of love songs. This rift is only part of a larger one that still separates Ashkenazim and Mizrachim in Israel, over half a century since Oriental Jews first immigrated to the state in great numbers.