| Yehuda Poliker | |
|---|---|
Yehuda Poliker with bouzouki, 2007 |
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| Background information | |
| Born | December 25, 1950 Kiryat Haim, Israel |
| Genres | Combines rock with Greek and other Mediterranean musical styles |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, musician, and painter |
Yehuda Poliker (Hebrew: יהודה פוליקר, Greek: Λεωνίδας Πολικάρη) (born December 25, 1950) is an Israeli singer, songwriter, musician, and painter.
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Poliker was born in Kiryat Haim, a suburb of Haifa, Israel to a Greek Jewish family. Poliker is the son of Holocaust survivors deported to Auschwitz from Salonika, Greece.[1]
Poliker's music combines rock with Greek and other Mediterranean musical styles. He plays guitar, bouzouki, and bağlama and was a member of the 1980s Israeli rock band Benzeen. In 2002 he was nominated for the Tammuz Award of Israel's Best Male Artist, but lost out to David D'or.[2] Poliker has composed songs for some of Israel's leading vocalists, among them Arik Einstein, Gidi Gov, Rita, Chava Alberstein, Dana International and more.[3]
In 1988, Poliker recorded Efer Ve'avak (Ashes and Dust) together with Ya'akov Gilad. It was the first Israeli pop music album on the theme of the Holocaust, in this case, a blend of Greek music, pop, and rock.[4]
Poliker reached the top of the album charts in Israel with his 1990 CD, Pachot Aval Koev (Hurts but Less). He has put out several successful albums since then, for example a 1995 2 CD set, Ha Yeled She b'Cha (The Child Inside of You), a 1997 2 CD live set recorded in Caesaria, 2001 CD Eich Korim l'Ahava Sheli (What is the Name of my Love), and 2010 CD Ahava Al Tnai (Conditional love).
In 2005, he was voted the 95th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.[5]
Poliker's father, Jacko, tells the story of his escape from Auschwitz in the 1988 film "Because of That War" (Biglal Hamilhamah Hahi), which features music by his son. The film includes interviews with Yehuda Poliker and Ya'akov Gilad, whose Polish Jewish parents also survived Auschwitz concentration camp.[6]