Flowers, chocolates, wine, fancy restaurants… the whole nine yards for the ‘Jewish Valentine’s Day’

The flamboyant artist, her ‘looper’ thingamabob, and her viral ‘Toy’ have made Eurovision relevant again.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not part of the target audience for Static and Ben-El Tavori. With that in mind, I was very excited to get tickets to the duo’s recent appearance at Queens College in New York.

I HATE being in New Jersey on Yom Ha’atzmaut. True, that’s where I’ve spent each of the 44 Yemei Ha’atzmaut in my lifetime. And before you start with the Jersey jokes…no, I have nothing against the Garden State. But on this day of national pride, Israel is the center of our world…and no matter how hard we try, our celebrations just don’t come close here in the USA.

I have fond memories of listening to the radio on New Year’s Day as a kid. We’d be driving in the car, returning from some not-so-exotic family vacation, listening to Casey Kasem’s countdown of the top songs of the year…debating amongst ourselves which song would emerge as number one.

“The day the music died”…if you’re a radio geek like me and you have any knowledge of New York City radio, that phrase immediately conjures up memories of the end of Musicradio WABC on May 10, 1982 – the day this legendary radio station transitioned from music to talk, leaving its many fans grieving its loss. Exactly 35 years later to the day, May 10, 2017, Israel’s Reshet Gimmel signed off for the very last time.

From mixed genres to artistic renewals to unusual collaborations, 2016 brought us a slew of new tracks in which hip hop, pop, Mizrachi, dance, rock and other musical styles fused together in unique and amazing ways. Some artists changed direction, while others arranged surprising shidduchim (arranged marriages) to create some of the most interesting songs we’ve seen in a while.

I was pretty skeptical when I got tickets to see “Raichel – Piano – Songs.” Idan Raichel’s new SOLO piano show, which came to Jericho, New York on Wednesday night, June 1st. As ringmaster of the “Project,” I had no doubt Idan was a talented musician. But just Idan and his piano? I felt like I was missing out on something magical, replaced by a show that, I feared, would be fairly bland and even a bit boring.

I’ve gotten absolutely nothing done over the past couple of days. Instead, I’ve been spending my time trying to pretend I was in Israel. Watching hours upon hours of Israeli TV. Obsessively switching between a half dozen stations on Israeli radio. Watching every YouTube video that’s come across my Facebook feed. Trying desperately to feel connected.

Growing up in New Jersey, we didn’t listen to much Israeli music. Sure, we would sing “Al Kol Eileh” and “Bashana Haba’a” from time to time, but that was about it. The lyrics were hard to understand…and since the internet hadn’t been invented yet, you needed to find a real, live Israeli to translate for you.

Raise your hand if you remember the song “We Are the World”?  For those of you too young to recall, back in 1985, a group of over 40 of America’s top vocalists banded together to record a mega-hit, raising awareness and money to combat famine in Africa.  Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, this unique song became one of the most talked-about singles of all time, selling more than 20 million copies.

Music is amazing. Music can transport us to another time or place, evoke memories we had long forgotten, bring us to tears or put a huge smile on our face. Music brings us together; it unites us in ways virtually no other medium can. Who doesn’t remember the songs that were playing on the radio during a particularly memorable summer in their life? Our first kiss? The loss of a loved one? A significant moment in world history?