Danny Robas
Encyclopedia
Danny Robas is an Israel
i pop-rock singer and songwriter
.
Daniel (Danny) Robas was born in 1957 in a Kibutz named Shoval, and grew up in Rehovot
. He completed his military service in the artillery
corps at the rank of a lieutenant
.
Robas began his musical career as a guitarist
, working with singers such as Arik Sinai, Matti Caspi
, and Shlomo Artzi
. Initially, he wrote songs for other artists - Arik Sinai, Ilanit
, Nurit Galron
, the musical band Sexta, Vardina Cohen, Harela Ber, Ofira Yosefi, Esti Katz, Pnina Rosenblum
and others.
Misgarot (Frames), Robas' debut album in 1983, was arranged and produced by Matti Caspi. All the songs on the album were written and composed by Robas. The Album sold poorly at first, but reached Gold Record after 25 years, following the success of Robas' next Albums. The successful songs of this album are Ani Ba Habaita MeHaLayla (I'm Coming Home from the Night) and Davar Lo Kara (Nothing Happened).
During the 1980s, Robas took part in the radio
program Ma Yesh? (What's the Matter?) by Erez Tal
and Avri Gilad
, playing the part of Jimmy Ohana - a singer singing humourous parodies on well-known Israeli songs (Robas also later appeared in Tal and gilad's TV show HaOlam HaErev (The World Tonight), as well as in the Israeli Educational TV programs Zehu Ze (That's It) and Roim 6/6 (Eyesight 20/20)).
Also during the 1980s his younger brother, Yoav, died of cancer during the Lebanon War
, while being a soldier, and was the subject of Robas' songs Makhar Hu Yakhazor (Tomorrow He Returns) and Mikhtav Katan (A Small Letter). Initially it was difficult for Robas to sing these songs himself, and they were performed by a military band
.
Robas' second album, Panim VeShemot (Faces and Names), was released in 1987, during the time he toured as a guitarist with Shlomo Artzi. . The album was arranged and produced by Nathan Cohen, and was much more successful, reaching platinum. The popular songs of this album are Panim VeShemot (Faces and Names), Lo Nirdemet Tel-Aviv (Tel-Aviv Doesn't Sleep), Ze Lo Ani (It's Not Me), and Makhar Hu Yakhazor (Tomorrow He Returns). Following this album, Robas went on tour with his "band" - organist
Dovi Angler.
His third album, Baderekh el HaOsher (On the Road to Happiness) was released in 1989, and was even more successful (sold over 100,000 copies). The popular songs of this album are Baderekh el HaOsher (On the Road to Happiness) and Eikh Hu Shar (How He Sings) - which many assumed to be written on Zohar Argov
, but as Robas told, was written about successful singers falling into drug abuse in general, such as Janis Joplin
on Jim Morrison
. Robas won the "Singer of the Year" title, and went on tour - this time with a full band which included in addition to Angler a basist (Eli Bakal), a drummer (Ran Vered), and a backup singer (Shirli Yovel). The show was a great success, and Robas also performed with it outside Israel.
Robas' fourth album, BeGuf Rishon (In First Person), released in 1991, did not succeed like the previous two did. The popular songs of this album were Ze Lo Kal Le'ehov Otakh (Loving You Isn't Easy) and Rakavot 68/80/88 (Trains 68/80/88) - a song dealing with the singer John Lennon
and his death.
On 1993 Robas released another album, Broshim VeKhamaniot (Cataclypses and Sunflowers), and went on another musical tour. The album's popular songs were Gar'inim (Grains), Broshim VeKhamaniot (Cataclypses and Sunflowers), HaBen Shel HaKosem (The Magician's Son), and a cover version
of a song he wrote for Esti Katz, Ani Midbar (I am a Desert).
On 1994 Robas released a collection of his best hits called Asor O SheAni Yoreh (Decade or I Shoot - a pun on "Stop or I shoot"). The album included a recording of the song Lo Nirdemet Tel-Aviv from a live performance
, and a first performance of the song Hatzaga (Show), which he wrote originally for a military band.
On 1996 Robas released a sixth album, Kakha Ani Ohev (That's the way I like). The song "Mikhtav Katan" (A small letter) from this album, a duet with Ofira Yosefi, became popular in memorial ceremonies.
On 2007 Robas started hosting the radio program Tziporei Layla (Night Birds). In the first hour of the show, he played songs he liked and told the stories behind them, and the second hour was dedicated to a whole album of an artist he liked, which he played in full and commented on. The show lasted till April 2010.
In February 2008, Robas released his 7th album, Mashehu Khadash Matkhil (Something New Begins), produced by Uri Zakh.
In 2009 Robas hosted the TV program Duet Israeli (Israeli Duet), together with Aya Korem. In each show, they hosted an Israeli musician, talking with him about his sources of inspiration and the process of creating, and singing and playing some of the artist's songs.
Robas was married for many years to Dina, with whom he has 3 daughters. His second daughter, Roni, joins some of his concerts as a backup singer. In 2008 his first grandson was born. In June 2009, he married the singer Ilil Tamir, dauther of Yehuda Tamir from the musical band "Khalav Udvash" (Milk and Honey), and in 2011 their daughter was born.
Robas is also known for his love of the Beatles, whose music he has been performing for many years alongside his regular concerts. . In 1993-1994, he ran a show called SheYihye (Let It Be), dedicated to the Beatles' songs, with the organist Dovi Angler, and the guitarist Amit Jurgenson. In the last decade, he sometimes still does this show, with his wife and dauther as backup singers.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i pop-rock singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
.
Daniel (Danny) Robas was born in 1957 in a Kibutz named Shoval, and grew up in Rehovot
Rehovot
Rehovot is a city in the Center District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 112,700. Rehovot's official website estimates the population at 114,000.Rehovot was built on the site of Doron,...
. He completed his military service in the artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
corps at the rank of a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
.
Robas began his musical career as a guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, working with singers such as Arik Sinai, Matti Caspi
Matti Caspi
Matti Caspi is an Israeli composer, musician, singer, and lyricist. Born in 1949, he is regarded as one of Israel’s top musicians.His music style is difficult to classify. He is influenced by classical music, Brazilian and Latin music, Jazz, Rock and other genres. It is possible to hear all these...
, and Shlomo Artzi
Shlomo Artzi
Shlomo Artzi is an Israeli folk rock singer-songwriter, and composer.He was born on November 26, 1949, in Moshav Alonei Abba. In the course of his career, he has sold over 1.5 million albums, making him one of Israel's most successful male singers....
. Initially, he wrote songs for other artists - Arik Sinai, Ilanit
Ilanit
Ilanit is a female Israeli singer who represented her country twice in the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1953 the family moved to Brazil and returned to Israel in 1960....
, Nurit Galron
Nurit Galron
Nurit Galron is an Israeli singer. She is married to the Israeli TV and radio journalist, Rafi Reshef.- Discography :# What the Heavens Give # Greatest Hits # Goodbye Honey # That Place # Classic # Within The Storms...
, the musical band Sexta, Vardina Cohen, Harela Ber, Ofira Yosefi, Esti Katz, Pnina Rosenblum
Pnina Rosenblum
Pnina Rosenblum is an Israeli businesswoman, model and media personality, who has also been involved in politics.-Career:Rosenblum was an actress and fashion model, known to foreign media in her youth as Pnina Golan. She appeared in the films Kasach , Am Yisrael Hai , Lo LeShidur , Diamante Lobo ,...
and others.
Misgarot (Frames), Robas' debut album in 1983, was arranged and produced by Matti Caspi. All the songs on the album were written and composed by Robas. The Album sold poorly at first, but reached Gold Record after 25 years, following the success of Robas' next Albums. The successful songs of this album are Ani Ba Habaita MeHaLayla (I'm Coming Home from the Night) and Davar Lo Kara (Nothing Happened).
During the 1980s, Robas took part in the radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
program Ma Yesh? (What's the Matter?) by Erez Tal
Erez Tal
Erez Tal is an Israeli broadcasting personality.-Biography:His first hit program was "Ma Yesh" , broadcast on Galatz, Israel's Army radio, where he started his partnership with Avri Gilad....
and Avri Gilad
Avri Gilad
Avri Gilad is an Israeli media personality.Gilad was born Avraham Kwastler; he changed his name to "Avri Gilad" when he started his professional career in the mid-1980s in the Israel Defense Forces Radio...
, playing the part of Jimmy Ohana - a singer singing humourous parodies on well-known Israeli songs (Robas also later appeared in Tal and gilad's TV show HaOlam HaErev (The World Tonight), as well as in the Israeli Educational TV programs Zehu Ze (That's It) and Roim 6/6 (Eyesight 20/20)).
Also during the 1980s his younger brother, Yoav, died of cancer during the Lebanon War
Lebanon War
The term Lebanon War can refer to any of the following wars, fought in Lebanon:*Lebanese Civil War *Hundred Days' War 1978 *1982 Lebanon War...
, while being a soldier, and was the subject of Robas' songs Makhar Hu Yakhazor (Tomorrow He Returns) and Mikhtav Katan (A Small Letter). Initially it was difficult for Robas to sing these songs himself, and they were performed by a military band
Military band
A military band originally was a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music...
.
Robas' second album, Panim VeShemot (Faces and Names), was released in 1987, during the time he toured as a guitarist with Shlomo Artzi. . The album was arranged and produced by Nathan Cohen, and was much more successful, reaching platinum. The popular songs of this album are Panim VeShemot (Faces and Names), Lo Nirdemet Tel-Aviv (Tel-Aviv Doesn't Sleep), Ze Lo Ani (It's Not Me), and Makhar Hu Yakhazor (Tomorrow He Returns). Following this album, Robas went on tour with his "band" - organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
Dovi Angler.
His third album, Baderekh el HaOsher (On the Road to Happiness) was released in 1989, and was even more successful (sold over 100,000 copies). The popular songs of this album are Baderekh el HaOsher (On the Road to Happiness) and Eikh Hu Shar (How He Sings) - which many assumed to be written on Zohar Argov
Zohar Argov
Zohar Argov was a popular Israeli singer and a distinctive voice in the Mizrahi music scene.- Background :The most serious hurdle on the way to stardom was Argov's socioeconomic background. He was born in Rishon LeZion, and grew up in a poor family, the eldest of ten children...
, but as Robas told, was written about successful singers falling into drug abuse in general, such as Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
on Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
. Robas won the "Singer of the Year" title, and went on tour - this time with a full band which included in addition to Angler a basist (Eli Bakal), a drummer (Ran Vered), and a backup singer (Shirli Yovel). The show was a great success, and Robas also performed with it outside Israel.
Robas' fourth album, BeGuf Rishon (In First Person), released in 1991, did not succeed like the previous two did. The popular songs of this album were Ze Lo Kal Le'ehov Otakh (Loving You Isn't Easy) and Rakavot 68/80/88 (Trains 68/80/88) - a song dealing with the singer John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and his death.
On 1993 Robas released another album, Broshim VeKhamaniot (Cataclypses and Sunflowers), and went on another musical tour. The album's popular songs were Gar'inim (Grains), Broshim VeKhamaniot (Cataclypses and Sunflowers), HaBen Shel HaKosem (The Magician's Son), and a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of a song he wrote for Esti Katz, Ani Midbar (I am a Desert).
On 1994 Robas released a collection of his best hits called Asor O SheAni Yoreh (Decade or I Shoot - a pun on "Stop or I shoot"). The album included a recording of the song Lo Nirdemet Tel-Aviv from a live performance
Live performance
live performance may refer to:*A play or musical*A concert, a live performance before an audience*A dance performance, dance performed for an audience.*Live radio, radio broadcast without delay...
, and a first performance of the song Hatzaga (Show), which he wrote originally for a military band.
On 1996 Robas released a sixth album, Kakha Ani Ohev (That's the way I like). The song "Mikhtav Katan" (A small letter) from this album, a duet with Ofira Yosefi, became popular in memorial ceremonies.
On 2007 Robas started hosting the radio program Tziporei Layla (Night Birds). In the first hour of the show, he played songs he liked and told the stories behind them, and the second hour was dedicated to a whole album of an artist he liked, which he played in full and commented on. The show lasted till April 2010.
In February 2008, Robas released his 7th album, Mashehu Khadash Matkhil (Something New Begins), produced by Uri Zakh.
In 2009 Robas hosted the TV program Duet Israeli (Israeli Duet), together with Aya Korem. In each show, they hosted an Israeli musician, talking with him about his sources of inspiration and the process of creating, and singing and playing some of the artist's songs.
Robas was married for many years to Dina, with whom he has 3 daughters. His second daughter, Roni, joins some of his concerts as a backup singer. In 2008 his first grandson was born. In June 2009, he married the singer Ilil Tamir, dauther of Yehuda Tamir from the musical band "Khalav Udvash" (Milk and Honey), and in 2011 their daughter was born.
Robas is also known for his love of the Beatles, whose music he has been performing for many years alongside his regular concerts. . In 1993-1994, he ran a show called SheYihye (Let It Be), dedicated to the Beatles' songs, with the organist Dovi Angler, and the guitarist Amit Jurgenson. In the last decade, he sometimes still does this show, with his wife and dauther as backup singers.