On July 14, 1992, the debut single of a new band from Sderot was released to the radio. Not long after that, the debut album, “The Kernel Shell Trail” was released. Deep in the golden age of Israeli rock bands, between the themes of the hat and Ipa Hild, the strange group from Sderot was a complete outsider: funny songs, funny clothes, funny singer, different sound. The media reacted accordingly and categorized them as clowns. The critics compared them to the “pair of idlers”, and not as a compliment.
Today, after three decades, it is hard to imagine Israeli music without Tipex. Without the witty texts of Kobi Oz, which often contained a poignant social protest. Without the sound that combines East and West, Mediterranean and pop-rock, in the most natural way. And especially without so many timeless songs. On the occasion of 30 years of activity, we will go back to the 30 greatest songs of Tipex, which together tell the full picture of one of the greatest bands that arose here.
Their life in Lafayette: celebrating 30 years of Tipex with the 30 greatest songs | Part a’
Sami and Sumo 1999
In August 1999 Tipax reaches what is probably the peak of her career to this day: “Disco Manaik”, a double concept album, full of guests, gimmicks and surprises. The name of the album is taken from the chorus of one of his biggest hits. The musical playback of the song consists mostly of a sample of old Hebrew songs, such as “Shani Pomfum” by Tzvika Pick and “Ha’al Tetuf” by Gidi Gov.
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Three in the morning 1999
Another one of the best and memorable songs from “Disco Manaik”. The sound on this record distinctly leaned towards the electronic, thanks in part to the addition of “Big M”, Meir Amar, to the band.
In the estuary of the Zoram 1999
One of Tipex’s fiercest protest songs, which attacks the “neighborhood restoration” project that may have resulted in the painting of some houses but didn’t really reduce the disparities in the country, the politicians who always promise to take care of the periphery and don’t really mean it, and the media that deals with it only for its cynical needs. Apart from the fact that Michal Yanai, who is mentioned in the chorus, is no longer a prominent TV star, nothing has really changed since then.
When I’m with you I’m like a 1999 fish
Two years after the success of “Why did you leave him” (see part 1 of the article), in 1999 Sarit Hadad is already one of the most successful singers in Israel. In “Disco Menaik” she returns as a winner to collaborate with Tipex in another catchy and captivating hit.
The DJ 1999
Another segment from “Disco Menaik” that represents Tipex’s silly side: a loving parody of the culture of DJs, including a simulacrum of Hadva Amrani’s “Lev Ehad” and the repeated phrase “Where are your hands please, and where are your hands thank you”. A very favorite part of the band’s performances.
Sitting in a 2001 cafe
Only two years passed between “Disco Menaik” and Tipax’s next album, “Sitting in a Cafe”, but the world and the country were in a completely different mood: the peace process crashed, the second intifada broke out, a shocking wave of attacks swept the country, and the atmosphere was quite depressing. This was also well reflected in the album: instead of the colorful and happy celebration of “Disco Menaik”, “Yoshbim” was an album with a much more basic sound, intimate and contained within itself. The theme song became one of the anthems of the period, and dealt with the separation of the state of Tel Aviv from the horrific situation.
Like twenty years ago 2001
The second standout song on “Sitting in a Cafe” was this moving ballad, which was accompanied by a clip in which the band hums to themselves and the “Old Station” clip, and also hosts Kobe Oz’s partner at the time, Avital Abergil (star of “The Good Guys” ).
and and and and 2001
The song that represented the lighter side of “Sitting in a Cafe”, a love song and a clip that sent the band, in its greatly expanded lineup in the 2001 version, to a ship in the middle of the sea.
Amba dances 2003
In 2003 Tipax released a first compilation album, which included one new song. It was one of the songs that most clearly expresses the Tipaxian paradox: many audiences did not understand the text, which goes against the culture of dances and light songs when everything around is falling apart, and accepted it as a light song without depth in itself, in a way that reminds a little of what happened 20 years earlier to ” Simple songs” by Shlomo Groenich.
The other days 2003
During her long career Tipex also recorded several covers on different occasions, from “She” of the tractor’s revenge, through Yoav Yitzhak’s “It’s time to forgive” to Static and Ben El’s “Todo Boom”. In honor of the service room of the IDF Waves in 2003, the band recorded “The other days”, originally by the Central Command band. As usual with Tipax, the original song is a naive hope song for peace, in its performance it sounds a little more ironic and rough.
Flower of the neighborhoods 2006
In 2006, after a long and uncharacteristic break of five years without a new album, Tipax returned to business with “Radio/Music/Hebrew”, an album that is all satire on the music industry, somewhat similar to classic albums by the Kinks or Frank Zappa. And once again, the satire was somewhat missed by the audience, who preferred to embrace some individual songs on the album as simple pop hits. For example, there was “The Flower of the Neighborhoods”, in which Alma Zak is a guest, and deals with the relationship between a young singer and a Nachholi promoter.
Give me an autograph 2006
As part of that frontal attack on the music industry, the audience did not remain immune either. As in “In Newspaper”, this time too Kobi Oz wrote lyrics to a familiar Moroccan tune (“Lella Fatima”), and turned it into a song about the love that the audience gives to the artist, which can sometimes be empty and superficial.
Push The Button 2007
In 2007, the Israel Broadcasting Authority decided that Tipax would represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest, which was held that year in Helsinki. The band held an internal prelude with four songs, at the end of which the audience chose a song that is very uncharacteristic of the competition, with a clear political hint about the Iranian threat, until voices were even heard in Europe calling for it to be disqualified due to “messages that are not appropriate for the competition”. It didn’t happen, but Tipex’s performance was very disappointing: in the semi-finals she got only 17 points, finished 24th out of 28 and of course did not make it to the finals.
Who is the Provençal? 2016
At the end of 2008, Tipex announced its disbandment, after, according to the members, they felt exhausted. But a few years of longing took their toll, and in 2014 Tipax returned to business in a big way, first with concerts, and at the beginning of 2016 also with the first new song in the second term. The song is a duet between Oz and the singer Daniel Kriaf, who joined the band, and again deals with center-periphery relations, this time through the angle of the “Beauty Queen Syndrome” that throws the former boyfriend straight away.
Cost of living 2022
Even in 2022 Tipex is still here, still releasing new materials, and still presenting a poignant protest on the most burning topic of the last period. It should be said – the text here is a bit simplistic, but the combination with the bouncy melody and the Arabic singing do the trick.