The "Sixties"
Biography and Line-ups
The
"Sixties" were born actually in 1984. Musical Producer Yair Shragai decided
that he wanted to have fun doing his army reserve duties, and what better
way than to form a band that plays "Beatles" covers? He brought in singer/musical
director/songwriter/pianist/guitarist Yoel Lerner, bass player/singer Moti
Dichne and drummer Shlomo Hamami, all well-established musicians at that time,
to join the fun. At that time, "cover" bands were something to be frowned
upon. Nobody saw the sense in playing other people's music. The band was an
instant success on the army circuit (it's actually better than it sounds..).
Seeing the potential, Moti, Yoel, and Shlomo decided to try to make a living
out of it, while Yair decided to pursue his musical production career. He
still plays with the band occasionally for fun...
The threesome played
the Israeli pub circuit for half a year, achieving fame and fortune. (Well,
not really, but managed to stay above water..)
On New Year's
Eve, 1985, they were invited to play a show at the newly opened King Solomon's
Palace, in the resort town of Eilat. The success was immense, so much so that
they eventually played there , first weekly, then monthly, for a period of
10 years, adding another member to the group - Lead guitarist /songwriter
Shlomo Mizrachi, one of Israel's foremost rock guitarists, just back
from Holland after living and playing there for 8 years. The "Yacht Pub"
became world- famous , and people came from all over to see them
play. At this point, the band began playing covers of other 60's groups,
and covered some early 70s material as well. This line-up lasted till 1989,
when Shlomo Mizrachi decided to leave the band to pursue a solo career.
The remaining three
members recorded a CD of various cover versions of famous 60s songs, with
Yoel taking on the role of lead guitarist/musical producer as well. The Managing
Producer ot the recordings was none other than Yair Shragai, who formed the
group..
The band played for
a while with alternating lead guitarists, till they were joined by Haim Romano
in the spring of 1990. Haim , one of Israel's leading session guitar players,
was a member of the famous Israeli heavy-rock group "The Churchills", who
saw some success in the early 70s in the UK as "Jericho Jones", playing support
to bands like "Led Zeppelin".
Almost immediately
upon Haim's arrival, the band began to see some success. They appeared
on most of the top local TV shows, and moved on from mostly playing in pubs
to the more lucrative company parties and bigger venues.
This line-up changed
in the middle of 1991, with the joining of present lead guitarist Itzik Bader,
after Haim left to play with Yehuda Poliker, a famous Israeli singer.
The last change in
the line-up came in May of 2000, when drummer Shlomo Hamami left, to be replaced
by present drummer Eli Haddad of the successful "Benzine" band, (whose lead
singer and songwriter was Yehuda Poliker, who later had a great solo career,
and took Haim Romano with him..)
Since then, the group
has gone back to its roots playing in crowded pubs, alongside their usual
university/company/TV/overseas cicuit.
|