Kaveret

Kaveret ( , meaning "beehive"), also known as Poogy (the name chosen for their performances abroad), was an Israeli rock band in the mid-1970s that won much fame around the world for their often humorous songs and unique style of music.¹ Their shows included many skits, among which are the Sipurey Poogy (Poogy's tales).² In Israel, Kaveret is widely considered a breakthrough band in Israeli rock and pop history. The band, several of whose members met during their service in the IDF , was formed in 1973. It broke up in 1976 by consensus of the band members. Subsequently, Kaveret veterans Gidi Gov and Danny Sanderson along with female vocalist Mazi Cohen and other musicians, formed a spinoff band named Gazoz, and later, another named Doda. As it turned out, six of the seven band members became stars in the Israeli music and entertainment scene in their own right after the band broke up. The seventh, drummer Meir Fenigstein (whose nickname "Poogy" served as inspiration for the band's name abroad and for some of its material), went on to become a film festival producer. Many songs by Kaveret became embedded in Israeli culture and are familiar also to the new generation of Israeli youth. In 1974, Kaveret represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest with their song, " Natati La Khayay " ("נתתי לה חיי", "I Gave Her My Life"). In the same year, Kaveret played one of the biggest concerts in Israel ever. While the entire population of Israel was 3 million people, over 500,000 fans came to listen to the band on performance. "The streets of Israel were empty", said band member Efraim Shamir after the event took place. Once every decade or so, Kaveret holds a reunion tour with performances in Israel and abroad. Reunion tours took place in 1984, 1990, and 1998 (which was held in honour of Israel's 50th independence day, as well as the 25th anniversary of the band's first album). Their last performance with the entire ensemble was in 2000, for a single show. The band did not originally intend to reunite in that year, but did so especially for raising money to fund lifesaving surgery required by band member Yitzhak Klepter.³