the Heir

"The Heir" - Eyal Golan

by Diana Shirani, Rachel Benodiz, Amir Elgrably, Elit Barak, Noga Yehuda, and Sivan Azulay, Amal Aleph Comprehensive School, Ramla

Eyal Golan the oriental (mizrachi) singer is only 27 years old and he has already conquered his fans with three album.

Eyal was born and grew up in Marmorek, Rehovot, to mother Ronit and father Daniel. After a crisis in the family, Eyal moved into his grandparents' house. He spent his adolescence visiting one nightclub after another. It was his way to get to know oriental music well.

Eyal plays soccer for Hapoel Marmorek.

Eyal admired Zohar Argov and he still admires him. Eyal thinks that Zohar will always be the "King" of oriental music. When Eyal was about 16 years old, he started to perform in the nightclubs where he used to hang out. He became a mini-super star in those clubs.

In 1991, he appeared for the first time on television. There was a memorial service for Zohar Argov. As a result of this show, the public began to like Eyal. Two years later, he put out his first album, called "Whisper in the Night." Three years later, in 1996, he put out another album, called "Live Performance." This album includes a few songs by Israeli singers, like Rami Keinstein and Shlomo Artzi. These two albums were not successful.

But a year later, when he put outhis third album, "Without You," it was well received in this country. Ze'ev Nehama and Tamir Kalinsi, members of the Ethnix band, wrote and composed most of the songs on this album. Over 120,000 copies of this album were sold. Eyal's album went platinum.

What do Amal Aleph people think about Eyal Golan? Nissim, a tenth grader, doesn't like oriental music very much, but he does own Eyal's latest disk, "Without You." Nira, an English teacher, says that oriental music makes you feel good and she likes to listen to it. she says she has all of Eyal's albums and she knows all of his songs.

Paltiel Tzabari, Tanach teacher, says that his wife was Eyal's kindergarten teacher. "My wife remembers him as a very wild boy." Eyal Golan has traveled far; from wild kindergartener to "the Heir" of Zohar Argov. Not too bad for a Rehovot boy!

This article previously appeared in The Amal Sun - The Student Newspaper of Amal Aleph Ramla, May 1998.

Amal Aleph Ramla school site