ELISA GABBAI, "Chetz" Tango and Cha Cha

In October 2009 I spent two weeks in Cyprus together with the staff of Jungle World. Each year Jungle World goes to another country to produce an issue about the country while we stay there. This year it was Cyprus. I wrote my column that week about my record digging in Cyprus and also contacted local cartoonists to include in our Cyprus issue. We had a lot of fun and spent a great time on the island.

This record I found in a little thrift store that I stumbled upon when I was taking a walk in the area where we stayed. Pretty much a residential area right by the sea. It was off-season and I was surprised that the store was open at all. I bought this record because of the cartoon sleeve. I don´t know anything about it, besides that it is from Israel.

Last weekend marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. Cyprus is still divided into a Turkish and a Greek area. Israel has a wall that separates the Palestinians and the Israelis. So in a strange way this is my contribution to the fall of the wall – to the fall of all walls.

The female singer is singing two really nice songs in Hebrew. I bet somebody out there knows who she is and can translate the titles of the songs. Please, does anybody know?

ELISA GABBAI, Chetz-Tango

ELISA GABBAI, Chetz-Cha Cha

Update Sept 23, 2010: Close to a year after I posted this,  reader Tam just sent in this solution:

This record seems to be an early 60′s commercial gift from a company named „Chetz“ which apparently was a representative company for various insurance companies. The songs kinda glorify the company like a never ending radio jingle. Pretty funny!
God knows how this esoteric record found its way to Cyprus.
The main interesting value is the fact the songs are performed by Elisa Gabbai, a great and almost forgotten Israeli singer, who had her 15 minutes of glory in Germany in the 60′s

Here’s the same song in Hebrew:

Hope I poured some light over this little mystery.

Thanks Tam, you did indeed!

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