1953. The entrance to the "Alliance" school from Hehalutz Street in Haifa served as a meeting place for the company on Fridays. A noisy gathering of exchanging greetings, news and planning the evening's entertainment. From there, the exit was in the direction of the house that was donated for the party. At that time, most of the parties were held at Shimon Reichstadt's. His parents were used to music and dancing, because this was the house that raised the various "ofarim" couples. More to come.
Several of us had a special role. During the week we patrol the streets of the city in search of beautiful girls. As experienced salesmen, we were tasked with convincing them to come to the upcoming Friday night party. It happened more than once that the number of girls far exceeded the number of boys, and then the screening department began to work. Several categories dictated the
The matter of staying in society. Knowledge of dance, beauty, and responsiveness to courtship. Sometimes beauty overshadowed knowledge of dance, which we would impart in a crash course for the sake of full acclimatization. Ugly women were sent on their way unless they had a beautiful friend who was an admission ticket.
For the information of all feminists, all the procedures mentioned have recently been changed. Another meeting place is about a seven-second walk from Aharon and Avi Shemesh's home. Their home was a major party destination after a tragic disaster at the Reichstedt House.
'The Beautiful' Tzipi Weinstock and I have long been a couple. Our friendship lasted until my military training period. In order to feel in the clouds, I didn't need a first prize in the lottery or a high dose of cocaine. I simply put the song "Sea of Love" on the record player, put Tzipi next to me, who rests her head on my chest, count to three, and I'm in the clouds. We sing along with Phil Phillips, who also wrote the wonderful song, and time stands still. Some called her "the blonde," and that wasn't because she was a brunette. A beautiful girl with a capricious and spoiled character, and that was what was beautiful and attractive about her.
For many parties, participants began to gather more frequently. Sometimes this resulted in a one-time reunion with another group or more. The natural growth of the group also meant that the small apartments of the 1950s could not accommodate everyone and the crowd was very crowded.
By the way, for party organizers in general, the more crowded the party, the more successful it will be, and if possible without balconies that allow people to escape from the dance floor to smoke. After tedious negotiations, we managed to get the hall of the Eretz Israel Workers' Party in Halisa for Friday nights. There we held our huge parties. In the lower city, near the old "Egged" central station, there was a store that was about half the size of a room. The shelves were packed to the brim with various types of equipment. There you could rent a turntable and a speaker for our Friday parties. The operation was to walk down to the city and return the same way loaded with the rented device, and on Sunday morning take the same route to return it. A spirit of volunteerism brought the device, but the return involved many arguments.
The enormous record collection amassed by the Shemesh brothers contained all the hits of the period. Every week, representatives would come to the famous "Avila" music store on HaNaviim Street to purchase a new record that had just been released. Miraculously, three or more new records that didn't want to be left alone joined them.
In the store. I never believed the stories until I saw with my own eyes, as an observer from the side, the team working with everyone knowing their role. This is how the collection grew, without far-reaching expenses and its fame spread far and wide. I recently learned that after a few months, all the free records were returned to the store with an anonymous letter of apology.
To be accepted into our society was the dream of many. The organizing committee was, as mentioned, tough, and among the new members it was even tougher. Once upon a time, three ballroom companies organized themselves to rent a hall at the Alliance School. On Friday, over a hundred girls and boys, dancing, going wild as if there was no tomorrow. The highlight of the evening was a dance competition, and the highlight of the competition was rock 'n' roll. A rhythmic dance whose basic steps are indeed just a base and the rest is improvisation that each dancer develops with the help of his skills.
The judges in the competition were a committee selected from all the companies, so the judging section was dragged into endless debates about the winners and was a significant part of the competition itself. No matter what the committee decided, everyone believed that their group was the real winners. No one received any prize, but honor was above all else and those who want honor do not give up. It is not for nothing that the group of 'Poshtakim' from Talpiot Market were super dancers and amazed with their virtuosity.
While I was waiting to be drafted into the IDF, Fidel Castro took control of Cuba. On January 1959, XNUMX, the regime of the dictator Batista collapsed, the miracle was his life, and the rebel army led by Castro controlled all of Cuba. Since we are not dealing with a history book, I will not go into detail about Che Guevara's contribution to the matter.
The event does not bother me in the wait. On the contrary. Now I can be calm when Cuba is finally "in good hands", hands that have slowly eliminated the export of Cuban music rich in salsa and more to the West. One of the famous bands is the band of 'Perez Prado' whose performance of 'La Virgen de la Macarena' became famous throughout the world. More about him
It will be told...and much more. His tyrannical regime gave birth to a happy-sad music that conquers continents to this day.