The King of Mizrahi Music in 1970s Israel
Zohar Argov
1982
Credits
Zohar Argov, “Ha-peraḥ be-gani” (The Flower in My Garden), from Nakhon leha-yom (1982).
Zohar Argov (1955–1987), a Yemenite Israeli singer, became known as “The King of Mizrahi Music.” His 1970s cassette releases captured the underground sound of Mizrahi music, a genre rooted in Arabic melodies but often excluded from Israel’s cultural mainstream. As cassette technology spread, Mizrahim recorded and shared Arabic-style songs once shunned by Ashkenazic elites. Argov’s music broke cultural barriers, reshaping Israeli identity and paving the way for Mizrahi music’s rise to national prominence before his tragic death in 1987.
What is “Mizrahi music”? Is it just music made by Mizrahim or does it hold a more complex definition?
In what ways is this an example of how technological innovation and cultural change are related to each other? Are there any other similar cases that come to mind for you?
Why do you think many Israeli radio stations decided not to play Mizrahi music in Israel’s early decades?
Creator Bio
Zohar Argov
Zohar Argov was an influential Israeli popular musician. Born Zohar Orkabi in Rishon Le-Zion to a Yemenite Jewish family, he rose from a difficult childhood marked by poverty and instability to become a formative voice of Mizrahi music. In 1982, he won first prize at the Mizrahi Song Festival with “Ha-peraḥ be-gani” (The Flower in My Garden), a song that established him as a national star. Argov blended traditional Middle Eastern melodies with modern Israeli pop and helped transform the genre of Mizrahi music from a marginalized style into a central part of modern Israeli musical culture. Over a few years, he released a string of popular albums, but he struggled with drug addiction, legal troubles, and repeated imprisonment, including for rape. In 1987, in prison awaiting trial on a second rape charge, he died by apparent suicide. After his death, his reputation grew and his misdeeds were largely forgotten; he remains a tragic figure in Israeli music history.