Rami Fortis ( he, רמי פורטיס, , born July 7, 1954), or simply Fortis, is an Israeli rock singer. Born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, Fortis became known as a pioneer of Israeli punk rock. His debut album ''Plonter'', released in 1978, was not a commercial success at the time, though today it is considered an influential cult album. His fame in Israel came with the release of a Hebrew language album, ''Sipurim Me'hakufsa (Tales from the Box)'', in 1988. Due to his behaviour on stage he was nicknamed The Madman (HaMeshuga). Apart from his work in music, Rami Fortis served as a judge for the first season of

The X Factor Israel ''The X Factor Israel'' ( he, אקס פקטור ישראל) is the Israeli version of the British television music competition ''The X Factor'', created by Simon Cowell. The show started airing fall of 2013 on Reshet. Judges and hosts The first t ...

Biography

Rami Fortis is of Iraqi-Jewish and

Italian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Italy spans more than two thousand years to the present. The Jewish presence in Italy dates to the pre-Christian Roman period and has continued, despite periods of extreme persecution and expulsions, until the present ...

origin. He served in the 1973,

Yom Kippur war The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Eg ...

and was influenced by his experiences at the front. He began his musical career in 1975 as a lighting-man in the shows of Tamuz - one of Israel's prominent rock groups at that time. The band would get him on stage to sing one or two songs in their concerts. His 1978 debut album, ''Plonter'', is considered a breakthrough in Israeli music. It was regarded as one of the wildest and noisiest albums ever to be recorded in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, way ahead of its time. Influenced by such artists as

The Clash The Clash were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave music, new wave moveme ...

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the " Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band The Stooges, who w ...

and The

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

, it was characterized by topics and a style that were unfamiliar and unconventional in Israel at the time. A group of his Tel Aviv friends, guitar player

Berry Sakharof Berry Sakharof ( he, ברי סחרוף, ; born 7 July 1957) is an Israeli rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer. Sakharof is one of Israel's most popular and critically acclaimed rock musicians, and is often referred to as "the prince ...

(with whom Fortis had played in S.O.B), bass player Malka Spigel (who was Fortis' girlfriend at the time) & singer/ poet Samy Birnbach (who had contributed lyrics to ''Plonter'') formed Minimal Compact in 1981 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. The band established itself as an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band in Europe, signing to Belgium's Crammed Records label, making two albums and adding drummer Max Franken. In 1984, Fortis was asked to join and stayed with them up to the first split in 1988. He was part of the line up which produced the band's two best known albums: ''Deadly Weapons'' produced by Tuxedomoon's

Peter Principle The Peter principle is a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter, which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to "a level of respective incompetence": employees are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until ...

and ''Raging Souls'' produced by

Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is co ...

Colin Newman Colin John Newman (born 16 September 1954) is an English musician, record producer and record label owner. He is best known as the primary vocalist and songwriter for the post-punk band Wire. Early life Newman was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire ...

. He went on to tour with them extensively in Europe and Japan. Minimal Compact remain notable as the first (mainly) Israeli band to have gained considerable success outside of the country. They had a song ("When I go") included in

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Doc ...

' '' Wings of Desire'' soundtrack and had covers designed by Neville Brody and Russell Mills. On his return to Israel in 1988, Fortis recorded his second album, ''Sipurim Mehakufsa'' (''Tales from the Box''), a collaboration with

which has been described as "the best thing to happen to Israeli Rock". Later albums included a collaboration with

Mashina Mashina ( he, משינה) is an Israeli rock band which was active from 1983 to 1995, and then again from 2003 to the present. The band is considered by many to be Israel's most important and influential rock band. Their musical style took inspira ...

Shlomi Bracha Shlomi Bracha ( he, שלומי ברכה; born March 21, 1962) is an Israeli rock musician and record producer, best known for being the guitarist and one of the songwriters in the Israeli rock band Mashina. Biography Bracha was born March 21, 1 ...

. Since 2004 the collaboration with

has been revived with the reformation of the duo Fortisakharof. When Fortisakharof disbanded, Fortis started a new band, first with

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer' ...

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Yuval Shafrir, then joined by Oren Kaplan on

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

and Amir Rosinano ("Jango") on bass. The band was named Fortis Brothers and recorded two albums, ''Cop, Criminal and the Whispering Giant'' (1994) and ''Where Are The Horses?'' (1996), at their own studio FAFA near the

Carmel Market Carmel Market ( he, שוק הכרמל, ''Shuk HaCarmel'') is an outdoor marketplace in Tel Aviv, Israel. History The Carmel market was established in the 1920s.sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

Dadi Tal, who also mixed both albums. In 2008, Fortis was featured on the documentary movie ''On the Move'' about Ehud Banai and the Refugees. In 2011, Fortis released an album called ''The Friend I'', influenced by

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
'' Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

Personal life

Fortis resides in

Beit Yitzhak Beit Yitzhak-Sha'ar Hefer ( he, בֵּית יִצְחָק-שַׁעַר חֵפֶר, lit. ''House of Isaac - Hefer Gate'') is a moshav in central Israel Located in the Sharon plain near Netanya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Reg ...

and is married to Naomi, director of the Batsheva Dance Company.

Discography

* 1978 – ''Plonter'' (''Tangle''), ( he, פלונטר) * 1988 – ''Sipurim Mehakufsa'' (''Tales from the Box''), ( he, סיפורים מהקופסא) * 1990 – ''1900?'' (Fortisakharof) * 1992 – ''Lehitraot Bechalomotai'' (''See You in My Dreams''), ( he, להתראות בחלומותי) * 1992 – ''Kshehagitara Menaseret Et Halaila'' (''When the Guitar Saws the Night'') (Live, Fortisakharof), ( he, כשהגיטרה מנסרת את הלילה) * 1994 – ''Shoter Poshea VeHa’anak Halochesh'' (''Cop Crook and the Whispering Giant''), ( he, שוטר פושע והענק הלוחש) * 1996 – ''Eifo Hasusim'' (''Where are the Horses'') (Fortis Bros.), ( he, איפה הסוסים) * 1998 – ''Ratz Al Haketzeh'' (''Running on the Edge'') (With

), ( he, רץ על הקצה) * 2001 – ''Hatzi Otomati'' (''Semi Automatic''), ( he, חצי אוטומטי) * 2006 – ''Al Hamishmeret'' (''On Guard'') (Fortisakharof), ( he, על המשמרת) * 2009 - ''Fortis Meshulash'' (''Triangle'', also meaning ''Triple'') (3-cd set), ( he, פורטיס משולש) * 2011 - ''Hachaver Ani'' (''The Friend I''), ( he, החבר אני) * 2015 - ''Toldot Hackoteret (''History of the title''), ( he, תולדות הכותרת)'' * 2017 - ''Mador Feiyot'' (''Fairy section''), ( he, מדור פיות)

References

External links

Official site
(Hebrew)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortis, Rami 1954 births Living people 20th-century Israeli male singers Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Israeli people of Italian-Jewish descent 21st-century Israeli male singers Jews in punk rock Israeli punk rock groups