Off the Charts

foreign unites to heal the website is unitetheheel.com I was just informed last year we had over 1 million people watching the programming throughout the entire day and a half of program I mean so we definitely want to see if we can do a lot better than that they raised six million dollars now if the lottery just the other night can go from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand to 1.9 million and Jews can raise six million so we definitely have to see if we can do a lot more than that so head over to unite to heal.com and please support everything all the amazing work that a moon is doing welcome back to our show we had a program last year called off the record with some amazing producers arrangers this year we decided to take it up a notch it is my privilege to be here in the studio and bring this to you guys some of the biggest names back when there weren't singers every other day dropping albums there was more Heaven David there was Alvin freed it was a guy called Karbach maybe a few other groups but individuals there was very few and we are fortunate to have with us some of the first individuals Superstar singers who grew up in choirs back in the day launched their own solo careers first off we have surely williger with me we have shlemy Dax I'm sure all of you know pleasure to be here and the composer producer and arranger and choir leader yitzywald what an honor so I mean the fact that I'm here in the room with you really speak spell is I had each and every one of your cassettes now you produced Bundy walls albums as well as Ira Heller and many other singers so I had Mendy's first album which I'm sure was probably your first big production at that point right the albums before that uh uh Sully and surely's album oh Cloud I had except for that is real first yeah the voice of a new it was the voice of a new generation before the Millennia and then uh one day at a time that big striking pink cover with that clock over there it was for slimy or Mendy I actually think you were first no no who was after my after I came out with after you I think might have been Mandy and then Mandy so I think we I have all the albums you worked on Mindy wald's album I believe that was probably your first big production and the world was my first big production but I worked with surely and slimy prior to that uh so yeah he was involved in the album I composed I believe six to seven songs at home I found it today swirlies of course the voice of a new generation right I said of course that will Claw on there and tap there and now your voices probably have a new generation no no has it changed after you reached that thing next level in life and uh slimy's one day at a time that strikingly pink cover with that alarm clock on it and one day at a time of course crazy and and yeah so yitzy produced Mendy's album and yet he was a new producer at that time your Camille produced your album you were or his name was on the production correct and your Camille was you were the first solo act that he produced at that time correct and Yogi was a new producer at that time he really did yeah we're talking about seven eight years for schwucky even released his debut album uh more than seven eight years yeah I'm talking about the time the album came out this album came out in 94 I think Trucking came out in 2001. yaakov shwekey grew up on our music that's true we all grew up on your music pretty amazing it's pretty funny when you talk to singers nowadays you know you meet Benny Friedman Ellie Marcus Maraca Shapiro and they they grew up on everything that you guys sing it's actually humbling when I meet a lot of them and they tell me that they grew up and were inspired by us Paving the way for entertainers to who have talent to put out their music it's very humbling and it's it's a wonderful feeling it really is so recording an album As We Know is a very big expense even today that's right 2000 and 22 2023 it is a big expense how big was it for the two of you and then we'll come back to yet see but how big of an expense was it for you guys to even consider you know getting the money together to record an album right so even what is it 27 years ago about 28 years ago it was still in the 60 70 000 range to produce an album because that's even before you put away money for advertising you were looking at a it wasn't a 25 000 story and you didn't have that proof that oh I I can make it back by performances not at all because it didn't exist yet correct shall I mean so I had a very unique story where right when I was coming out somebody knew entered the business and changed the entire business a game changer his name is Izzy talba Feld Allah Distributors and Yohi put me in contact with him we had a meeting the three of us at kiddo Levine studio and we met and he was such a special person and Yogi and I basically convinced him that I might be the next big thing and he was looking for a new guy to put out and believe it or not he did something that was unprecedented he had he wrote me out a check that covered the entire expense of the album yeah and in in in my in in and he in return printed I think 10 000 CDs or then it was cassettes and and then then and um we hoped that he would run out of them and then order more and the rest is history and it was such a relaxing to know that you didn't lose money and you already had your money up front it was unprecedented but albums were a fortune like surely said 75 80 000 of course even then I still remember I came to Borough Park from Montreal for Hanukkah I ran to 13th Avenue grab a cover country Ulster magazine and the skinny guy is sitting there on the cover smiling at me with my big tinted glasses that's right surely so you you didn't obviously didn't have the right connections then it was again it was a few years before then because when when is the tablet did come into the business but so I we I had the same thing but I was I put out one or two albums before they could write or not it was I'm not sure which album but it was cover you know the expenses and obviously did make back the money it was a decent investment at that time as well so there was one there was one advantage back then yes um there was a lot less copying in terms of uh yeah you have to get a double cassette recorder right buy a blanket set and put it in yeah press record and play at the same time let it play itself out then flip them over and do it again and it's interesting that you're bringing that up the difference between today and and yesteryear I tell that to performers I said I tell them on one hand we were very few and we were we were busy and we were all over the place today you have many many more entertainers many more singers but today it's a different world the only way a song Who cloud or any song of mine hamalach got became famous was only if somebody we got the distributed went to the store in Chicago or or Minneapolis bought the CD and listened to it otherwise there was no there's no even PlayStation there was no internet there was no Spotify there was nothing there was no Instagram there was nothing that you could immediately today the minute a song is done it could it could on the other hand there's so much more copying and people downloading and you you make it it's hard to make a living it's an expensive business card today to put out a CD but it's uh the different world instance today we didn't have that people people then I mean and I was at the in the business at that time people then could literally could make a CD and if Mark Hassan was successful let's say it sold 25 000 copies or 30 000 copies which was doable back then if it was a very successful album you could actually make a living from a CD you didn't really have to sing a Hassan at night pretty much okay like you could literally make 150 000 of sales of an album um and and that's a decent partner for uh for for you know back then and because of all that copying now the performers have to rely more on performances to actually make their living weddings and concerts I remember how Romy gurari told me that once people started copying at that time he says the whole business changed and now everybody has to perform each night to actually make a living when you could have made us a living off a CD and truthfully all that Geneva was incorrect it wasn't right and of course is single to have to work a lot harder in the performance and rather than just be a solo singer on a CD album and sometimes find a business to support his family on the side if you think that's pretty funny that you you guys are selling albums that today's biggest singers don't touch the numbers I mean I'm from Freedom work and David are not selling 25 30 000 albums anymore the average listener doesn't know that the average album barely breaks 10. it depends on that we don't notice a spot in these different you're right we don't know the streaming numbers this thing but streaming streaming is not owning can't accuse everybody no my first couple of albums it was before the it was when CDs came out was when the real real copying started the tapes were very hard right it was when the CDs came out is that's when the real uh copying thing started for a good few years that to me even Mortal Kombat David I'm afraid the old maid promo is about if you remember back in the day sure please like they were begging people not to do it so that was a kufa like my three fourth like number three four five album it was like like Jackie Mason said everyone no one sells uh Sweet and Low everyone just takes it from the you know the restaurant yeah my songs were everywhere but no one bought an album it's like rabels I mean he was one of the few that came out strong would anybody go into a grocery store and just take a box of cereal or a milk out of the store he felt it you know literally he's taking you're taking from the if you copy it you bought a CD it's very nice so there are ethereum you know in the family make an extra one for your family I had this discussion on get on Levine by the way many years ago I wanted another copy of Best of the Best and and we had a Charlotte and we asked people remember Camp star with that sorry Bluth was there I remember shlomi said that uh I think we asked him a camp one year and he said uh if you have one at home and you want one for the car then that would be okay because you paid for one to use in the family you can't use them both locations but even when I asked get on he's like I would still appreciate a phone call or an email or a snail mail ask me can I make a copy for my car so I will tell you a great story I had a child an eighth grader call me once from St Louis and asking me permission you hear his mother in the background tell slimy that's you love his music and you'd like to use it make a copy of his of his cassette I think it was uh or maybe it was a CD and he said to me can I have permission so I said you know what put your mother on the phone I call his mother I get his mother on the phone and I said give me your address I'm Gonna Mail him one she says no no I didn't want a free one I didn't want you to mail one I said let me just mail him one he someone who has such pain to call me to ask me if I say yes on the phone then he'll tell all his friends oh let me Jack said it's okay to copy my CV so I said let me mail him one with a little note thank you enjoy my music and now I didn't tell you you could go copy it but you deserve a beautiful and autograph CD and I sent him one but it it took to change the whole business it really really did so the fact that you guys ruled the 90s and 2000s is amazing but all of your careers started a lot earlier than that you were all child solos you were all in Coors as kids we have amudesh Alum Shirley williger as as the shmuel borgalovashon put out a a few years back always it's superstars of yesteryear I'm from free sorely williger bendy walled et cetera et cetera slimy was in silver of course by the way they have the same picture it's an embarrassing picture with the blue um with the blue with the blue v-neck right third blue turtleneck so it was a shade and you see bulldogs and then until summer pardon me I was in Miami I have in Miami I don't even know how I had time to be in Yeshiva and I was in Muncie Boys Choir my contrary I also wonder how I was in Yeshiva and how any principal allowed me to do I don't know how I had the time I thank my mother for for doing this and a bunch of years later he's a zaydah what can I tell you was the assistant principal regular right and he says the same thing real thing you know I guess and I was I was singing Back Then seven eight years old nine years old was it something your parents have to think a lot about um my father Oliver Shalom was very mockbit on certain things um he did not let me perform meaning there's no live performance even silver right it was no never live performance really but they were in for choirs yeah not for I never performed uh in a modest age I never performed silver zemer oh Department of recordings and the rehearsals Hashem Boys Choir The neither recordings yeah we did by mid by end of arms and it's the first time ever that I gotta check I got paid to do it nobody else they paid by the way I don't know I saw most the music they redid the graphics for 6 13 they put it on one like one album I don't know if it's a USB or a CD but they read and this is after what like 40 years that was yeah that was six years that I remember yesterday's top I don't remember but I remember a song from 30 years not so easy slime your gimmer wasn't that bad don't worry about it and and to yasi's credit yasi is involved also very much in getting singers to put some of their older albums back on Spotify and other things I got a five dollar check in the mail I have to thank you that's right you got that 49 cents the other day PayPal yes Stampers with more than the Jack actually your parents remarkable about you being in choirs and Performing or not really no and uh they they allowed me they felt it was it's always a catch-22 I have parents even today that call me should I send my kid my child to to be part of a choir or not and you have to know your child um it could be the greatest opportunity you you gain confidence by the time I was Bar Mitzvah I could Lane in front of a thousand people I was very confident it was very good for me my mother and my father they wanted me to I went to Polanco Mexico with your meal I went with slovazamera all over the place we went and it was a very very good experience Brooklyn College was uh very much easier local but I I did perform but you have to know your child if it's right for them you didn't sing live but were you on any of the album covers your picture or not um I was the gorilla in that movie that's that six foot two at eight years old that picture one with the double album that opened up yeah the one that I was on that me me and shalomiana from correct English let me and I whatever we had that album got disappeared after like a year or two shopping center we stumped him he doesn't know before this one had a problem I think solo I think duet would have run freed and even those days in technology we didn't even have to be in the studio together wow really yeah in the in the early 80s so the One Solo that I also did whatever he was still about her he was still single but he was still much older than us I don't know how much older I never saw him in the studio even then never even saw him it's so interesting how they do it I don't remember which I don't know which song it was it was I think of so he put that on a uh schmoburger put that on that um and yet see you I was in slova Zimmer now your parents are strict about you being oh they loved it it was great were you playing accordion by the time you're in the choir I was playing according for two years prior today is that crazy nine years old playing accordion my mother was some was very into me playing accordion it was really cool I remember the teacher Miss loner so she she would come every Friday and teach me like new songs from these books and uh I play like a Beethoven piece and she give me these notes and she said practice for the weekend at the end of the next week she'd come like upset down after the lesson say to my mother she'd say uh I don't understand he's like he's changing all the notes of the Beethoven piece who does he think he's he thinks he's a composer or something that's where my mother it was very funny in that at that time I was I was playing around with songs I still remember my first song and uh I saw I showed my second song Brazil when I was 11. wow and then uh after that I started composing many many songs but I still remembered silver Zimmer I was in Camp David ass which slowed me actually slim is probably the one from all of you that I go back the most with because he was a staff member when I was a camper 91. does he look a little older yeah we're not the show isn't about me it's about you guys it was 91 and there were a couple campers uh there was a guy Stein from Muncie and he was so it was there a boy right and a few years later that's the 17 seconds my cousin y'all see something was a camper of yours I remember slimy showing uh avram Rosenberg some recordings this one with the double cassettes the two cassettes one after the next or even separate tape recorders and shloime would record himself singing on one tape recorder and then harmonize himself and take a second tape recorder and record that one this before double cassette and he would play it from Rosenberg at the choir practices I still remember I didn't take one song of it even yeah I I he ended up buying four songs to me uh uh Rosenberg eventually which ones one of them slimy sang it was called at that time was called and he changed it to eight and it worked it's volume six it was there but I had a great time in silver zemer uh I was so low I never got I never got the solos but uh but that's why yitzy is good now as a choir leader because now that he has his own choir he's like I gotta give each kid a solo like I I didn't have some of I gotta give each kid a solo the fourth syllable he was a different choir do you know that um my father let me perform really yeah we're gonna have to raise I'm not sure okay so I think this is okay yeah I saw a little bird as well and added a blue I'll tell you a cute thing about 10 years ago all of a sudden I get in the mail a beautiful big picture of me as a 10 or 11 year old getting kaiso Baraka from the LA Baba really and you see everyone Roosevelt in the back and we performed at one time we had that evening in Crown Heights I think it was and I and and all of a sudden and all of a sudden I get that picture in the mail and then you see we'll send it to you uh someone some Obama who goes through all the archives yeah and I have a big blown up it's beautiful yeah what can we do that will helping mushy uh if we do Amazon you know how long for you man that was a great so we're saying that for the so basically everybody was in the choir and and got bit by the music bug and said hey let me see let me see if I can actually all right I had such fun in silverzone was really amazing we went to so many Concepts that we performed with Mordecai and Dave and Brooklyn College I still remember by the way I'm sorry for interrupting sober Zimmer was in Montreal in in late 80s early 90s they came for like a Hanukkah thing and I was like until December like I never even heard so Zimmer coming to a small back town then it was back then but like milk came in 91 or 92 and like yitzy spinner was there when I were golden I was like oh my gosh right like it was like a monster Shabbos on this amazing uh concert hall on top of a hill but growing up I didn't have concerts like you guys had Around the Clock here in the tri-state area it was once in a blue moon somebody came and you were lucky enough if you're allowed to go though we didn't have to worry about yeshivasiakov where'd you go last night okay you're suspended get out of here so who cloud debut album voice of a new generation how old were you certainly I was I think 25 or 26 and you were married already Yes because my my bam said don't put out an album till you're married you waited I came out with Hanukkah after I got married I got married in June Hanukkah my album was uh was out you're that young 25. you recorded songs before that I mean you did closest albums you sang pistoly at the first concert the Miami experience one you sang it at that both of you saying commanding experience yeah I sing get my experience before who clocked I I think I said yeah yeah I remember one that Miami experience one came out the double album with the gold cover over there we camped out with us and it was like slimy Dax show me that because the counselor the thing is about me and surely I look I look back now color War when I became when I was older as a staff member and we're picking teams and you're looking for who you want to who's going to be the the best baseball hitter who's going to be they used to flip for us who's going to be he's on one team that's kids because they're the only campers that were picks the question is did one of you win more than I was picked all the time but did your team win my team won every time but he says I heard from the judges that we won call award what do we want slimy what do you want come on amazing thing to be picked for choirs and we we would flips okay U.S really I guess it was nice like looking back you know that's amazing do you remember Eliezer benowitz in Camp there with us or not sure sure sure a Fame Miami Boys Choir soloist he was in the main experience too he's saying my zaidi father and his father was the camp Rabbi the camper of that year and he was this shy kid and we tried to coach him into choirs he was very reluctant he was starting he's starting to break in now he wants to sing at weddings I know what he does for a living he came to my house to take care of me but uh he gives voice lessons yeah I'm serious well he has Rubino it's amazing advice so you're 25 and you're putting all this money into your debut album and I just found out something that I never knew oh I found out that you almost had a different producer on your album oh yeah supposedly somebody wrote six songs and and you guys were like working together is that true for sure original originally slowly approached me and we almost saw in the contract to work together I remember that his father was there overlooking the contract we were I was young and so he was uh I think I definitely put down some of the Clauses and then his father was reviewing it and we were ready to sign and solely got back to me and rightfully so and I I still was there I still get it he said at that time and he thought about he thought about it he said you'd see you you only produced music but you don't put people on stage you've you've never really done that right so he decided to go to the the master of people who make shows producer of shows and he he went with him because he felt that as a producer he's also going to get him on shows I wouldn't get him on shows and he got him on the show Before You album even came out look at that so that's that's what happened so which which six songs Do You Remember well though you Russo we we put together in the basement I think slowly you found the words found the words it's uh from zaira [Music] 25 years old [Laughter] learning soccer I was married so it was okay and I was like if I'm putting out an album I probably should know some cases you know the whole thing um I don't want to say you know I don't want to throw Missouri yeah but uh it's words that fit to the song it was a nigging I thought we needed words and uh that's it he would come over to me in basement between you know between this month of course the regular guys sitting and learning it you weren't married but I wasn't I was in college all right so that's one yeah we have Hookah by the way it's beautiful nobody caught it and it's on the album to this day wow and you know nobody quoted me I don't say I don't do uh foreign I say you do he says yeah sure enough we can make it right comes out and and he had one of the songs on there really I don't you know which one it was yes I think it's uh yeah okay I'll look it up I'll look on the uh you have the album here I don't have that again I'm talking about the uh Cloud album yes so we were pretty much done and then yitzy comes over and we wouldn't uh we had 10 songs already with another song oh my gosh well what no and then we got it got it his mind two years later that's crazy wow yeah it was a thousand dollars it's probably too expensive remember we went to lamb in the back over there yeah and there's porch over there of course yeah you listen to it you know almost sad by the way when did it change for me throughout the story I'm very confused about this um about the fifth album right after desire all right when did it change from walliger to williger right he spelled it I wanted to make sure the checks didn't bounce no it's just better for the I w-i-l-l but my name is when he met me the first time I we I introduced Aaron zotler so Aaron zettler heard it you played in the demo that I made and came through with us and we recorded on a double cassette album right I recorded the music and you added your voice on top of it and I remember maybe 16 years old 17 years old at the time he says to me you know you're 20 years ahead of your time this is not typical Jewish music but we'll we'll see if we can find some way to get it out and eventually you sang it at the moment thank you Aaron Aaron Daniel no no no yeah actually he was he introduced a song and who do I think should sing it at the Miami experience I mentioned your name as the as the same question but you said you had a connection when did you get to Miami I was an alumni as he is earlier but I guess to Miami was was the hundred men choir one I always thought that was slimy's introduction to Miami it was Miami Boys Choir I was in Miami I did not sing the opposite of what he did I did not sing on any album right I did the solos give me some songs I don't remember oh come on that's the other song that was one of my songs that I loved and I did but I I went to Polanco Mexico with him I we went we went to Midwest we went you're right I never sang on a Miami album but I uh that I sing one song I wasn't in the choir foreign being debuted in 1980 1990 at that time 90 or 91. yeah young young man gets up I don't think you ever performed that big of a performance before towns okay and I remember very clearly I was standing with a baited breath waiting to hear the orchestra Play the song and all of a sudden shlomi starts to sing you don't hear anything really and my heart drops my first one being computer now oh my friend and then nobody hears the song I mean they know the song right they didn't hear this voice and he didn't he didn't realize the spotlight's on I mean he's not here oh you usually don't hear don't cry and nothing's going on and finally he gets it somebody gets his attention that his voice is not being heard like 20 seconds into the song and uh and uh uh so let me turns around I couldn't believe that he had the guts to do this he saw him he's leaning as a big Orchestra and Swami goes stop and he stops the whole thing he stops the music they gave you a new mic and he restarted again you're talking about that I had a story with uh many years later I was singing in Brooklyn College had just come out composed by yitzy bold third album I come I come on to stage and in the front row you if you've ever been on a stage you really can't see okay you can see the first one first throw second row you know the big The Big Spenders in the first row usually it's the giverium and everything anyway and they're kids and all of a sudden they're screaming and they're cheering and I'm feeling like a million bucks they're going crazy and I'm thinking wow this is and then I realized about a minute or two into the song that the reason why they were going like this they were trying to get my attention when I had run onto stage my yamaka had fell off and they were trying to get my attention that your yamuka is not on there was some kind of cable coming down and I hit it and then I realized so you're not just a star yeah yeah I'm pretty embarrassing so you w debut album came out and you're newly married you're what how old um 20 gonna be 25 I was a little younger than 25 when I got married same age yeah were you were you nervous that Izzy put all this money into you and you have no idea what's going to be I was very nervous because um you still want to make money number one you want to do this you want him to come back you want to do a second one eventually I already had songs people are throwing songs at me at that point and um and you want to you want to be successful and you want him to not to lose money and now you're talking about yenum's money so he so it was it was it was a big pressure but it's all the one above and uh Hashem like yitzy said Yes we made a living act had many itsy songs absolutely um and the the hit of that album it was definitely Arab um which was composed by Israel who also today is a rush was on that album come up fiscally was my second because it was the second album It's funny because I had pasculi already but I waited so I waited for the second one I guess I wanted to wait maybe you sang in 1989 on a Chevron album right which sold I think like 11 or 12 copies maybe 11 or 12. I'll be fish-offs album yeah but no I actually arranged that song in Pia Mente Studio wow my first arrangement I was a teenager and Rick Cutler was playing the drums there and slimy came to Sanger studio in the basement over there talking about Arrangements if I could give you two yitzy's horn what's amazing about yitzy is that the first few albums that I did only my last album right only my last album was like 95 yitzy and his Arrangements right you did some music you added one album after right about everyone right thanks to yitzy I actually have show me Dax seeing some acapella on that on the Aveeno album that's the only acapella I have from slummy Dax ever recorded that's true but anyway what I was saying was he was a guy who made up songs and he gave it to you with his arrangements so I went to lamb lamb was my arranger and I played him which was ahead of its time and lamb took his arrangement and made it into an arrangement but it was no it was yitzy's Arrangement and you'd see you know was way ahead of his time I mean so two 25 year old new singers in the market by the way did you guys realize your debut albums both had English titles voice of a new generation one day at a time I mean and that's not one thing no two will be left behind that's what they were doing time is now for sure yeah yeah I think it was then the end thing to do is Mayor Sherman wow you know what the next album did he put out letter to mashiach was returned for postage insufficient then right then the the albums were named did you guys have a say in the song selection or or what the title track was or not really no certainly really it ends but I did um and you know you when you take when you hire a producer you you want to make sure you want their trust him so I would say okay with every single song this one no goodness and there were songs that I regretted that I didn't take like you know it happens it happens no let's go no you never heard of them I mean that I wish nobody ever recorded that I don't know one of them I really can't say oh I I would love to but for this is one thing that I had you took that I wanted that that you ended up taking which one yeah I wanted for so for some reason what I was working with at the time against didn't want it and I loved it it's all see after the shmeier it's a nozzle excuse me he had a song composed by having free do you know that yes yeah meaning it's a song that he did it he wasn't didn't make it on one but it was his own song so I took the whole package you have another free composition right there that's something stormy doesn't have yeah true how old were you when you were working on Mendy Wall's first album your first production you were meant they were what late teens early 20s no 25 24 25. it was around the time when I lost my mother and it was a very I I was mixing samayak I I I still remember we were mixing shifri which was one of the songs on Mandy Wall's album and I got the phone call from my brother come to NYU Hospital because my mother had had been out of work already three four months and uh I found out at that time that she was you know in a very bad situation and she passed away a year three months later but so we put out that album Samir while she was sick and I used to bring the album to her in the hospital and she loved it it was really fascinating then after she passed away nine months later we put out lecheim were you not nervous what uh you're in charge of writing Arrangements you've never written arrangements for how did you even write the arrangements back then you know how to write music or not uh I do I do know notes I learned like I said I learned by uh accordions I learned that I had my form but I mean you have to Envision a symphony you know the brass is doing this the drums that you guys know how this work and your first album you probably didn't have a clue but after the hours were recorded you go who did the notations for you who did so I didn't know I did actually do the notations now I I wasn't perfect that I remember Jim Hines was like in the studios like that note is way above what a trumpet could actually do and he's like he was telling me like he's giving me criticism but it was fine I learned from it I really I ended up learning a lot from the musicians who told me change this change that but I the truth is I mean it's not too many people know I actually arranged an album prior to Mandy wolves copy L bogans right and it didn't come out till if there was down but I I had arranged it already it's a great album so I was arranging title tracks great right so I was arranging a lot you did notation I said because the rest of the world use of emigration was the biggest notation the biggest thing you want to hear funny now there's there's a producer there's more than one producer I can tell you now um who doesn't know how to write music and he tells the guy okay okay take your instrument goes and this guy this guy's directing musicians like you know and you're like yeah we know who it is but the people want to know if we break eight million dollars I'll tell you next year now anybody who gives a hundred thousand or more I will tell you who that is private message no so yeah we we were writing we were writing notes and we wrote luchaim uh nine months later that album was that album was unbelievable was very very special again and again it was a very emotional when someone told me there's a good story behind smile again it's well it's unbelievable I mean I I've heard I've heard many stories after it came out people will tell me this helped me got me through this situation but small again was written together myself and and uh you feel zagelbam Ziggy zagobam he was a color War writer of words so he helped me formulate the words that I wanted to write about my mother this is literally right after she passed away and um interesting the album was supposed to be called khazak but when I was going to to the to the funeral of my mother in erity stroll of rumfried was on that flight and he was he was calming me down you know because he heard that I I just lost my mother and we were talking with schmoozing and he's saying I asked him what are you working on now he says well I'm putting out an album in a month I asked him what's what's the album called he says and I I knew that we had a great song kazak on Mandy world's upcoming album so we have to change it we changed it into lachaim but on that album was this song called smile again and and what happened was is that one time I mean uh slimy knows and he surely knows and Mandy Ward knows there was a woman in the community unfortunately I believe at age 44 that was paralyzed and the um the doctors didn't know if she can actually uh respond or understand anything after a couple weeks they saw that she was blinking her eye her left eye and uh people used to come and and visit her and this lady at the razor she communicated with her left eye and when I came in the first time they said okay read line a and it has a b c d next to it so blink at the line to show you which letter she's trying because then you see Horowitz works the same way nowadays and Mandy Ward was there in the room I I still remember this we were called to perform for this at the race a lot of singers were called and I remember took me five minutes just for her to say the word welcome I ran out of the house and I was crying I couldn't believe that wow what a person has to do just to communicate one one word and when we started singing she actually told us she wants us to sing smile again and remember this lady can only blink her left it's like a 15-minute conversation of hitting all the letters correct and she said please I didn't even know if she knew this song and we get up to the iPod in the blink of an eye hola suffering could end and I'll never forget tears were streaming from her eye her left eye when we said in the blink of an Iola suffering can end wow that's how she was able to communicate that's amazing no that's so meaningful to her she asked us to play it every single time we came here you know that's another whole angle that I'll speak from on behalf of everyone all singers how we can take for granted life and we as singers have that unbelievable opportunity um to to to go to hospitals and to sing for people and anybody else would I believe if someone called an accountant during the day hey come visit someone at NYU or something they would go but you're not calling an account so we get lucky anybody would do it we're not great sir but we have that opportunity conversation and we have the conversation it's special we get to go and we get to be mahasik people we take for granted that we could walk we could talk every broker we make that people so sick and we have that lucky amazing sauce in addition to Hashem giving us a talent that we can go and be mahasa can bring smiles to people it's an incredible thing and and and we don't take it for granted we know how special that is many invitations of Social and we also got with an inscription that you promised that I had a moment last year from 25 years ago a boy got married recently that it's well now that said that he was a little kid when I sang for him and a note came in an attacks and the guys the guy sent me a screenshot of what I wrote in the hospital that America said when you get married I wrote that once and I'm going to come sing at you when I get my shrimp to a girl in the Memorial Sloan Kettering and she calls me up and my house phone those days I should I want you to come sing at my wedding where's the wedding in Italy wow so I called up Joseph life from Travelers Choice and he gave me a ticket and I went wow yeah it was there was a 10 year old kid Mordechai and David called me up asked me to play music in borrow Park I remember going up the stairwell and he had cries like Pius this little kid and when we got to his hospital bed lolino he had no hair on nothing and I I still remember um we started singing songs and what was funny is at that bedside unfortunately the boy didn't make it piss his mom said they asked me to play by the bar mitzvah to two three weeks before he passed away but what happened prior to that was telling me he's flying to Israel the next day and he's recording an album with Mona rosenbum and much money Rosen room in the studio and he's missing discus and at that kid's bedside I started singing in front of Mordechai and David a song that I never heard before he took it he loved it we started singing for the kid 100 times I'm exaggerating but a lot of times and he took out his little recorder whatever as a balance how much yeah fat mouth he took he I think you paid me a little quicker but he paid me and what's funny is he said he took the recording he brought it to Israel now monster models I'm talking about a greater Rangers he's incredible his Arrangements 50 years ahead of his time it was like not normal and he goes ahead he uh he shows him this so much of Monroe's mom he liked it so much much Simone Rosenberg in the studio the next day he more Heaven David told me he started writing the notes on tissue papers right there he made the whole Arrangement on tissue papers and they played it that day in the studio that's yours no no that's emotional all put together in one within 24 hours recorded recorded crazy and that's and that's part of what we were saying how it's amazingly songs I could tell you stories where I came from schwecky he got late late into the album and he and not only that he put it at song number seven or eight on the album he didn't think it usually you put it the second song or right away in the beginning so we don't know what songs are gonna make it and what's wrong is it's all uh we can be here true we can be here for hours two hours we got a few minutes left so you're making your album you think every single song is a hit is that really no that no is that hard you think I'm gonna put a song that we don't like everything I know it's a hit but we put it number one that album is by foreign probably look it has to be the time right yeah from all of bend the Wall's albums hands down hands down I mean no I mean together and we had some a few knots it seems like forever wow okay so a few minutes left we're gonna go fast okay um voice lessons do are they true do you need him give me some funny stuff you do to get ready from back in the day well if voice lessons is is a must and it's it's it's you have to have the foundation I mean you can't create a voice I don't know you have to have a voice my mommy says I sing well myself if your mommy says you sing well you should take voices and the main thing of voice lessons is what I think is before besides for for he one of my voice issues was Canton nuts and Glick a very famous voice teacher um is when you're not feeling well and you have to get your voice I always thought it was when you're objecting when you're that's there's 50 things there's 50 fast it's the voice lessons but I find voice lessons when you do have that little cold and you do a little horse when you are a little down vocally that's where you really you know go back into your voice lesson mode and say I gotta do this so who car comes out you got a big you got a big gig or a big concert what are you doing tomorrow to warm up like now in front of everybody yeah in front of everybody you only have a couple of minutes left but there's things you know loosen up yeah let's see come on chewing you serious there's some crazy stuff whatever just like you know let's keep going let's keep going you know loosen up your left stuff like that go from falsetto to regular good sleep and just to drink room temperature water not very hot sleep before you perform a few nights before Rosh Hashanah Yom Kipper you don't just wait you go to sleep sleep is the best thing for me some tricks give me some tricks give me give me some exercises no tricks I I go to canter Einhorn for many many years I went to Canada Einhorn wherever I'm feed goes and today let me dascal goes and uh people tell me what do you need voice lessons you're a professional already what is Derek Jeter what a batting coaches need what do these guys need you need someone watching what you're doing and like like silly said when you're not feeling well that's that's when the pressure's on to get it properly over the cold and be able to perform you can't just cancel Roshana plays basketball a few times a week to keep in shape actually tell me he has potato cocoa before it's a lubricate in 2001 2002 the year prior Mordecai and David next year I got everyone free to come tagoda for a very good price and he comes to campagoda and he he calls me up an hour before the show he says I I gotta cancel I have 102 fever I said I said you can't you can't cancel I mean the whole Camp is way too it's campus I guess I wasn't available he comes in to the best to the to the gym and with 102 fever he goes to the half court Line running in he picks up a basketball in the gym he gets the half court shot in the first time I just I just said I just saw a video I don't know if it was from that yeah no it was readable he's from NBA guy instead of the other guy apparently he believes in the exercising and keeping in shape like slimy mentioned and this late in your careers is is it still important and how often they're supposed to go even very even more important really absolutely really interesting just breath that you're not out of breath when you're singing especially I do weddings you know next stage of Our Lives now I'm no I'm doing now weddings and I'm performing and you have to you can add in the studio you could do it 25 times so it's perfect right doesn't apply to voice and for you do you have to you know keep rehearsing with your fingers you practice a lot I practice a lot in the basement and is he still writing you know said it right the choirs really give the confidence to the kids I had a kid from a very from school who typically schools not all schools want this but the parents made a decision and they said that it's uh they felt it was very good so they could a very shy kid he was like second third grader he stayed in my choir for four or five years started leaning started diving for the Ahmed he started answering questions in class really brought out a tremendous so I only I only have good things to say about uh I mean you were in a choir and now you lead a choir so definitely that's important schlimi has their slimy Dax Orchestra which is funny because you kind of had an orchestra back in the day yeah now one guy added away a little bit so it was funny I try to book him for the after the wedding when slimy opened the orchestra people were really skeptical they're like there's the Gina there's the shama you're a singer you can't open Orchestra now or what almost 20 years later funny Dax Orchestra is still looking down there and then and then we have Shirley williger is not only a singer a cowbox singer a comsitz guy a stickle Canter it's a good time by the way his guitar and now he's doing English did you hear this amazing brilliant English well you were at one of them I was at one of them and I was surprised and people think oh well a big deal you know such preparation is about I thought I'd hate it but I actually liked it it was actually pretty good thank you but I think it's more your personality than your Rhymes yeah true I'm just saying thank you everybody on behalf first of all thank you you'd see shloime and Surly um you can find their music online pretty much anywhere if you can't message me for free that's right don't steal their music please support the amazing work that I'm with them does help head over to unitedheal.com please support this amazing cause and we hope to see you next year thank you for having us thank you great thank you so much thank you [Music] foreign