Gazoz (band)

History

Gazoz was formed by Danny Sanderson and Avraham Deshe, known as Pashnel. Unlike their earlier band Kaveret, this was strictly a business arrangement between the two; every other member was a salaried employee. The lineup featured singers Mazi Cohen and Gidi Gov (a former Kaveret member), bassist and vocalist Moti Dichna, pianist Danny Par, wind players Meir Shpitzer, Gerry Reznik, and Ziv Ben, and drummer Shlomo Hamami. Sanderson handled all songwriting, composing, and arranging, and also sang and played guitar. He initially wanted to bring in Josie Katz, then at the height of her fame, as the female vocalist, but she turned him down for personal reasons. He also approached Yehudit Ravitz, who refused because she wanted to perform her own material, which Sanderson was not interested in including.

Musically, the band offered a gentle, accessible rock sound shaped by 1970s American rock and roll, with lush arrangements featuring layered vocals and a brass section, and shared singing duties. They promoted their songs through music videos aired on the Channel 1 program Another Hit. Their debut album, “Gazoz,” included the hits “Nine O’Clock At The Roundabout,” “She Won’t Know,” “Danny And Mummy,” and “Govina,” and sold 70,000 copies. A second album, “Second Coming,” came out in 1979, but Sanderson decided to break up the band that same year.

Sanderson and Gov resumed their collaboration a year later in the group Doda. In 1990, the compilation “20 Hits” was released, the only collection of the band’s work. It contained every track from the first album and nine of the thirteen songs from “Second Coming,” including a re-recorded version of “She Sat Down by the Piano.” A second edition of this compilation appeared in 2002, adding six more band songs, three of which were from “Second Coming” and had not appeared on the earlier edition.

The band reunited twice: in 1993 in Arad with a partial lineup and special guest Efraim Shamir, and in 1996 on Sanderson’s Channel 1 show with an almost complete lineup (missing only Danny Par), joined by Sanderson’s then-musicians Roy Zohar and Nitzan Ein Habar. In 2014, Sanderson, Gov, and Cohen performed together on the show “Danny, Gidi and Friends,” singing many of the band’s hits.