Grazie, Grazia

I know I always claim that whatever song it is I'm posting is splendid, so you might initially be inclined to dismiss it when I say the same thing again today. But please don't. Today's choices are so good they exceed even my normal standards of hyperbole.

The good folks at Fortuna Records in Tel Aviv dedicate themselves to unearthing obscure gems from around the Middle East. They really came up trumps with the debut (and possibly only) album by Grazia, originally released in the mid to late 1970s.

The full story of the record is on their Bandcamp page, where you will no doubt shortly be heading to buy the album. It was a product of the vibrant music scene in Jaffa, which was evidently quite a multicultural place at the time (and may still be for all I know).

The album was released by a record company that specialised in the music of the local Greek and Turkish communities - this is one of the Turkish albums. Grazia, who was only 16 at the time, was teamed up with a producer who had just bought a Moog and was clearly infatuated with it. Thank goodness he had not yet learnt self-restraint!

"Istemem" - Grazia

"Arkadas" - Grazia

Meanwhile, just up the road in Tel Aviv, the Israeli Leo Sayer was warming up...