Kleinstein, Rami

Rami Kleinstein was born in New York in 1962 . At the age of eight, he repatriated with his family to Israel. As a child, Rami studied piano and showed promise as a classical pianist. In his youth, however, he became interested in pop and rock music. The idols of that time for him were Elton John and Billy Joel , who simultaneously performed as singers, pianists and composers. In high school, he created with his friends his first group, “Like the Hama” (“Solar Eclipse”).

In 1980 , after being mobilized into the army, Kleinstein became the musical director of the military ensemble “IDF-80” and during his service and in the first years after it, he gained fame as one of the best young composers and performers. In the period after the army, he and his wife Rita performed in bars, pubs and at parties, sometimes accompanying himself, and sometimes with a small group of musicians. In 1983, CBS Records Israeli branch chief producer Roni Bar-On invited Rami and Rita to become lead performers on the soundtrack for the movie Boarding. This record was for young artists their first album. At the end of 1983, Rami became the main songwriter for the new military ensemble, IDF 84. In the next two years, he mainly wrote songs for other performers, including both civilian singers and groups, and the ensemble of the command of the Northern Military District.

The year of breakthrough for Rami and Rita was 1986 , which received favorable conditions from "Helikon" - the new record company Roni Bar-On. This year, Rita’s first solo album, Escape Trail, was produced by her husband, who also wrote many of the songs on the disc and accompanied Rita himself. Six months after Rita, Kleinstein also released his first solo album, Bomb Day. All the songs on the new disc were written by himself, mainly in the style of pop rock . The album soon became "gold" , but with the success of Rita could not catch up. In 1987, Rita's Breaking the Walls album was released in Israel and Europe, including nine of her own compositions and one arrangement of Kleinstein. The album, however, was not successful, and Kleinstein’s first solo tour under the motto “Flames on the Stage” went worse than expected. In early 1988, Kleinstein released Rita's second successful album, “The Last Days”, where he again was the author of music for most of the songs. He himself took part in the tour of rock singer Gidi Gova as a producer, arranger and musician. He also sang some of the songs in concerts. The recording of the Gow concert in May in Tel Aviv was released as a separate disc, which included songs performed by Kleinstein.

After Rami’s passage through the second album, “On the Old Bridge”, the 1991 CD “Ahavini” ( Hebrew אהביני - “Love Me”) was enthusiastically received by critics, and many songs from it (in particular, into the Hebrew text of Bob Dylan’s song Forever Young) became hits. Kleinstein’s collaboration with the Ha Moatsa band began with this album. Their second joint album was released in 1993 , already after Rami and Rita had their first daughter. This album did not bring much success, but the audience of fans of Kleinstein and his group grew. This was facilitated by the active participation of Rami in radio and television broadcasts, hosted by his friend Gidi Gov, as a composer, arranger and performer, including with his group. Their next album, “Tapuhim u-tmarim” ( Hebrew תפוחים ותמרי « -“ Apples and Dates ”), brought them real fame, dispersing for one and a half months“ gold ”, and for six months“ platinum ”circulation (in Israel - 40 thousand copies). Subsequently, the album reached the status of “three times platinum”. According to the results of 1995, Rami was recognized in Israel as the "singer of the year" ^[1] .

In 1996, by the tenth anniversary of cooperation with Kleinstein, Helikon released a collection album, which included 18 compositions, of which three were in new arrangements. The collection sold a total circulation of about 100 thousand copies, strengthening the status of Kleinstein as one of the leading performers in Israel. In Rita’s collection that same year, there were several Rami songs, including the duet song “Oath”, which had previously been included in Kleinstein’s first solo album. In 1997, Kleinstein released a new album, “Kol ma she-tirtzi” ( Hebrew כל מה שתרצי - “Anything you want”), sold out three times in platinum in ten days ^[1] . The music for all the compositions of the new disc was again written by himself, and in some songs he was also the author of the words. After the release of the album, Rami again embarked on a tour of Israel, giving solo concerts and accompanying himself to the piano. In 2000, the album “Say It” was released, which became platinum ^[1] , and in 2001 a double disc with a concert performance by Rami and Rita Kleinstein. In 2002, Kleinstein again went on tour with the piano processing of his own songs, giving about 200 concerts.

In 2007, the Kleinstein couple broke up after 28 years of dating and 20 years of family life. Rami left Rita both daughters - Meshi and Noam. Their divorce was in the midst of a lawsuit against the Helikon company, which they accused of financial fraud ^[2] .

In 2009, a documentary biographical film, "I Remember You Well," dedicated to Rami Kleinstein, was released on Israeli television screens. Just before the broadcast, the name of the film was changed to the more provocative “Why Rami left Rita” ^[3] . In the same year, a joint disc of Kleinstein and the rock band Synergy was released. In 2012, he was invited to join the jury of the talent show The Voice of Israel, an Israeli version of the Voice show ^[4] .

• Official Website (Hebrew )
• Rami Kleinstein's blog on the Ahbar cafe social network (Hebrew)
• Rami Kleinstein’s biography on the site “Shirim-2006 - a site about an Israeli song for Russian-speaking people” (translation from the MOOMA website, original (Hebrew) )