Galbi (song)

History

Both "Im Nin'Alu" and "Galbi" were originally recorded for the 1984 album Yemenite Songs also known as Fifty Gates of Wisdom containing modern versions of traditional Yemeni Jewish songs, recorded with drum machines and synthesizers but still with comparatively traditional arrangements and instruments, including strings, woodwind and brass as well as distinctive percussion like Yemeni tin and tambala.

Remixes

Contrary to popular belief "Im Nin'Alu" was not the first track from the Yemenite Songs album to be remixed for the dancefloor - in fact it was the other way around. "Galbi" was the first remix to be issued in Israel in 1984 on the Hed Arzi label, then subtitled Played Out Mix, remixed and re-produced by Izhar Ashdot and clearly influenced by contemporary American dance productions like Chaka Khan's groundbreaking "I Feel For You" with its prominent use of samples, editing, breakbeats and scratching. The Played Out Mix which more or less only retained the lead vocals and the string section of the original recording was released both as a 7" and an extended 12" single which later found its way to both Continental Europe and the U.K. via the independent world music label Globe Style Records in 1985 and became something of an underground club hit. The B-side of the 1985 12" single was in fact the original un-remixed version of "Im Nin'Alu" with its a cappella intro - which may be an explanation as to why the world of British dance music and American hip hop and rap was exposed to the somewhat exotic genre Yemeni Jewish folk music and the sample of Haza's voice later appearing on tracks like Coldcut's Seven Minutes of Madness remix of Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full" and M/A/R/R/S' "Pump Up the Volume", both milestones in the history of dance music and both released in 1987.

In 1987 "Galbi" was again remixed, then in The Netherlands by the Dutch DJ Peter Vriends and re-issued as a 12" single on the minor label Street Heat with the subtitle The Dutch Remix, also including the 1984 Israeli Played Out remix.

Following the pop chart success of "Im Nin'Alu (Played In Full Remix)" in the summer of 1988 - again remixed and re-produced by Izhar Ashdot, also with the assistance of British engineer Bob Kraushaar - "Galbi" was remixed a second time by Ashdot in the autumn of that year, then with an arrangement similar to the million-selling hit single. The 88' Remix of "Galbi" which also included re-recorded vocals partly in English was first available on the Shaday album and subsequently issued as the follow-up single to "Im Nin'Alu (Played In Full)" in the UK, Continental Europe, Scandinavia, the U.S. and Japan. For the 1988 7" single release Ashdot mixed two vocal 7" mixes, one with the original Yemeni vocals and the other the re-recorded Yemeni/English version. For the 1988 12"/CD single he created the extended Sehoog Mix (later appearing as a bonus track on Sire Records' CD re-release of the Shaday album), a second 12" mix called 88 Maxi Mix (only commercially released in France), as well as an alternate 12" instrumental.

Sire Records, the U.S. licensee of the Shaday album, then in turn commissioned further remixes from American and British producers such as Pascal Gabriel in late 1988 which found their way on to the U.S. 12" singles (which also included the Israeli Played Out remixes, by then already four years old, and The Dutch Remix) as well as to 'various artists' dance albums and sampler compilations like Just Say Yo in the Just Say Yes series. Further remixes have followed all through the 1990s and 2000s - both on official albums, white label 12" singles, DJ compilations by Razormaid, Disconet, Hot Tracks, Ultimix and DMC as well as bootleg remix compilations.

The latest official remix of "Galbi" was included on the 2008 album Forever Ofra Haza - Her Greatest Songs Remixed, then remixed and re-produced by German production team Ferris Bueller and Kai Panschow, issued on the Edel Records label.

Official versions and remixes

1984

1987

1988

2008