1977 was dubbed “The Year of The Clash” and music was never the same again.

The Clash were the real deal. Authentic, intellectual, political and apparently very nice to their fans. With Jewish manager Bernie Rhodes and Jewish guitarist Mick Jones, The Clash were possibly the most Jewish band to have come out of British punk. So Jewish in fact that after The Clash rose to fame, Mick Jones and Joe Strummer would disguise themselves as Hasidic Jews just to get around New York unnoticed.

Now, that’s pretty punk.

~ DAHLIA

EPISODE PLAYLIST:

1. THE CLASH - ROCK THE CASBAH

2. THE CLASH - LONDON CALLING

3. THE CLASH - SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO

4. THE CLASH - WHITE MAN IN HAMMERSMITH PALAIS

5. THE CLASH - WHITE RIOT

6. THE CLASH - LONDON’S BURNING

7. THE CLASH - LOST IN THE SUPERMARKET

8. THE CLASH - STRAIGHT TO HELL

9. THE CLASH - TRAIN IN VAIN (STAND BY ME)

10. PEARL HARBOR AND THE EXPLOSIONS - FUJIYAMA MAMA

11. PEARL HARBOR AND THE EXPLOSIONS - DO YOUR HOMEWORK

12. GORILLAZ - PLASTIC BEACH

13. THE CLASH - SAFE EUROPEAN HOME

Brian Epstein was once referred to by Paul McCartney as ‘the fifth Beatle’ and with this honour came great responsibility that eventually led to Epstein’s demise.

Brian Epstein was friend, manager and confidante to the four legendary Liverpudlians that made up The Beatles and was crucial to the global success of the band.

Unfortunately, Epstein did not live long enough to see The Beatles greatest successes as he was only 32 when he died of a drug overdose. Despite his great career, Epstein was plagued with depression and lived a tough life which he wrote in detail about in his autobiography A Cellarful of Noise (a must read). This episode is in honour of his great contribution to the greatest pop band to ever exist.

~ DAHLIA

EPISODE PLAYLIST:

1. THE BEATLES - IN MY LIFE

2. THE BEATLES - MY BONNIE FT. TONY SHERIDAN (ON VOCALS)

3. GERRY & THE PACEMAKERS - HOW DO YOU DO IT?

4. GERRY & THE PACEMAKERS - YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE

5. CILLA BLACK - ANYONE WHO HAD A HEART

6. THE BEATLES - PLEASE PLEASE ME

7. THE BEATLES - FROM ME TO YOU

8. THE BEATLES - WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS

9. THE BEATLES - HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN

10. THE BEATLES - MAXWELL’S SILVER HAMMER

11. THE BEATLES - HELTER SKELTER

12. THE BEATLES - I’M ONLY SLEEPING

13. THE BEATLES - I AM THE WALRUS

BONUS TRACK:

*this bonus track is not featured in the episode however, I recently discovered this song that was written as a tribute to Epstein and felt it only appropriate to include.

• BEE GEES - IN THE SUMMER OF HIS YEARS

Holiday season is upon us again and every Jew and his dog will be posting about the Jews who wrote Christmas songs and I’m here to do the same, but with a twist. Rather than a random infographic to share to your Instagram story, I thought I’d give you a full hour run down of the Jews who wrote Christmas, with an old school spin (music included). You can thank me later.

Chag Sameach and happy holidays everyone :)

~ DAHLIA

EPISODE PLAYLIST:

1. DARLENE LOVE - CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE COME HOME)

2. THE RONETTES - SLEIGH RIDE

3. THE CRYSTALS - SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN

4. NAT KING COLE - THE CHRISTMAS SONG

5. FRANK SINATRA - WHITE CHRISTMAS

6. EARTHA KITT - SANTA BABY

7. ANDY WILLIAMS - IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

8. DARLENE LOVE - WINTER WONDERLAND

9. ELLA FITZGERALD - RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER

10. BRENDA LEE - ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE

11. BURL IVES - A HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS

12. BURL IVES - SILVER AND GOLD

13. DEAN MARTIN - SILVER BELLS

14. DORIS DAY - LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW!

15. BING CROSBY - I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

16. FRANK SINATRA - BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE (WITH DOROTHY KIRSTEN)

Jewish women have often been underappreciated for the significant role they played in shaping so much of the musical landscape of 1960s America. Today, that wrong will be corrected.

They were songwriters, producers, performers and storytellers whose artistry and dedication should serve as an inspiration for every aspiring Jewish artist out there.

They taught us that talent has no age and that art and success depend on more than just the physical. Let these lessons in dignity and class continue to be learned.

~ DAHLIA

EPISODE PLAYLIST:

1. THE SHIRELLES - I MET HIM ON A SUNDAY

2. LESLEY GORE - IT’S MY PARTY

3. GOLDIE & THE GINGERBREADS - CAN’T YOU HEAR MY HEARTBEAT

4. TEN WHEEL DRIVE & GENYA RAVAN - AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN

5. THE SHANGRI-LAS - THE TRAIN FROM KANSAS CITY

6. CAROLE KING - I FEEL THE EARTH MOVE

7. THE BYRDS - GOIN’ BACK

8. MALVINA REYNOLDS - WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO THE RAIN?

9. JANIS IAN - SOCIETY’S CHILD (BABY I’VE BEEN THINKING)

10. CASS ELLIOT - NEW WORLD COMING

11. THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS - DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME

12. THE BANGLES - WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN

13. HELEN WHEELS - BREAK THE CHAINS

14. CHARMING HOSTESS & JEWLIA EISENBERG - DALI TZERNI

Jonathan Richman once wrote a tribute song to his hero and greatest musical influence called ‘Velvet Underground’.

It’s not a great song.

Yet, there is something so innocent about the way in which he emulates the Velvets in the song and honours their genius. Unlike many of the other New York punk bands of the time, Richman had a purity about him. He wasn’t in it for the drugs or the lifestyle (I’m Straight), but for the music and for the chance it gave him to say his piece.

And despite being a teenager at the time and his clear Velvet Underground influence (Lonely Financial Zone), he was an original. The first Modern Lovers album is one of the best and earliest punk albums, with some even heralding Roadrunner as being the first ever punk song!

This one is for all the awkward Jewish-American boys in the tribe, destined for greatness.

~ DAHLIA

EPISODE PLAYLIST:

1. THE MODERN LOVERS - ROADRUNNER

2. THE MODERN LOVERS - I’M STRAIGHT

3. JONATHAN RICHMAN & THE MODERN LOVERS - LONELY FINANCIAL ZONE

4. THE MODERN LOVERS - HOSPITAL

5. THE MODERN LOVERS - GIRLFRIEND

6. JONATHAN RICHMAN & THE MODERN LOVERS - SUMMER MORNING

7. JONATHAN RICHMAN, THE MODERN LOVERS - NEW KIND OF NEIGHBORHOOD

8. THE MODERN LOVERS - PABLO PICASSO

9. THE MODERN LOVERS - SHE CRACKED

10. THE MODERN LOVERS - ASTRAL PLANE

11. THE MODERN LOVERS - OLD WORLD

With the 50 year anniversary of PUNK Magazine fast approaching (November 28th), it’s only fitting that we honour the half Jewish band that took classic rock and roll melodies and made them faster and more exciting than anyone could have imagined.

As a punk-rock band, heavy on the rock, the Ramones were the juxtaposition to the hippie mentality of the day, with just enough darkness to draw the outsiders in.

Thank you Ramones for forever associating a leather jacket, jeans and sneakers with cool.

~ DAHLIA

EPISODE PLAYLIST:

1. RAMONES - BLITZKRIEG BOP

2. RAMONES - TODAY YOUR LOVE, TOMORROW THE WORLD

3. RAMONES - 53RD & 3RD

4. RAMONES - BONZO GOES TO BITBURG

5. RAMONES - BABY, I LOVE YOU

6. RAMONES - DO YOU WANNA DANCE?

7. RAMONES - CALIFORNIA SUN

8. RAMONES - SHEENA IS A PUNK ROCKER

9. RAMONES - I WANNA BE SEDATED

10. RAMONES - ROCKAWAY BEACH

11. RAMONES - TEENAGE LOBOTOMY

12. RAMONES - PET SEMATARY

13. RAMONES - ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL

CBGB’S is one of the most significant American music venues of the 1970s without which the punk movement may never have existed. We owe a lot to Hilly Kristel, CBGB’s owner, and he is certainly deserving of an entire episode to call his own.

Thank you Hilly for letting the outcasts and the weirdos make some noise in your little venue. And thank you Sam for joining me on this episode. Forever grateful.

~ DAHLIA

EPISODE PLAYLIST:

1. RAMONES - HAVANA AFFAIR

2. SUICIDE - DREAM BABY DREAM

3. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND - I’LL BE YOUR MIRROR

4. TELEVISION - SEE NO EVIL

5. PATTI SMITH - FREE MONEY

6. THE DICTATORS - MASTER RACE ROCK

7. BLONDIE - X OFFENDER

As published in The Jewish Report (for the most part) | 04/25 | page 10

I joined J-AIR, Australia’s Jewish radio station, in May 2024 because I needed my Jewish voice to be heard.

In the months between October 7^th, 2023 and May 2024, I’d noticed an increasingly disturbing trend of Jewish and Israeli exclusion taking place in the local Melbourne music scene. For me, it started in December 2023 when a number of Australian venues signed an open letter calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, with no mention of October 7^th or the release of the hostages. After that, local bands began writing in their gig descriptions “no Zionists allowed”, followed by “Jews welcome”. What they failed, or perhaps neglected, to recognise was that to the Jews in the room, Zionist and Jew were synonymous.

It wasn’t long before I started receiving messages from Jewish musician friends that had stopped going to gigs after seeing one too many multicoloured keffiyehs being sported on stage by a guitarist who was the furthest thing from middle eastern that you could get. Soon after, I too stopped going.

Enter: Personality Crisis: The Jewish Rebels of Rock ‘N’ Roll

My intention for Personality Crisis was to explore the history of Jewish musicians in Western music and the juxtaposition between their Jewish upbringings and the music they went on to create. And of course, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to find out which members of my favourite bands were Jewish. We’ve all been to jewornotjew.com a few too many times. What I’d noticed with some of my Jewish heroes like Lou Reed, Bob Dylan or Randy Newman was that they always seemed to have a foot in both the Jewish and the non-Jewish worlds, yet never quite fit in to either. That’s how Newman could go from writing a satirical song about short people to an introspective song questioning the existence of God. It was this mess of influences, this personality crisis if you will, that I most identified with having myself grown up with a foot in each door.

Often, this was a result of experienced or inherited family trauma as many prominent Jewish musicians in the 1960s and ‘70s were the children of Holocaust survivors or the descendants of immigrants who fled persecution. This was true for Tommy Ramone, who founded the punk band The Ramones. As a child, he fled Hungary with his parents after the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. And for Mick Jones of The Clash, whose mother and maternal grandparents fled pogroms in Russia and ended up in the United Kingdom. Having grown up with stories of persecution and survival, many ran from their traumas and the antisemitism they experienced growing up, towards the supposedly liberal world of rock and roll, where they thought they would finally belong, only to find that, even there, they were outsiders. Forever the “Jews” of the industry.

This dichotomy of both belonging and not belonging is an experience that Jewish artists in the diaspora have understood for centuries. Jewish identity is so deeply rooted that even if you try to escape it, you never truly do. Bob Dylan’s journey with religion is a testament to this. Dylan grew up in a tight-knit Jewish community, attending Hebrew school and Jewish summer camps. In the late 1970s, to everyone’s surprise, he publicly “embraced” Christianity and released several Gospel albums, yet not long after, by the early 1980s, he was celebrating his son’s Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

While Personality Crisis was a great excuse for me to spend an hour a week sharing my favourite music with the J-AIR community, it was not simply an exercise in nostalgia, but a way of creating a safe space for both identities to exist, at least in Australia. When it became clear that anyone who was proudly Jewish or Zionist was being excluded from local music spaces, I made it my mission to seek out the local Jewish musicians and bring them together. While we may all be aware of the Debra Conway’s of the world, understanding the experiences of local Jewish musicians that are only starting their careers or trying to build them, is just as important, for it is the small incidents that illustrate the true downfall of a society.

My fear is that Jewish musicians will succumb to the peer pressure of the local scene and feel the need to suppress their Jewish identities in order to continue performing. What I hope to instil with this series is that you don’t have to compromise one world for the other in order to create your art. If I’ve learnt anything from the Jewish rebels of rock and roll, it’s that often the space between those two worlds is where you find a place for your art to exist. And yes, it may feel uncomfortable or isolating at times, but as Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera once said, ‘they call us lonely, when we’re really just alone’. And the artist knows the difference.

~ DAHLIA

(cult) references:

• Jews and Rock and Roll

• Jews, Punk and the Holocaust

tune into J-AIR radio on SUNDAY JULY 7TH 5pm for the debut of my new music show PERSONALITY CRISIS: THE JEWISH REBELS OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL!

for a long time, jews have challenged, subverted and influenced the norm, forever changing the face of western music. from bob dylan to the beastie boys, join me each week to find out how a little bit of chutzpah can go a long way.

‘i like to think of myself as a scholar of the talmud of rock ‘n’ roll’ - lenny kaye (from ’the heebie-jeebies at cbgb’s’)

find every episode of PERSONALITY CRISIS right here on Substack for your listening pleasure! Stay tuned for future episodes coming soon…

~ DAHLIA

p.s. shout out to Sam Black for helping me put this intro together