Sammy Clark passes away - a Golden Age in review.

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly based on Sammy Clark album covers

Sammy Clark, the memory of a full generation passes away. Clark who had his heyday in the late 70s and early 80s spawned a very prolific career which saw his spawn several hits which were easily inscribed in the memory of a full generation. Songs such as Oumi ta nor2os, or Ah 3ala hal iyyam, or Take me with you (which was a mix of Arabo-International) or the theme song from Liman toughani al touyour gave Clark his most enduring hits, but also - Clark was the voice behind the theme songs of Grendizer, Jazirat al Kanz, or Al Ja2iza Al Kobra which in themselves were inscribed in the head of a (slightly younger) generation as well.

As a matter of act Clark was experiencing some sort of a renaissance with the Golden Age (along with Le Petit Prince and Abdo Mounzer. Below am republishing my summing up of their concert during the Ramadinyat extravaganza in 2015. As I reread the article it does seem I am a bit harsh but trust me, seeing Clark on stage turning on the kitsch factor to 11 was sight to behold. May he rest in peace.

Originally published July 2, 2015:
The Golden Age, the trio formed by Abdo Mounzer, Sammy Clark and Petit Prince took the stage yesterday during the public opening of Ramadaniyat Beirutiya. To be fair and even-handed the first part of the concert, which consisted of international hits such as "geant to papier" "Delila" or "Esmeralda" left the audiences a bit lukewarm. Surely, for three old geezers, their voices were pseudo-intact, clad in black uniforms and blue jackets (that was a touch they could have avoided), they were humble enough to sing backing vocals when someone else was taking center stage, had a lot of camaraderie (or stage persona) and basically knew what they were doing up there. After the international hits part, came two classics from the Rehbani repertoire, the audience was still polite at that stage.
But move to the first notes of Sammy Clark's "Ah 3ala hal iyyam" and suddenly the house burned down. This, is what the audience, came for. A rendering of cheesy 80s classics straight from the mouth of the people who did them. The three of them showed incomparable showmanship. Petit Prince would be able to sing a high note all while taking a selfie with a fan. They amped up the kitsch factor with things respectable gentlemen of their age should not be doing - some stage acting, crowd-pleasing moves, auto-encores. Thankfully, Clark told the guy behind the synthesizers to tone down the sound a bit as it was drowning their own voices.
The highlight of the concert, was Mounzer belting out an endearing performance of "3achra hda3ch tna3ch" (10, 11, 12) in which the other two cheered him along and playfully told him to repeat the best bits to the delight of the audience. But as soon as Mounzer stopped, Clark went on with the theme song from Grendizer leading a breathless audience in high-fist-up-in-the-air bravado which everyone obliged.
Having the two songs back to back brought the attendees into a frantic response which even when Petit Prince was left alone on stage as the other two took a small break was not dampered down, going on with some more Arabic classics and finishing up with "Raje3 yet3ammar Loubnan" for the finale.
People if you have not seen Sammy Clark, who by now is wearing a spare tire around his tummy, do a pirouette and high five mounzer as Petit Prince smiled nearby, all while singing the Grendizer theme song then trust me, your life is not complete!

The story behind Sammy Clark's "el mal3ab wel goal w Sammy"

Standing: Fouad Charafeddine - Sammy Clark - Ehsan Sadek - Ahmad Mazhar - Samir Chamas - Antoine Kerbaj (to the far left international referee Sabeh Falah)

Squatting: Ibrahim Meraachli - Joseph Azar - Ahmad El Zein - Ali Safa - Jihad Al Atrash - Akram El Ahmar.

Legend has it that the photo was taken before the match that the artists named above played against a team from the American University of Beirut teachers (artists won 5-3) and it was done using the Nejmeh grounds. The idea was for artists from different parts of Lebanon (and different faiths) to unite in one team despite the war that had torn the country to pieces rendering going from one sector to another a very difficult task indeed. The team was dubbed "Alwan" which is also the sponsor (at least of the jerseys worn!) as it was a very popular magazine back them focused on entertainment and stars. All this is dated 1981.

Now I am sure you are familiar with Sammy Clark's hit "el mal3ab wel goal w Sammy" (the playground, the goal (which also means football in slang Lebanese!) and Sammy)... Guess why the song was recorded?

Tadam! Answer above!

Tony Kattoura - the man who gave the population a needed smile.

All right, I admit I did not watch him live because simply I do not watch television at all. But I woke up to the phenomenon of "Captain Tony Kattoura"... His style of singing are light-hearted songs with cute lyrics about anything from love, to bemye w riz, to all other topics.

Sure it is easy to laugh him off. But we do live in a world where a tiktoker went to number 3 in the UK charts for his rendition of sea shanty Wellerman, so basically stranger things (no pun!) have happened. But the craze of Tony Kattoura who is trending on Twitter tells you how much the Lebanese populace needed a smile - a laugh, a frivoulous thing just for them to unwind a little. Now, the vocals of Mr. Kattoura could need sharpening, his a capella style (I am not sure but I did detect hints of the great Alain Merheb's houwwara tunes) is truly engulfing however. 

Since I am a big believer in pop culture as a bridging ability to cultures, I think Kattoura's presence was just what the Lebanese needed, which obviously translates into the online craze which has happened since his live on MTV's "3a gheir kawkab" (on another planet) show. Remember however, all the "el fan el habet" (the falling art) as it was used to be called in the 80s, are now its classics. People who dismissed singers are one-hit wonders, or equipped with a bad or untrained voice, eventually proved staying power. And those who did not, still managed to give out hits that are transmitted from one generation to another.

I think of certain examples. If you remember the great diva Sabah, she has some incredible songs which truly fulfilled her vocal potential (by her own admission, the song "Sa3at sa3at" was her best performance - and listen to it and you will understand why), but ask anyone about Sabah, and mostly her more "pop" songs come to mind - ya dala3, Allo Beyrouth, ra2isni heik, or the classic 3al day3a. I distinctly remember the concert by The Golden Age (the trio Sammy Clark, Abdo Mounzer, Le Petit Prince) at the Ramadaniyat festival in 2015: they started with some English and French classics to which the public was lukewarm. But it took the first notes of Clark's "Ah 3ala hal iyyam" and the whole house burned down across all generations, everyone went balistic about it.

So here we are, Kattoura just provided us with one such example. It takes little for people to get excited, especially when they are this down. Now, if he proves to be someone who will stay the course is another matter.