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At 81, Hedva Amrani has just released a new album, \u201cLost Songs<\/em>\u201d<\/em> \u2014 a compilation of long-forgotten tracks she recorded during the 1970s and \u201980s. The 14-track album features 13 songs in English \u2014 a mix of originals and cover songs \u2014 and one in Arabic, each with its own personal backstory from her life and career.<\/p>\n The Israeli-born singer moved to Los Angeles at the height of her fame in the 1970s, following her heart \u2014 and her now-husband, American-Jewish doctor Dudley Danoff.<\/p>\n In an interview with The Journal<\/em>, <\/em>Amrani explained how the album came about. It all started during a radio interview in Israel, when the host asked what happened to a song in Arabic she had recorded in Egypt back in 1978.<\/p>\n \u201cHer question made me dig around until I found it on a cassette,\u201d Amrani said. \u201cThat led me to realize how many recordings I had that were never released or had simply been forgotten over time. I felt I had to do something about it. So I started this journey of rediscovery and sent the materials to Alon, my personal manager, who said we needed to upgrade the sound quality and so we did.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the album\u2019s tracks are covers of well-known songs like \u201cBallerina,\u201d originally recorded by Nat King Cole, Brenda Lee\u2019s \u201cAll Alone Am I\u201d and \u201cKaleidoscope.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI recorded them in New York in the late 1970s for Buddah Records,\u201d she recalled. \u201cThey were really excited about my work and thought I had great potential for a U.S. career. It was the disco era, and I recorded those tracks along with my own original material. But the album was never released, and I always felt I had to do something with it.\u201d<\/p>\n The final track on the album is titled \u201cYaa<\/em>sfure Islam<\/em>,<\/em>\u201d which means \u201cPeace Dove.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was after the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt,\u201d said Amrani. \u201cI was living in the U.S. and went to Egypt as part of a trip organized by the Friends of the Hebrew University. Someone introduced me to an Egyptian entertainment reporter, and through her I connected with a record company. They arranged for me to record the song with the Cairo Philharmonic. The conductor didn\u2019t know I was Israeli \u2014 we wanted it to be a surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n Amrani, whose parents made Aliyah from Yemen, learned to sing the song in Arabic and was excited about the chance to perform in Egypt \u2014 which would have made her the first Israeli to do so.<\/p>\n \u201cWe decided to invite (French-Algerian singer) Enrico Macias to perform with me, but once it was revealed that I\u2019m Israeli, I received threats warning me not to come. In the end, Macias performed alone in front of the pyramids. It was a huge disappointment.\u201d<\/p>\n One particularly emotional track is \u201cMy Child<\/em>,<\/em>\u201d inspired by personal tragedy and loss. She wrote and composed it in 1979 after her first son passed away a month after birth due to medical complications.<\/p>\n \u201cMy husband and I tried for eight years to have children, and it just wasn\u2019t working. It was very hard. I suffered many miscarriages,\u201d she said. \u201cThen I got pregnant, but the baby was born in the eighth month and things just didn\u2019t go well. It was horrible \u2014 he spent a month in an incubator and then passed away. I said I couldn\u2019t go through it again, but my husband insisted we try. I got pregnant almost immediately, and gave birth to my daughter Aurel in 1980. That\u2019s when I wrote \u201cMy Child<\/em>.<\/em>\u201d It was included in an album I released in Israel called \u201cIsha\u201d<\/em> (<\/em>Woman<\/em>),<\/em> but it never became a well-known song.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior to her moving to the U.S., Amrani had been a very popular and well-known singer in Israel. She was part of a duo, Hedva and David. One of their best-known songs from that period is \u201cAni Cholem Al Naomi\u201d<\/em> (\u201cI Dream of Naomi\u201d). The song won first place at the first International Song Festival in Japan, held in Nov. 1970.\u00a0 It was released there as a single and sold two million copies. They went on to release eight more albums there and later toured the United States and Japan.<\/p>\n \u201cDavid and I were the first to open Japan to the West. There were huge posters of us all over the country,\u201d she recalled. \u201cThe Israeli ambassador told us, \u2018I could have lived here for 40 years and never achieved this level of popularity.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n She met Danoff while touring the U.S. with the folk dance troupe founded by choreographer Yonatan Karmon and Gavri Levy. The group performed at the Palace Theatre on Broadway and toured across Europe and the United States, primarily for Jewish Diaspora audiences.<\/p>\n \u201cHe came to one of my concerts and later to the afterparty. We talked \u2014 he was very nice \u2014 and he gave me a ride back to the hotel,\u201d Amrani recalled. \u201cShortly after, he went skiing in Austria, and my manager Roni happened to be there too. He told him, \u2018Do you remember Hedva? You should call her \u2014 she likes you.\u2019 When Roni came back to the U.S., he told me the same thing. \u2018Remember Dudley? He really likes you. You should call him.\u2019 I said, \u2018Me and a doctor? I don\u2019t think so.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n She agreed to go out with him, but only if her manager could come along. \u201cDudley arrived in a red convertible with only two seats, so I sat with Roni on one seat while Dudley drove us to a fancy restaurant, Escargot on Fifth Avenue. I later learned that he only eats at fancy restaurants,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n The two quickly became a couple and married in 1971 in Israel, in front of 1,250 guests.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWe had top performers, including former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, members of the Knesset, and the British band Mungo Jerry \u2014 known for their hit \u2018In the Summertime.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Amrani and Danoff have two children: Aurel, an attorney specializing in litigation and intellectual property, and Doran, a Nashville-based musician who writes music for commercials and more.<\/p>\n Throughout her years in Beverly Hills, she continued recording new material, performed in Israel on several occasions, and volunteered her time to entertain at local events for organizations such as the FIDF, Israel Independence Day celebrations, and Beit Halochem.<\/p>\n Today, when visiting Israel, she\u2019s mostly recognized by those over 50. \u201cThe younger ones don\u2019t know me, but when I sing one of my hits, \u2018Salam Aleikum<\/em>,\u2019 they join in right away,\u201d she said. \u201cHad I stayed in Israel, I know I would have done much more \u2014 but I have no regrets. I have a beautiful family here, and I cherish that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n