The Jewish Monkeys are a burlesque singing trio, smiling sarcastically at mankind’s misadventures with their politically incorrect lyrics. Joe Fleisch, their founder, sugar-daddy and one of the three singers, is now proudly releasing their new black and white music video, directed by Assaf T. Mann and Guy J. Bolandi: a remake of the love-song, „Black but Sweet“ by the 30’s mega-star from Trinidad, Wilmoth Houdini…
Joe Fleish:
„So würde sich jüdische Pop-Musik anhören, hätte der Holocaust niemals stattgefunden“…
Years ago, inspired by Shantel´s „Buccovina“ smash hit, the Jewish Monkeys covered the original „Black but Sweet“ by Wilmoth Hudini now used by the video-clip’s directors to commit some easy-going sacrilege regarding Jewish religious rites and clichés of universal sanctity. In elegant suits, vests, coats and a Borsalino hat, they fulfill the Afro-American or Italian Mafia stereotype, but, above all, resemble religious conservative Jews on their way to Temple. They chant their refrain like a male choir, in Houdini’s Trinidad English: „She’s black and only and that is all, when men meet her they bound to fall, until her Mammy doesn’t sleep, oh Lord“, while bound by leather straps all over their bodies and their heads. This is a humorous hint at the morning prayer of religious Jews, performed with phylacteries wound around arms, hands, fingers and fore-head, symbolizing man’s bonding with God.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_8GJn9yMO8[/youtube]
By releasing this esthetic and provocative piece of art, a must-see of contemporary video-clip culture and a new milestone in the portfolio of the Jewish Monkeys, Joe Fleisch signals not only another video-release and the album-debut by the Jewish Monkeys in 2013, but, firstly, his own album debut as solo artist and singer-performer. Look out for „Joe Fleisch sings songs. 9 in Yiddish, 1 in English“, coming out towards Christmas.
In that album he collaborates with a whole bunch of musicians, each celebrating a different style. Of course, the „1 in English“ is „Black but Sweet“, and besides that kind of klezmatic-manic rock, listeners will be furthermore enchanted by party-drunken electro-dub, sexy ice-cold electro-pop and solemn-spaceship-Italo-disco euphoria in this wild, heterogeneous and eclectic compilation. By inserting the language of his parents into different styles of contemporary pop music, where Yiddish is so uncommon since it has been nearly wiped out amongst the secular, and has generally remained alive among religious Jews, Joe Fleisch’s message goes: „This is how Jewish pop-music would have sounded today, had the Holocaust never happened.“
For more information visit:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/JEWISH-MONKEYS and http://www.JoeFleisch.de.
Was sagt die „Süddeutsche“?
Die ermordete Sprache wiederbeleben…
