When Milk & Honey won the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest with 'Hallelujah' the future seemed bright for the new group. But almost immediately afterwards a battle started between the group and its producers. The latest development in the saga came only last week, 27 years after the victory.
A few days ago Kobi Oshrat, the composer of 'Hallelujah', received a confiscation notice after he refused to complywith a court's decision from 3 months earlier. The dispute concerns royalties from the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest winner. This is the latest development in a 27 year struggle between each and every person who was involvedwith the second Israeli Eurovision winning entry.
According to Oshrat, it all started backstage in Jerusalem minutes before Milk & Honey went on stage to perform the home entry in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1979. Allegedly the lead singer, Gali Atari, demanded at that very moment that the band's name be changed to Milk & Honey and Gali Atari. After the song won the contest, Oshrat claims, Gali Atari refused to participate in any of the band's tours and performances at home or abroad (including the BBC's Top of the Pops) unless her demand for changing the band's namewas met.
In 1981 Gali Atari was dismissed from the band, an act that ignited a long legal battle between her and the two producers of the band. This battle ended years later when the producers were ordered to compensate Atari for lost royalties. Kobi Oshrat claimed for years he had not been a part of the production team, thus avoidingpaying hisshare to Atari. Consequently, the two producers sued Oshrat for his part of the compensation which was paid to Atari. Now Oshrat is facing property confiscation, unless he obeys a court's order and pays the former band's producers an equivalent of 140.000 Euros. It should be noted that Kobi Oshrat composed, arranged and conducted other Israeli Eurovision entries of the same producers: 'Ole Ole' of Yizhar Cohen (1985), 'Kan' of Orna & Moshe Datz (1991) and 'Ze Rak Sport' of Dafna Dekel (1992).
What about the song's lyricist? Shimrit Or is also not at ease with the way things have turned out over the years.She complainsthat she was left out of the commercial success, although lyrics are a decisive factor, as she sees it. "But still, I never demanded more money. At the end all the rest are left with none of it. I may even have less, but I will always have my song".
