Shuki Levy
Yehoshua[1] "Shuki" Levy (Hebrew: שוקי לוי; born June 3, 1947) is an Israeli-American music composer and television producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as Inspector Gadget, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, M.A.S.K., Dinosaucers, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra: Princess of Power, and Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors. In the 1990s, he became known chiefly for his work on the Power Rangers franchise, Digimon: Digital Monsters, Masked Rider, VR Troopers, and Big Bad Beetleborgs. He has also written and directed numerous episodes for some these television shows, and directed a few films, such as Eye of Doom (1987), Perfect Victims (1988) and Blind Vision (1991). He was also part of a musical duo known as Shuky & Aviva (alternatively Shuki & Aviva) with his partner Aviva Paz.
Shuki Levy | |
---|---|
Born | Israel | June 3, 1947
Nationality | Israeli American |
Life and career
Beginnings
Levy was born in Mandatory Palestine in 1947. His father was an Ashkenazi Jew originally from Russia and his mother an Israeli of Sephardic origin.[2]
His career began as a singer and music performer, playing in various clubs around Tel Aviv. He also appeared in the musical "Hair."
Shuky & Aviva
During the 1970s, Levy performed in France and Germany as a duo known as "Shuki & Aviva" or "Shuky and Aviva" as written on a lot of the duos song releases. Together with his partner Aviva Paz he scored a hit single throughout Europe called "Signorina - Concertina" which sold two million copies. Levy composed "Halayla", the Israeli entry to the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest.
Saban Entertainment
While living in Paris, he met businessman and musician Haim Saban, with the two becoming close friends and frequent collaborators. In an interview, Levy recalled "Haim said, 'We'll be co-composer. You do the composing, I'll do the deals.' I figured, 'Great. Brothers.' That was the last business conversation we had for many years. We were partners. We never had a written agreement. It was all verbal."[3] They eventually moved to Los Angeles and founded Saban Entertainment, a production company responsible for numerous animated shows and Japanese adaptions, such as Digimon, X-Men, Spider-Man and Power Rangers. The company was sold to The Walt Disney Company by the end of 2001.
During the 1980s and 1990s, he was noted for composing a large volume of television music; according to BMI's music publishing database, he has written a combined total of 3,928 themes, background scores and songs.[4] In a 1998 investigation by The Hollywood Reporter, it was revealed that many of these compositions were ghostwritten by other composers, in order for Levy and Haim Saban to gain control of all publishing rights and music royalty revenue.[5]
On October 3, 2013, Shuki Levy started working on a TV show he created called Tribe Of The Wild which was originally set for a 2014 release, but got delayed to 2015 instead. Levy also signed a first-look production deal with Relativity Media to oversee worldwide distribution, finance and production for Levy's content in the children's and family space, Tribe Of The Wild was the first show under the deal.[6]
Personal life
In 1977, Levy was married to Miss USA 1970 and actress Deborah Shelton (Dallas), with whom he has a daughter, Tamara (born 1981).[7][8] He was also in a relationship with television actress Sarah Brown (General Hospital), with whom he has a second daughter, Jordan (born 1998).[9][10]
Musical compositions
- Shuki Levy is credited[11] as a composer on the following works:
Musicals
- 2007. Imagine This
TV series
- 2015. Tribe Of The Wild
- 2001. Digimon Tamers
- 2001. Power Rangers Time Force
- 2001. Mon Colle Knights
- 2000. Shinzo
- 2000. NASCAR Racers
- 2000. Digimon Adventure 02
- 2000. Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
- 2000. Action Man
- 1999. The Avengers: United They Stand
- 1999. Digimon Adventure
- 1999. Power Rangers Lost Galaxy
- 1999. Spider-Man Unlimited
- 1998. The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs
- 1998. Power Rangers In Space
- 1998. The Silver Surfer
- 1997. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- 1997. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- 1997. Power Rangers Turbo
- 1997. Saban's Adventures of Oliver Twist
- 1997. Breaker High
- 1997. Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation
- 1996. Big Bad Beetleborgs
- 1996. Little Mouse on the Prairie
- 1996. The Incredible Hulk
- 1996. Bureau of Alien Detectors
- 1996. The Mouse and the Monster
- 1996. Power Rangers Zeo
- 1996. Eagle Riders (Dubbed version of Gatchaman II and Gatchaman Fighter)
- 1996. Dragon Ball Z
- 1995. Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic
- 1995. Space Strikers
- 1995. Super Pig
- 1995. Iznogoud
- 1995. Masked Rider
- 1995. Space Strikers
- 1994. VR Troopers
- 1994. Spider-Man
- 1994. Sweet Valley High
- 1994. Creepy Crawlers
- 1994. Teknoman (Dubbed version of Tekkaman Blade)
- 1994. Honeybee Hutch
- 1994. BattleTech
- 1993. Walter Melon
- 1993. Mad Scientist Toon Club
- 1993. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
- 1993. Hello Kitty
- 1993. Journey to the Heart of the World
- 1992. The Adventures of Pinocchio
- 1992. Jin Jin and the Panda Patrol
- 1992. King Arthur & the Knights of Justice
- 1992. X-Men
- 1991. Rock 'n Cop (German and Swedish dubbed versions of Future Police Urashiman — no English version was released)
- 1991. Samurai Pizza Cats
- 1991. Little Shop
- 1991. Maya the Bee
- 1991. Space Cats
- 1990. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
- 1990. Lucky Luke
- 1990. Adventures of the Little Mermaid
- 1989. The New Adventures of He-Man
- 1989. The Legend of Zelda
- 1989. Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics
- 1989. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
- 1989. Camp Candy
- 1989. The Karate Kid
- 1989. Ring Raiders
- 1989. Captain N: The Game Master
- 1989. Dragon Warrior
- 1988. ALF Tales
- 1988. Noozles
- 1988. COPS
- 1988. RoboCop: The Animated Series
- 1988. Hey Vern, It's Ernest!
- 1987. ALF: The Animated Series
- 1987. Beverly Hills Teens
- 1987. Sylvanian Families
- 1987. Maxie's World
- 1987. The New Archies
- 1987. Dinosaucers
- 1987. Maple Town
- 1987. Diplodo
- 1987. Lady Lovelylocks And The Pixietails
- 1987. Starcom: The U.S. Space Force
- 1986. Dennis The Menace
- 1986. Zoobilee Zoo
- 1986. The Real Ghostbusters
- 1986. Rambo and the Forces of Freedom
- 1986. Popples
- 1985. M.A.S.K.
- 1985. She-Ra: Princess of Power
- 1985. Rainbow Brite
- 1985. Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors
- 1985. It's Punky Brewster
- 1985. Kissyfur
- 1984. Punky Brewster
- 1984. Going Bananas
- 1984. Pole Position
- 1984. Kidd Video
- 1984. Heathcliff & The Catillac Cats
- 1984. Photon
- 1983. Urusei Yatsura (Italian and French dub only)
- 1983. Mister T
- 1983. Inspector Gadget
- 1983. The Littles
- 1983. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
- 1983. Saturday Supercade
- 1982. Bomber X (additional music, French dub only)
- 1982. The Mysterious Cities of Gold
- 1981. Spider Woman (French and Italian dub only)
- 1981. Ulysses 31
- 1980. Heathcliff
- 1975. Steel Jeeg
- 1975. Time Bokan
- 1970. The Adventures of Hutch the Honeybee
TV
- 2000. Final Ascent
- 1997. Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might
- 1994. Blindfold: Acts of Obsession
- 1994. Honor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders
- 1994. Guns Of Honor
- 1993. Under Investigation
- 1992. Revenge on the Highway
- 1987. Bay Coven
- 1985. He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special
Videos
- 2003. Itty Bitty Heartbeats
- 1996. Spider-Man: Sins of the Fathers
- 1991. Sugar & Spice: The Wizard of Oz
- 1991. Sugar & Spice: Alice in Wonderland
- 1991. Sugar & Spice: Cinderella
- 1991. Sugar & Spice: Heidi
- 1991. Sugar & Spice: Snow White
- 1989. Little Golden Book Land
- 1986. My Favorite Fairy Tales
- 1985. Punky Brewster: More For Your Punky
- 1980. Goldwing
Films
- 2000. Digimon: The Movie
- 1998. Rusty: The Great Rescue
- 1996. Susie Q
- 1995. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
- 1992. Round Trip to Heaven
- 1992. Blind Vision
- 1992. Prey Of The Chameleon
- 1989. Trapper Country War
- 1988. Perfect Victims
- 1987. Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World
- 1987. Barbie and the Sensations: Rockin' Back to Earth
- 1986. Heathcliff: The Movie
- 1985. Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer
- 1985. He-Man And She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword
- 1985. Here Come the Littles
- 1984. Fatal Games
- 1984. The Secret of the Selenites
- 1983. Les Dalton En Cavale
- 1982. Blood Tide
- 1981. Dawn of the Mummy
Screenwriting credits
Television
- Kidd Video (1985)
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993-1996)
- Masked Rider (1995)
- Big Bad Beetleborgs (1996)
- Power Rangers Zeo (1996)
- Power Rangers Turbo (1997)
Film
- Perfect Victims (1988)
- Blind Vision (1992)
- Round Trip to Heaven (1992)
- Someone to Die For (1995)
- Susie Q (1996)
- Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997)
- Exception to the Rule (1997)
- Rusty: A Dog’s Tale (1998)
- Aussie and Ted’s Great Adventure (2009)
Director
Television
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993-1995)
- VR Troopers (1994)
- Masked Rider (1995)
- Big Bad Beetleborgs (1996)
- Power Rangers Turbo (1997)
Film
- Perfect Victims (1988)
- Blind Vision (1992)
- Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997)
- Rusty: A Dog’s Tale (1998)
- Aussie and Ted’s Great Adventure (2009)
Discography
(As part of duo Shuky & Aviva)
Albums
- Love Is Like (1974)
- Shuky & Aviva (1976)
- Shuky & Aviva Album N°2 (1977)
- Compilation albums
- The Very Best Of Shuki & Aviva (1974)
- The Hits Collection (1990)
- Best of Shuky & Aviva (2002)
- Shuky & Aviva (4xCD) (2013)
Singles
- "L' amour c' est la musique de la vie" (1972)
- "Viens que je t'embrasse" / "La separation" (1972)
- "Signorina Concertina" / "I'll Never Let You Go" (1972)
- "Here Comes Summertime" (1972)
- "When I'm Dreaming" (1973)
- "Sixteen Brothers" / "On My Own" (1973)
- "Listen to the Children" / "Ecoutez les enfants" (1973)
- "Ca ne suffit pas" / "C'est trop tard" (1973)
- "Did I ever say goodbye" / "Roller Coaster" (1974)
- "Did I Hear You Say Good-Bye" (1974)
- "Bye, Bye, a bientôt" / Des dimanches d'amour" (1975)
- "Bye Bye Ciao My Love" (1975)
- "Je t'aime un peu trop" (1975)
- "Prends ma chemise" (1976)
- "Fête d'amour" / Ils ne mont parlé que de toi" (1976)
- "Comme Si" (The Air That I Breath) (1976)
- "Hotel California" / "S'aimer comme on s'aime" (1977)
- "Mais bien sur je t'aime" / "J'aime quelqu'un d'hereux" (1977)
- "Je ne fait que passer" / "C'est beaucoup mieux comme ça" (1977)
- "Fallait fallait pas" (1978)
- in German
- "Lern' Mit Den Augen Der Kinder Zu Sehen" (1973)
- "Ein Platz Für Die Liebe" (1974)
- "Wir Glauben An Das Leben" (1974)
- "Du Und Ich Und Zwei Träume" (1975)
- "Zum Glück Gibt Es Musik" (1975)
- "Ich Liebe Dich Ja Viel Zu Sehr" (1976)
References
- http://uk.warnerchappell.com/composer-songs/SABAN+HAIM.+%28A%29. Missing or empty
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(help) - "Kosher cooking for the masses".
- Bruck, Connie (May 10, 2010). "The Influencer". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
- "BMI - Repertoire Search".
- Composers say they're paupers in royalty game - The Hollywood Reporter - via groups.google.com
- "Tribe of the Wild". The Power Scoop. 2014-06-19. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
- Stark, John (1984-11-05). "From Miss U.S.A. to Dallas to Body Double, Deborah Shelton Is a Sex Object Who Objects". PEOPLE.com. 22. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
- "Tamara Levy". IMDb. Retrieved Jul 24, 2020.
- "Sarah Brown Puts Education First". Crushable. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
- "Jordan Levy". IMDb. Retrieved Jul 24, 2020.
- Shuki Levy IMDB profile