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Shuki Levy
שוקי לוי
Born (1947-06-03) June 3, 1947 (age 77)
Jaffa, British Mandate of Palestine
Nationality Israeli, American
Children 2

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 The Real Ghostbusters, 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 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.

Life and career

Beginnings

Levy was born in Jaffa, British Mandate of Palestine. His father was an Ashkenazi Jew originally from Russia, and his mother of Sephardic Jewish origin.

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." 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 4,210 themes, background scores and songs. In a 1998 investigation by The Hollywood Reporter, it was alleged 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.

Post-Saban Entertainment projects

The first project Levy worked on following the dissolution of Saban Entertainment was Itty Bitty HeartBeats, a 2003 animated children's DVD. In 2009, he also directed and composed music for the live action film Aussie and Ted's Great Adventure. The film was co-written with his wife Tori Avey, and featured his daughter Jordan in one of the roles.

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). Shelton went on to appear in the 1982 horror film Blood Tide, which was one of the first film and television projects Levy composed for. He was also in a relationship with television actress Sarah Brown (General Hospital), with whom he has a second daughter, Jordan (born 1998). When they started dating in 1994, Brown was only 19 years old and 27 years younger than Levy. At that point, he was also secretly engaged to another actress named Shell Danielson, and still married to Shelton. Levy remained in a secret relationship with Danielson even after Brown moved in with him, and also remained married to Shelton until early 2000, nearly two years after Brown's daughter was born. Brown and Levy split in 2000, with Brown accusing him of spying on her over the next few years. Levy is currently married to food blogger Tori Avey, who he met in the early 2000s. Levy has owned properties in both California and Miami.

Musical compositions

Shuki Levy is credited as a composer on the following works:

Musicals

  • 2007. Imagine This

TV series

TV

  • 1985. He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special
  • 1987. Bay Coven
  • 1992. Revenge on the Highway
  • 1993. Under Investigation
  • 1994. Guns of Honor
  • 1994. Honor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders
  • 1994. Blindfold: Acts of Obsession
  • 1997. Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might (Funimation/Ocean Studios/Saban dub which edited the original film into three television episodes)
  • 2000. Final Ascent

Videos

  • 1980. Goldwing
  • 1985. Punky Brewster: More For Your Punky
  • 1986. My Favorite Fairy Tales
  • 1989. Little Golden Book Land
  • 1991. Sugar & Spice: Snow White
  • 1991. Sugar & Spice: Heidi
  • 1991. Sugar & Spice: Cinderella
  • 1991. Sugar & Spice: Alice in Wonderland
  • 1991. Sugar & Spice: The Wizard of Oz
  • 2003. Itty Bitty Heartbeats

Films

Screenwriting credits

Television

Film

Director

Television

Film

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)
  • "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)
  • "Viens que je t'embrasse" / "La separation" (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 fais 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)

Albums with Haim Saban

  • Ulysse 31 (Bande Originale De La Série Télévisée) (1981)
  • Inspector Gadget (Original Soundtrack of the TV Series) (1983)
  • Inspector Gadget - The Music (1986)
  • Dragon Ball Z: Original USA Television Soundtrack (1997)
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Selections from the Original TV Series Soundtrack (2012)
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Music from the Television Series (2015)

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Shuki Levy para niños

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