Every artist wants his album to be as perfect as can be but sometimes he has to take a gamble. Is the song he’s deliberating over going to soar or flop? Is the intro going to hook the guys or be a sleeper? How do you know if you made the right choice?

The upbeat song “Kol Dodi” on Falkowitz’s Achakeh Lo album with its Yiddish chorus of “Klap klap effen of” — as a translation of the words Kol dodi dofeik was a last-minute addition. “Yoeli Klein had already brought out the song as a single so I was unsure what I could add to it ” Falkowitz explains of his hesitation. “But a couple of people pushed me to take the song and make it my own. The ‘Kol Dodi’ track now has the highest sales of that whole album.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha Issue 686)