as a judge on the Supreme Court of Israel. During his trial, when it was still not clear to the court whether the incident had constituted rape or consensual relations, Argov commented "there is no girl who doesn't want it, she just needs to learn how to take it." He was convicted of rape as a result of this comment and sentenced to three years in prison. His wife filed for divorce during this time. Argov was released in 1979, after which he returned to his work as a musician. At first, he joined a band which appeared at clubs and family events. During an event in Beersheba, Argov asked to sing and the band members agreed. He then performed two songs live. Argov's debut album Elinor (1980) featured the title track, "Sod HaMazalot" ("The Zodiac Secret"), and "Mah Lakh, Yaldah?" ("What's With You, Girl?"), a tribute to his ex-wife, Bracha, who remained the love of his life. With the success of the album, Argov became a popular singer, and performed live throughout Israel. He was among the first singers to achieve commercial and nationwide success in the sphere of Middle Eastern-Mediterranean/Oriental (Mizrahi)-style music, despite the fact that his music was not mainstream at the time and radio stations gave predominance to pop music from overseas. In 1982, Argov toured the United States, and was invited to parties and clubs. It was there that he was first exposed to hard drugs and began to develop his heroin and crack cocaine addiction. He claimed that he was first introduced to hard drugs at Club Halleluyah in Los Angeles. From 1983, his drug addiction began to affect his functioning. By the end of the year, his drug abuse coupled with his demanding performance schedule was beginning to visibly affect his health. In late 1983, three associates took him to Eilat and locked him in a hotel room to dry out. However, this was unsuccessful. Although he was still able to sing in live performances under the influence of drugs, his drug abuse caused him to miss performances and recording sessions. By this time Argov was a wealthy man, but was spending his fortune on drugs. After deciding that he could not overcome his drug addiction, the Reuveni brothers ended their contract with him and chose to sign a contract with a promising new star, Haim Moshe, instead. Argov was stung by what