Romanella - Romanella

Kari Tapio (see earlier entry) recorded "Romanella" in 1976 for his album "Klabbi" ("Klabbi" is Kari's nickname). It remained just as an album track, but is a fine example of Tapio's delivery. The lyrics are from one of the top female lyricists of Finland, Chrisse Johansson. The original song of the same name was of French origin, but it was made popular by Gianni Nazzaro, an Italian singer and actor. His career has focused mainly in the seventies after he won the Festival di Napoli in 1970. You can see Gianni perform the song live, here.

Here's the pair:

Cherry Cherry - Cherry Baby

Rexi (see earlier entry) recorded "Cherry Baby" in 1977 for his album "Puhtaat purjeet". It wasn't released as a single. The lyrics were done by a fanous lyricist (we have many of those in Finland) Raul Reiman. The original song with slightly different name "Cherry, Cherry" was performed by one and only Neil Diamond. About a dozen of his songs have been versioned in Finnish, but for some reason none of them was a hit - at least not a big one. But this original song was a great success gor Neil. It reached number 6 in US Charts in 1966. Worldwide sales are said to have reached over one million copies. The song was produced by Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, and they also sang background vocals. But the song was written by Neil himself.

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Joy to the World - Sotilaat kansat maat

Today is the Independence Day of Finland. In the spirit of the day we present "Sotilaat, kansat, maat" (Soldiers, nations, countries) recorded by Pepe & Paradise (see earlier entry) in 1972. The lyrics of the song (by Vexi Salmi) tell about a childhood in the bomb shelter, and all countries, nations and soldiers are begged to "put their cannons away" for not to have wars anymore. The original song "Joy to the World" was written by Hoyt Axton and made famous by the band Three Dog Night. The song went to number one on the pop music charts in February 1971 and was the top single of the year in Billboard Magazine. The song was released on the band's album "Naturally". The group never really wanted to record the song, but they needed one last track for this album. Later they were greatly surprised that the song they didn't want to record ended up being a big hit.

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The Letter - Pienet Kirjeet

"Pienet Kirjeet" was the B-side of the 1967 single of Robin. The A-side was earlier finnpicked (see it here) "Ei se pelaa joka pelkää". The A-side was a big hit, but this flipside is long forgotten. The original song "The Letter" was written by Wayne Carson Thompson, an American country musician, songwriter and producer. But the song is not a country tune, but as a superb pop rock piece made by the group Box Tops. It was released in 1967 and reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The record, produced by Dan Penn, sold over four million copies and even received two Grammy awards nominations. The band Box Tops was headed by then-16-year-old Alex Chilton . The composer Thompson played guitar on the recording and he didn't like the Chilton's singing, believing the lead vocal was too husky ... You can see and hear the husky Alex here.

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Four Strong Winds - Neljä vahvaa tuulta

Barbara Helsingius was the first Finn to record "Neljä vahvaa tuulta" (Fours strong winds). She did it in 1966 on her debut album "Barbara". Barbara Helsingius is folk singer, composer and lyricist. She has recorded music in Finnish, Swedish, English and Norwegian. Prior to his career as a musician Barbara graduated as a teacher of gymnastics and participated in the Rome 1960 Olympic Games in the Finnish floret fencing team. The original "Four Strong Winds" was written by Canadian Ian Tyson and he recorded it with his wife Sylvia as a duo Ian & Sylvia. (see earlier entry). It was on an album of the same name released in 1964. The first version was done by US vocal group Brothers Four in 1963. The song has sometimes described as the other Canadian national song and it has been versioned by hundreds of artists all around the world.

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Never Grow Old - Muuta tehdä en voi

Markku Suominen (see earlier entry) recorded "Muuta tehdä en voi" (I can't do anything else) in 1969. It was released as a single, but didn't do much chartwise. But it's a good song, and the little extra curiosity in this case is that the lyrics are done by Kari Kuuva, another famous Finnish singer. The original song was a considerable hit for the Israeli duo Esther and Abi Ofarim (see earlier entry). This was the 1968 follow-up single for their smash hit "Cinderella Rockafella". It wasn't nearly as successful, but still worth to remember. You can see the couple singing the song live here.

Here's the pair:

My Russian Lady - Sait mitä hait

The Ruohonen brothers Matti & Teppo have been on the top of Finnish pop music for 40 years. Since they have almost excusively written their own songs, this is their first appearence in Finnpicks. Matti & Teppo recorded "Sait mitä hait" (You got what you wanted) in 1977. It was released on their eponymous 4th studio album. The duo is one of the most succesful Finnish pop acts. It has sold about 1,5 million records, and gained 2 double platinum , 7 platinum and 27 gold records. The original song originated from Netherlands. A pop group named The Classics had a hit with "My Russian Lady" in 1975. The Classics was formed in 1967 as a showband, but had some pop hits in the seventies. This slavic-flavoured song was written by their producer Fred Limpens.

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Only One Woman - Viimeiseen mieheen

The single "Viimeiseen mieheen" (To the last man) was a big hit for Kirka in 1969. The remarkable lyrics were from the pen of Pertti Reponen,and the fine arrangement by Esko Linnavalli. The original song was written by the Gibb brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice, better known as Bee Gees. The song became a smash hit for another Brithish rock duo The Marbles in 1968. The duo consisted of Graham Bonnet and Trevor Gordon, who were cousins. Trevor grew up in Australia where he met the Gibb brothers. Subsequently they wrote six songs for the Marbles and provided some background vocals. The Marbles were typical one-hit wonders because "Only One Woman" became their one and only major hit. After the group broke up in 1969, Bonnet started a lengthy solo career. From 1978 to 1980 he was the lead singer with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow.

Here's the pair: