Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Goodness Gracious Me - Voi hyvä tavaton


Brita Koivunen (see previous entry) and Eino Virtanen were both singers in their own right, but recorded also many duets together. Most of those were novelty songs, like this "Voi hyvä tavaton" (Oh goodness gracious), released as a single in 1961. It is a story of a male doctor, a female patient and a heart that goes 'boom-boudy, boom-boudy, boom, boom, boom'. The song was at the same time covered also by Finnish actors Maikki Länsiö and Esa Saario, and I remember their version beíng the more popular one. The original song was recorded in 1960 in order to promote the movie "The Millionairess", a 1960 romantic comedy film set in London, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Peter Sellers (The Doctor) and Sophia Loren (The Millionairess) . The song "Goodness Gracious Me" was performed by the leading actors. It became a considerable hit (at least in UK), which is no wonder, becouse the song is marvellous, and the actors deliver it with impeccable charm. Peter Sellers (real name Richard Henry Sellers) is not much of a singer but Sophia Loren (real name Sofia Villani Scicolone) has a very nice voice and has she has recorded well over two dozen songs.

Here's the pair:

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