Thursday, January 8, 2009

Linda Linda - Linda Linda


Frederik (real name Ilkka Sysimetsä) is still one of the most popular Finnish male singers, although his recording career started already 40 years ago in 1968. He adopted his stage name after the Danish Crown Prince Frederick, but the 'c' was dropped out as the name would be too difficult to write in Finnish. Frederik developed a macho image - not unlike Tom Jones - in the 70's, and it has stayed with him since. And it's often reflected in his songs. This "Linda Linda" is however not a very macho song. Frederik recorded it in 1979. He has recorded hundreds of songs, and I bet we hear some of them in future Finnpicks. The original song, also titled as "Linda Linda", comes from Netherlands. The Dutch pop group Tee Set, who had a worldwide hit with "Ma Belle Amie" in 1969, had a big European hit with this one in 1979. The song was written by the band's guitarist and vocalist Peter Tetteroo.

Here's the pair:

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The origins of this song goes back to Egypt. I've got no idea what was the name of the group, nor the title of the song... it was written in arabic. It was on a cassette, produced in Egypt, early seventies...

DM said...

I have found an Arabic songs with the the title "Linda, Linda Ya Linda". It has been versioned by Lebanese George Wassouf and more recently by a group called Edward Society. This is the same song as "Linda Linda". And my source states that it is originally written by Michel Boesveld, Hans van Eijck and Peter Tetteroo (= Tee Set).

Godefroy said...

I heard a long time ago Peter Tetteroo wrote this song because he met a Dutch girl in Egypt (or another Arabic country) and she told him she was kept hostage. He lost her out of sight and than wrote the song about her. He also wrote (and sings) a part in Arabic so maybe thats the reason the song is played in Egypt?
I cant verrify this story on the internet but I know Peter told it himself in an interview.

Anonymous said...

Hello,
I'm a Dutch music collector and writer about music.
On behalf of an article I'm writing about the song Linda Linda, for a Dutch newspaper,
I'm looking for a picture-sleeve of Linda Linda by Finnish singer Frederik (or other coverversions of this Tee set-song).
So far I can't find it on the internet (maybe I searched in a wrong way, but...). I hope someone could help me with sending me an illustration of this picture sleeve.

JimmyDelft (hometown of Tee Set), Netherlands
jimmyagain@live.nl
www.jimmytigges.nl