Bylo no proshlo - Tule poika uimaan

Anna Hanski is the daughter of Seppo Hanski (see previous entry). She had her first great hit with "Tule poika uimaan" (Boy, come on and swim) in 1989. Anna was very popular in the first years of 90's having many big hits and best-selling albums. She has a special intimate style of singing not quite insimilar to Nancy Sinatra's and eventually she did several covers of Lee Hazlewood songs, which got her into collaboration with Lee. They even recorded an album together in 1993. I'm sure we hear a lot of more of Anna in future Finnpicks. The original song came from former Soviet Union. It was called "Bylo no proshlo" (It was, but it is gone) and was performed by Sofia Rotaru (full name Sofia Mikhaylivna Yevdokymenko-Rotaru). Sofia was born in Soviet Ukraine and is a singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, film producer, fashion designer, dancer, author and actress (person of many talents, isn't she!). She is known for combining a lyrical deep rich voice, sex appeal, and social or religious themes in her songs. In 2000 she was named "The Singer of the XXth Century" - that must be in the Eastern Europe, I guess ...

Here's the pair: