Pepe Willberg has been active in the Finnish pop and rock scene for nearly 50 years. Between 1962 and 1975 he worked in groups like Islanders, Jormas and Pepe & Paradise. After that mainly as a solo artist. He recorded "Mennään Rööperiin" (Lets go to Rööperi) in 1977 on his album "Lady Madonna". Rööperi is a shady neighborhood in Helsinki City. And it was not the first time Pepe sang about it. Jormas recorded ten years earlier a very successful cover of Beatles' Penny Lane called "Rööperiin" (to Rööperi). The later 'Rööperi' -song was also released as a single, but didn't exactly cause a commotion. Which is a pity, becouse it is a good cover of the original. And the original is no less than "Blinded By The Light" made famous by Manfred Mann's Earth Band in the start of 1977. If Pepe's version was a good cover of Earth Band's version then their cover was an excellent cover of the original written and performed by Bruce Springsteen in 1973. It was the first song on, and first single from, Springsteen's debut album "Greetings from Asbury Park N.J". Springsteen's version was unsuccessful, and failed to appear on the music charts. But thanks to Manfred Mann the song has become a classic.
Here's the triple:
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1 comment:
this is actually an excellent cover, (Pepe's done worse covers) often overlooked in Pepe's repertoire. mostly under-rated. one could do lousy words,too. Hirsi K you're too shy.
Pepe, you should sing this one more.
forget the *grease*
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