Atomic - Painimaan

We now commence a mini-series of Finnish rock groups not-yet-presented-here-in-Finnpicks. These 3 groups are/have been among the most popular Finnish artists, but as they have almost exclusively recorded their own material, their Finnpicks debut has been in the waiting. The first one we present is Sleepy Sleepers, legendary punk-orientated fun-rock band, active from 1974 to the end of 80's. Later in was evolved to internationally famed group Leningrad Cowboys. In 1980 they released album "Metsäratio", and one of the tracks was "Painimaan" (Wrestling). Even if the lead vocalist Tiina Tiikeri wasn't Debbie Harry, the performance was recognizible as a cover of Blondie's "Atomic". It was released on Blondie's 4th studio album "Eat To The Beat" in 1979. "Atomic" was composed by band members Jimmy Destri and Debbie Harry, and the arrangement gave it a spaghetti western treatment. The guitar riff is directly influenced by the one in the Neil Diamond song "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon". You can see the band perform the song, here.    

Here's the pair: