Sylvia's Mother - Sylvian äiti

We leave the Finnpicks Humour Week behind us with still another Shel Silverstein song. Shel did write also non-novelty songs, however, often with a twist. This is one of those. Petri & Petterson Brass (see previous entry) recorded "Sylvian äiti" in 1972. It was their second single, but wasn't as successful as their first one "Maalaismaisema". The original song "Sylvia's Mother" was the first big hit for Dr. Hook in 1972. At this point the band was still bearing the moniker 'Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show'. The song reached number 5 on the Billboard singles chart. The song tells the story of a man trying to say one last goodbye to his ex-girlfriend Sylvia Avery (Sylvia Suominen in Finnish version), but unable to get past her mother, who tries to interfere.

Here's the pair:

Acapulco Goldie - Akapulkon kulta

Another Shel Silverstein song, this time performed by the Finnish band (The Heirs of Wilbury), whose name paid homage to Travelling Wilburys. They were quite popular in the 90's presenting almost exclusively novelty songs. They recorded several albums and singles, and originated from the town of Turku. They used the (in)famous Turku dialect in some of their songs, like in the beginning of this "Vilperin PerikuntaAkapulkon kulta" (Akapulko gold) on their first album in 1992. The lyrics http://lirama.net/song/201607 are almost direct translation of those in the original "Acapulco Goldie". It was from the same Dr. Hook album - "Belly Up" - as yesterday's Finnpick. The "Goldie" in the song is a hooker, or 'puta', as she's called in the spanish-speaking Mexico.

Here's the pair:

Roland the Roadie and Gertrude the Groupie - Roudari Roope ja hengari Hertta

We leave the Finnpick Humour Week with a couple of Shel Silverstein songs. Vesku Loiri - yes, again - released "Roudari Roope ja hengari Hertta" (Roope the Roadie and Hertta the groupie) in 1973 on the B-side of his "Uuno Turhapuro" single (Uuno Turhapuro is the most legendary of Vesku's 'alter egos'). The lyrics were done by our (and Loiri's) old friend Jukka Virtanen. The original song "Roland the Roadie and Gertrude the Groupie" was written by poet and singer-songwriter Shel Silverstein and performed by US pop-country rock band Dr. Hook. It was on their 1973 album "Belly Up" and was also released as a single. They started as Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show releasing in 1971 their debut album, which included their first hit, "Sylvia's Mother." Shel Silverstein wrote the lyrics for many of Dr. Hook’s early songs - in fact, he wrote their entire second album.

Here's the pair: