Sveriges elektriska ståltrådorkester - Paras rautalankayhtye

Juha Vainio's (see earlier entry) first big hit as a singer was this "Paras rautalankayhtye" (The best steelwire band) in 1964. Juha did not do much covers, but in the 60's he covered some Swedish novelty songs. This one was originally called "Sveriges elektriska ståltrådorkester" (The electric steelwire orchestra of Sweden). Vainio's Finnish version gave name to the distinctive era of Finnish guitar-driven pop music in the first part of the 60's. Prior to that the bands that played (imitating The Shadows) guitar pop, were called guitar bands, or instrumental bands, but since then they've been known as 'rautalanka' bands. The co-writer and performer of the oringinal Swedish record was Sören Andersson. He was famous in Sweden especially for his musical parodies of contemporary issues. We present here also a newer Finnish version of the same song, done by Kontra for their "Ei kontrollia" -album in 1977.

Here's the triplet:

Always Laughing - Mä uskon huomispäivään

The Finnish legendary lyricist Juha 'Junnu' Vainio was also a singer recording a vast amount of songs. He did very few covers. One notable example is this "Mä uskon huomispäivään" (I believe in tomorrow) in 1976. Juha started his career in the 60's presenting at first primarily novelty songs. But in the later years he chose to record more 'serious' material. This song is one of the serious ones, but not a sad one. Junnu always had more or less optimistic message in his lyrics. And this one must be the most optimistic of them all - as the title suggests: 'I believe in tomorrow'. No wonder it has always been one of his most lovable performances. Now, the original song was hard to find. I know that song was written by writer combo Chris Arnold , David Martin and Geoff Morrow. They were the producers of 70's UK vocal group Guys 'n Dolls. And the group first recorded the song in 1975 having a minor hit in some European countries. For some reason this original version is hard to come by. But - fortunately I have another 'almost original' version (in fact, it might be the one Junnu versioned). In the 70's I bought a bunch of obscure singles and one of those happened to be "Always Laughing" by Joe Brown (also recorded in 1975). When I first heard it, I immediately fell in love with it, and thought that this warm-hearted song is custom-made for Finnish taste. And I'm happy Junnu discovered this song, too. I don't know how Joe Brown came about to record the song. There's a print on the label of the single saying "adapted from 'The Story of Noss'" . I guess the song has been included in some theatrical play or TV series. Joe Brown was 60's rock'n roll star cutting some top ten hits with his group The Bruvvers. Enjoy and sing along!

Here's the pair: