Soul Dance - Hippojen jälkeen

As the New Year parties should now be over, this song "Hippojen jälkeen" (After the party) is well in place, And at the same time we start the 2011 Finnpicks Year with style. This 1964 song was recorded by a group of the Finnish finest 60's singers. Eino Grön, Vieno Kekkonen, Laila Kinnunen, Brita Koivunen and Kai Lind - all presented in the earlier Finnpicks entries - sing this song with immacukate style. The original tune was called "Soul Dance" and was performed by Tommy Leonetti (b. Nicola Tomaso Lionetti). Tommy was an American pop singer-songwriter and actor of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970, who had no big hits.. This "Soul Dance" bubbled under Billboard Hot 100 in the beginning of 1964.

Here's the pair:

Number One - Ykkönen

This song was one of my top favourites in 60's. Kai Lind (see earlier entry) recorded "Ykkönen" (One) in 1963 and it was released as a single. However, the succes didn't match the one with the original. That was an Swedish import called "Number One" and was performed by Jerry Williams (real name Erik Fernström). At the beginning of 60's Jerry was the lead singer in the group The Violents (known in Finland for their "Twistin' Patricia -hit), but soon launched his very succesful solo career. He performed quite energetic stage act, and earned a nick name "Mr. Dynamite". Although his rockn'roll days are way over, Jerry obviously can't slow down, becouse in 2000 he released an album with the name "Can't Slow Down", and it sold gold within a month.

Here's the pair:

A Lovers Concerto - Aamukonsertto

Kai Lind (see earlier entry) recorded "Aamukonsertto" (Morning concerto) in 1966. It was the B-side to little hit single "Kristiina, Kristiina". Kai was recording freqently in the beginning of the 60's - this was his single number 27 - but his popularity was already fading. The original song was called "A Lovers Concerto" and it was a huge hit in 1965 for US girl group The Toys. It was written by American songwriters Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell and it was based on the familiar "Minuet in G major" from Johann Sebastian Bach's "1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach" (the composition is today usually attributed to Christian Petzold). One key difference is that the "Minuet in G major" is written in 3/4 time, whereas "A Lover's Concerto" is arranged in 4/4 time.

Here's the pair:

Putti Putti - Putti putti

At the time this song was recorded nobody would call it "bubblegum", but that's what it was. Kai Lind was a member in the most famous Finnish vocal group Four Cats (see earlier entry). In the beginning of 60's he launched also a succesful solo career. "Putti putti" was released as single in 1961. The originals song was written and performed by New Zealand -born Jay Epae (b. Nicholas Epae). He emigrated to USA in 1957 and tried to make it as a professional boxer. But after some injuries he turned to pop music. "Putti Putti" was on the b-side of his first single released in 1960. It didn't sell in USA but became big hit in Scandinavia, mainly becouse the freshly started (March 1961) pirate radio station Radio Nord kept playing it, and, of course, becouse the lyrics (in maori language) sounded so funny. Here you can see Vesa-Matti Loiri (see earlier finnpick) performing a parody version of the song in TV.

Here's the pair: