Ventura Highway - Ei siinä mitään

We now continue our Finnpicks Grand Tour of USA, that was interrupted a couple weeks ago. This is the last leg, cruising the western part of the North American continent. The pop band Kalmar Union (see earlier entry) recorded "Ei siinä mitään" (It doesn't matter) for their sole album in 1973. It was not released as a single. The original song was called "Ventura Highway" and it was one of the hits for the band America. The writer and vocalist is band member Dewey Bunnell, who has said that the song has the most lasting power of all the songs he has written. The song went to number 8 on the Billboard Top 40 Pop Charts in 1972. Actually there is no "Ventura Highway", but it's the first part - from Los Angeles to the city of Ventura - of the U.S. Route 101 (US 101), which is one of the last remaining and longest U.S. Routes still active in California state, and the longest highway of any kind in California.

Here's the pair:

Randy - Ändy

As Reijo Karvonen yesterday, the pop group Kalmar Union is a newcomer to Finnpicks. The group released this "Ändy" in 1973 as a single together with the cover of Tremeloes' "Hello Budy". The single was not a commercial success, neither the band. Two members of the band later enjoyed some success as solo artists, and have been presented frequently in Finnpicks; Leo Luoto (bass, lead vocals) and Seppo Närhi (keyboards, vocals) The original Kalmar Union (Kalmarunionen) was a series of personal unions, that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (including Finland) under a single monarch in 1397–1523. The original "Ändy" was "Randy", and it was the last hit for British pop group Blue Mink in 1973. Blue Mink was quite popular in UK in the start of 70's scoring 6 Top 20 hits. Most of their hit songs were written by our old friends Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. Cook was also a singer in the group. The lead singer was, however, Madeline Bell, who later made also a successful solo career.

Here's the pair: