Brother and sister duo Kirka ja Anna (Babitzin) released one album, in 1978. "Siitäs sait" (There you have it) was one of the album tracks, and it was also released on the B-side of their single "Sinut haluan vain" (finnpicked earlier, see here) The Finnish lyrics were written by Pertti "Pertsa" Reponen. The original song "It's Your Life" was Smokie's follow-up single to "Lay Back ..." and became another UK Top 10 hit in summer of 1977. You can see Smokie perform the song here.
Yesterday we had three Finnish brothers singing, today we have brother ans sister duo Anna & Kirka Babitzin. They recorded an album called "Anna & Kirka" in 1978. "Hei kuka" (Hey, who?) was one of the album tracks. As with yesterday's finnpick, the lyrics were written by Pertsa Reponen. The original song was co-written by Frederick "Freddie" Perren, who was a famous American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor. In the mid and late 70s, Perren found big success writing and producing such mega-hits as "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor and this "Whodunit" by the Tavares (number 1 R&B hit in 1977). Tavares was an American soul band founded already in 1963. It consisted of 5 Tavares bothers Feliciano, Arthur, Perry, Antone and Ralph. You can see the band perform this song, here. The word "whodunit" (for "Who['s] done it?") is derived from the world of detective stories. "Whodunit" is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is the main feature of interest. Ellery Queen (USA) and Olavi Susikoski (Finland), famous detectives in their respective countries, are referred in the songs lyrics.
Kirka recorded several songs with his brothers and sisters. Together with his kid sister Anna Babitzin he recorded an album "Anna & Kirka" in 1978. One of the tracks was "Öiseen aikaan" (At nighttime). The lyrics were by Pertsa Reponen and the arrangement by Kalervo "Kassu" Halonen. The original song "Nighttime (I'm A Lover)" was made popular by American pop-rock group Tommy James (b. Thomas Gregory Jackson) and The Shondells . The band was initially formed in 1959 as Tom and the Tornadoes, with the then only 12-year-old Tommy Jackson as lead singer. In 1963, Jackson re-named the band The Shondells because the name "sounded good". "Nighttime" was on their 1968 album "Mony, Mony", whose title track was monster hit for the group.
Kirka had two singing kid sisters, Marija a.k.a Muska (see ealier entry), and Anna, who, together with brother Kirka, recorded "Sinut haluan vain" (You're the only one I want) in 1978. It was a quite a big hit at the time. The lyrics were made by Pertsa Reponen and the arrangements by Veikko Samuli. And the result was quality work all the way. The original song was worldwide hit for Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. It was included in the soundtrack of the movie "Grease" in 1978. The song and the movie of course contributed on each other's success. You can see the Olivia and John perform it in the movie, here. On the more lighter side (if that's possible ;-)), here's a hilarious Finnish version of the song, from a popular TV show.
Kirka recorded several songs with another members of Babitzin family. In 1977 he joined forces with little sister Anna, and as Kirka & Anna they cut single "Cindy", which also a was minor hit for the duo. The original song was also called "Cindy" and was the biggest hit (1977) for Swiss pop trio Peter, Sue & Marc. The song was written by the group member Peter (Reber). P, S & M were came from Bern, consisting of Peter Reber , Sue Schell and Marc Dietrich. Stylistically, the group is hard to classify, becouse their songs combine elements of rock, pop, folk, country and chanson. Peter, Sue & Marc are the only participants in the Eurovision Song Contest in four different languages (1971-French, 1976-English; 1979-German; 1981-Italian) for their country.
Posts
