Good Grief Christina - On siitä aikaa

One of the completely forgotten Koivistolaiset (see earlier entry) songs is this "On siitä aikaa" (It's been a long time). They recorded it in 1973 but it went nowhere chartwise. The Finnish lyrics were provided by Vexi Salmi. The original song was called "Good Grief Christina" and it was a Top 20 Uk hit in 1973 for Chicory Tip.  The song was written - as was their number one hit "Son Of My Father" - by Giorgio Moroder.
77 Finnpicks to go.

Here's the pair:

Der Pariser tango - Pariisin tango

In our recurrent series 'Both sides Now' - here's "Pariisin tango" (Tango of Paris), the A-side of the yesterday's Finnpicked song by Koivistolaiset. This tango fared popularity-wise better than the disco tune. The Finns are 'tango people' - you see. Like the one on the flip side, the original song was of German origin. It was written by famous schlager composer Christian Bruhn (his 'Liebeskummer lohnt sich nicht' previously Finnpicked here). It became a big European hit for Mireille Matthieu in 1971-1972.

Here's the pair:

Mr. Giant Man - Jättiläinen

Let's continue a while with Koivistolaiset. It was a duo of two sisters - Anja and Anneli Koivisto. They began in the 60's basically as background dancers. For awhile they seemed to be "official go-go dancers of Finland". Whenever the TV music shows included background dancing, you'd bet Koivistolaiset were in it. Later they widened their repertoire and started singing. They represented Finland in the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Tie uuteen päivään" together with Markku Aro. In 1972 they recorded "Jättiläinen" (Giant), playing quite minor role compared to the unknown vocal talents of "Jättiläinen". The original song was co-written by famous German bandleader and composer/musician James Last (b. Hans Last). It was published the 1971 album "Voodoo-Party" that was released under name James Last, but I guess his role was only in producing the record. Around 1970 the James Last Orchestra's rhythm section was reorganized as a rock group, and this album was done by that formation. The drummer Barry Roy Reeves and the bassist Benny Bendorff were co-writers of this "Mr. Giant Man" song.

Here's the pair:

Meu limão, meu limoeiro - Limon limonero

Lasse Mårtenson (see earlier entry) recorded "Limon limonero" in 1969 together with dance and vocal duo Koivistolaiset. It was a sizeable summer hit in that year. At those days few people realized that this song wass in fact based on the same Brazilian song "Meu limão, meu limoeiro" as yesterday's Finnpick 'Lemon Tree'. In Brazil the old song was given new life by Wilson Simonal who was a very successful Brazilian singer in the 60s and 70s. The song is credited to his producer Carlos Imperial, but as we have learned the roots of the song are deep in the Brazilian music tradition. Subsequently the Simonal's song found it's way in to Europe and it was a big hit, especially in Spain, in 1968, as the version performed by Henry Stephen. And I guess that's the one our Lasse covered. Henry August Stephen Pierre was one of the pioneers of rock in Venezuela, fronting the 'Los Impala' rock band, before launching solo career in 1966. "Mi Limon Mi Limonero" as his Spanish language version of "Meu limão, meu limoeiro" was called, was his biggest international success. You can see him perform it, here.

Here's the triplet: