Glass of Champagne - Lasi samppanjaa

Today is the Independence Day of Finland, and I think we could celebrate it by raising a glass of champagne. Neumann (see earlier entry) recorded "Lasi samppanjaa" (A glass of champagne) in 1992 for his album "Tähti ja meripoika". It was also released as a single, but didn't hit the charts. The original song was called "Glass of Champagne" and it was a smash hit for Sailor. This band was my my favourite band of the 70's and was led by musical genius Georg Kajanus. His biography tells us that he was born in Norway and was the son of a Russian prince and the granddaughter of Finnish composer and conductor Robert Kajanus. Well. I'm nor sure if this is all true, but nevertheless, Kajanus's music is superb. The three first Sailor albums in the 70's are all my favourites and one can only wonder why there are only couple of finnpicked Sailor songs. Tomorrow I will present an other one ... You can see Sailor perform the "Champagne" song, here.

Here's the pair:

'39 - '39

Neumann (see earlier entry) was bold enough to cover Queen. On his first solo Album "Albion" (1986) was this "'39". It was of course a cover of the song of the same from Queen's classic "A Night At The Opera" album released in 1975. It was Brian May's composition and the song's lyrics tell about an astronaut who travels to a distant place at near the speed of light. Because of the time dilation that takes place, he returns home 100 years later, but he has aged only a year but his wife has long passed on and he is about the same age as his grandchildren.

Here's the pair:

For My Lady - Naiselleni

Pertti Nieminen - better known as Neumann - was the lead singer in the legendary Finnish pop group Dingo. During his solo career he in 1986 recorded "Naiselleni" (For my woman). It was a considerable success, not only becouse of Neumann's Dingo-based fame but also on the count of the beautiful melody and the lyrics written by Neumann himself. It also remained as his biggest solo hit. Neumann is still actively performing with a new line-up of Dingo. The original song was performed by The Moody Blues and was written by group-member and flautist Ray Thomas. It was first released on the 1972 album Seventh Sojourn and later released on the B-side of the single "I'm Just a Singer" in 1973. The song prominently features Ray Thomas on the flute and lead vocals. BTW, The Moody Blues can only perform the song live when they are backed by a live orchestra, since Ray Thomas cannot sing and play the flute at the same time.

Here's the pair: