Un rayo de sol - Säde auringon

Ritva Oksanen had her first solo hit with "Säde auringon" (Ray of the sun) in 1970. In that same year the multi-talented actor/singer also scored big with Ossi Ahlapuro and "Maria Isabel" (see earlier entry) . The original song was composed by our old French friend Daniel Vangarde. This is already 7th finnpicked Vangarde composition. I don't have the original French version (called "Fernando") of the song, but the version that Ritva covered was done in Spain. The group Los Diablos had a massive hit with the spanish version called "Un rayo de sol" (The ray of the sun). The song earned the first Gold Record for this Barcelona band and was THE summer hit of 1970, as the the afore-mentioned "Maria isabel" was in 1969. You can Los Diablos perform the song in early promotional video, here.

Here's the pair:

Maria Isabel - Maria Isabel

Let's enjoy of some summer feelings in the middle of darkest winter. This song makes me always think happy thoughts. Ossi Ahlapuro and Ritva Oksanen recorded "Maria Isabel" in 1970. It was the A-side of the only single they did together. Both Ossi and Ritva were actors, but both also cut several records, primarily in the 70's. Ossi can be called "voice actor". He has given his voice to several animated movie characters and he has often been heard in radio productions. Ritva is an esteemed all-round actor with many appraised performances especially in TV Dramas. The original "Maria Isabel" was THE summer hit in Spain in 1969. It was performed by the group Los Payos, a trio from Sevilla. The song was their big breakthrough and became an anthem in the Spanish discotheques in the tourist resorts, and many tourists bought the single as a souvenir. What was unique in the sound of Los Payos was the combining of flamenco guitar with the normal acoustic pop guitar and spicing it up with flute.

Here's the pair:


p.s. I will now leave for holiday, so no Finnpicks for 2 weeks ...