Kontra's biggest hit, in 1978 was "Jerry Cotton" (see entry here). On the B-side was "Punaisen Paronin paluu" (The Return Of The Red Baron), a sequel to previous year's "Ressu ja punainen paroni" (see entry here). The original song was of course a sequel, too - the follow up to "Snoopy vs the Red Baron" by US band The Royal Guardsmen in 1967 and reaching no. 37 in the charts of that year. This time it wasn't purely an air battle, but Snoopy landed for a 'pistol duel' with the baron.
Arto Sotavalta was only 14 years old when he fronted the group Rattle Sound Five and won second prize in Finnish Battle of the Bands. More success came with the group Rogues in 1966–1969. (This group included future Finnish guitar legend Jukka Tolonen). The first hit for Arto was this song "Löysin rantein" (literally "with limp wrists", a finnish idiom for "take it easy", not to confuse with the homosexual meanings it has in English language world today) recorded in 1967. The original song was Royal Guardsmen's (see yesterdays entry) 3rd and first non-Snoopy single. It was not nearly as successful as the two preceding Snoopy -singles and reached only number 46 in the charts. But for some reason it was picked by the Finns and made to relatively bigger hit here.
In the aftermath of Independence Day and after seeing the war movie "Tuntematon sotilas" (Unknown soldier) for the umpteenth time. this song might well fit in. Pirkka-Pekka Petelius (see previous entry) recorded "Ganjalasta Kajahtaa" (Big noise from Ganjala) in 1993. I guess it must be one of those RUI -records (Recorded Under Influece). Otherwise I cannot understand the parallels between Finnish Marshall of War Mannerheim and Ethopian Emperor Haile Selassie, and references to drugs (Ganja). But perhaps this great reggae version called for those kind of ingredients. BTW, Pirkka-Pekka played one of those unknown soldiers in a later adaption of the above-mentioned movie. The original is this time coming from USA. Royal Guardsmen had a huge hit with "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" in 1966. It's a novelty song about the imaginary World War I antics of Charlie Brown's pet beagle in the Charles Schulz' comic strip Peanuts. The Royal Guardsmen were a rock band from Florida the band adopted their Anglophile name during the British Invasion of the Beatles and others. They achieved their fame with this song, their first single. Snoopy, the Red Baron, and aircraft became a recurring theme in their later songs. Royal Guardsmen are currently experiencing a renewal and have recorded a new Snoopy song, "Snoopy vs. Osama"!
p.s. as requested - I've added the Kontra's version.
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