Morningtown Ride - Matka aamun kaupunkiin

Erkki Liikanen started his recording career in the 60's, but his single releases were not very succesful at the time. This "Matka aamun kaupunkiin" (The ride to morningtown) was his 6th single and was released in 1967. The Finnish lyrics were done by Jussi Raittinen, a popular pop/rock artist, and the arrangements by Aarno Raninen, also a singing artist in his own right. The original song was a lullaby written by American folk legend Malvina Reynolds (finnpicked earlier, see here) in 1957. However she didn't record it herself until 1970. The first recording was made by the folk group Limeliters in 1962 for their live album "Through Children's Eyes". It was later recorded by The Seekers and released on their 1964 album "Hide and Seekers". For some reason, it wasn't released as a single until 1966, when it became international hit for them. You can see them perform the song, here.

Just 25 Finnpicks to go.

Here's the triplet:

Walk With Me - Päivän vain

Anki Lindqvist recorded "Päivän vain" (For only a day) for her album "Sateen jälkeen" in 1967. For some reason the song was never released as a single. Two other Finnish versions of the same song were released in that same year. But none of those became a hit. The Finnish lyrics (used by all three) were provided by Juha Vainio. The original song "Walk With Me" was written by singer-songwriter and producer Tom "Dusty's Brother" Springfield. The Seekers had a big hit with it in 1966. It peaked at 10 in the UK and at 31 in Australia in October of 1966. In January 1967 The Seekers achievements were recognised at the highest level in their homeland when they were named Australians of the Year, becoming the first popular musicians to be so honoured.

37 Finnpicks to go.

Here's the pair:

Red Rubber Ball - Punainen kuu

One of the lesser known Finnish 'trucker songs' is "Punainen kuu" (Red moon) that Rexi (see earlier entry) recorded in 1977. It was released on his "Puhtaat purjeet" -album. The lyrics and arrangements were done by two known professionals, Raul Reiman and Jori Sivonen respectively. There's no moon in the original song "Red Rubber Ball"; the 'ball' is the sun ("The mornin' sun is shinin' like a red rubber ball") The song is in a way extraordinary, becouse it seems to be the only Paul Simon song that Simon & Garfunkel didn't record themselves at the time. The song became a big hit (number 2 in the Billboard Hot 100) in the 1966 as a version recorded by US band The Cyrkle. They had one other Top 20 hit and faded quickly out of fame, disbanding in 1967. "Red Rubber Ball" was actually co-written by Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley of The Seekers. And The Seekers also recorded it for their 1966 album Come the Day. We present here the Cyrkle's hit version and a rare live version by Simon & Garfunkle, with Art Garfunkel commenting on the song in the introduction.

Updated on 18.09.2009: Added Seekers' version

Here's the quadruplet: