That's Living Alright - No näinhän se on

The British TV drama comedy series "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" ("Näkemiin vain, muru" in Finnish) was very popular in Finland in the 1980's. Also the theme songs of the series were popular. The group Seitsemän Seinähullua Veljestä recorded one version as "No näinhän se on" (Well, so it is) in 1985. It was released only as a single at the time and the Finnish lyrics were crafted by Juha Vainio. The original song "That's Living Alright" was performed by British singer-songwriter Joe Fagin. The single peaked at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart in 1984. Youcan see Joe perform the song, here. For the 2006 Football World Cup, the song was re-written by Fagin with alternate lyrics to create the song "That's England Alright".

Here's the pair:

Push Push Man - Pus-pus mies

Seitsemän Seinähullua Veljestä (see earlier entry) released the album "Sinne sun tänne ja takaisin" in 1978. It wastheit best-selling album and it aslo produced two hit singles. This "Pus-pus mies" (Kiss-kiss man) was one of the popular album tracks. The lyrics about the 'super-kisser' were crafted by Pertsa Reponen. The original song was called "Push Push Man" and it was a big disco hit for a group called Mafia. It ws most probably a German studio combo, becouse I have not found any information on them, and there were no further hits. The composer of the song was Howard Carpendale,, South African -born singer who made a very successful career in Germany as a schlager singer in the 60's and 70's.

Here's the pair:

Gimme Dat Banana - Banaania poskeen

Seitsemän Seinähullua Veljestä (see previous entry) recorded "Banaania poskeen" (Banana into the mouth) in 1977. It was released as a single and was a big novelty hit. In fact it was one of their biggest hits. The sexually insinuating lyrics done by Pertti Reponen, helped, no doubt about that. The original song "Gimme dat banana" was recorded by a one-off UK band called Black Gorilla in 1977. The single was in the UK charts, but it's highest position was only number 29. The band released on follow-up single and an album, but they didn't sell and no-one has heard of them since. A classic example of one-hit wonders ...

Here's the pair:

Zuppa Romana - Nakit ja muusi

Seitsemän Seinähullua Veljestä (Seven Stone Crazy Brothers) is a group formed by Pentti Oskari Kangas in 1966. It has been very popular comedy act for 40 years now, performing music and comedy bits on stage. The song "Nakit ja muusi" (Sausages with mashed potatoes) was recorded in 1984, and has become one of their most requested songs. The original was done in 1983 by a German group with a peculiar name Schrott nach 8 (meaning "Scrap iron after 8 o'clock") and it was called "Zuppa Romana" (Roman soup). It was their only big hit. The original lyrics consist mainly of the names of well-known Italian dishes, as the Finnish version mixes in some fine examples of the Finnish Cuisine.

Here's the pair: