Love Is Me, Love Is You - Kenen syy, kenen syy

Kristiina Hautala (see previous entry) recorded "Kenen syy, kenen syy" (Who's to blame, who's to blame) on the last day of the year 1966. It was released as a single and was quite a big hit for her in 1967. As you can hear from this performance, Kristiina was the real Finnish "ye-ye girl". Although this moniker was of course not used those days. The original song was written by famous UK songsmith and orchestra leader Tony Hatch. There were two versions recorded in 1966 and I'm not sure which one is the original. Probably it is the one done by Tony's wife Jackie Trent, but my guess is that Finnish cover was based on the version by Connie Francis. Connie (real name Concetta Rosemarie Franconero) has been called "The most popular female entertainer of the rock and roll era". I don't know about that, but he was an exceptionally international star (she recorded and performed worldwide in 15 different languages) and some kind of role model for teenage girl in her music and movies.

Updated on 27.10.2009: Added Jackie Trent's version (or original?).

Here's the pair:

My Love - Rakkauteni

Laila Kinnunen was the female pop artist most in demand, in the end of 50's and in the first half of the 60's. In addition to recordings she appeared in numerous TV shows performing songs that never were released on record. Fortunately some of those TV Show appearances have been recorded and restored, and have been recently published on CD. The song "Rakkauteni" (My love) was one of those (probably from the year 1966). One can only wonder why it was never released as a single at the time, becouse it certainly would have been worth it. The original "My Love" was penned by Tony Hatch and sung by Petula Clark. It was released in 1965 and eventually went all the way to number one in USA. Petula was initially a British child star. During World War II she became known as "Britain's Shirley Temple" and a mascot for the British Army, whose troops plastered her photos on their tanks for luck as they advanced into battle. Later in the 60's she of course became an international pop superstar.

Here's the pair: