Help (Get Me Some Help) - Taas laulu kun soi

We have presented a long line of Finnish male singers with single-first-name-in-english monikers; Danny, Johnny, Robin, Dave ... Now it's time to introduce Peter. (b. Pekka Parviainen). He recorded only three singles in 1969-1972, and none of them was any great success. Which is a pity, because at least this last one of those three "Taas laulu kun soi" (When there's songs played again) in 1972 deserved to be a hit. The original came from Spain. "Help Get Me Some Help" (originally "Help! ayúdame!") was a worldwide hit in for Tony Ronald. Tony was born as Siegfried Andre Den Boer Kramer in Holland but moved in the 60's to Spain (Barcelona). In 1971 he had his breakthrough with winning a Spanish song festival in Tenerife and recording this song composed by his (and ours, see earlier entry) friend Daniel Vangarde.

Here's the pair:

Manuel Goodbye - Tavataanko taas

This time we present a piece of music that recent years has been labeled as 'Eurotrash'. This is from the 80's, a decade of pre-Eurotrash. Well, trash or not, hugely popular this kind of music was. Eini recorded "Tavataanko taas" (Should we meet again) in 1983 for her album "Aika pakkaus". It was not released a single, but it has some staying power anyway. The original song was of German production and was performed by US actress and singer Audrey Landers (b. Audrey Hamburg). This ong was her first big hit and she has earned 10 gold singles, 4 gold albums and 2 platinum albums (mainly in Europe) since. However, Audrey is probably best known for playing the role of Afton Cooper in the television soap opera 'Dallas' from 1981 to 1984.

Here's the pair:

Coconuts From Congoville - Ihanaa Elämää

Where's Danny, there's Johnny - at least when it comes to covering 60's & 70's pop. Johnny recorded "Ihanaa elämää" (Wonderful life) in 1973 and it was one of the last big successes for him. The original song was called "Coconuts From Congoville", and it was a big Euro-continental hit for the group Soulful Dynamics. The group was founded in the mid-1960's as Dynamic Club in Liberia, Africa. In 1969 they moved to Hamburg Germany and recorded several Euro hits with the concept "funny pop songs from the black continent".

Here's the pair:

Secret Agent Man - Vaaksa vaaraa vain

One of the smaller scale hits - now long forgotten - for Danny was "Vaaksa vaaraa vain" (Just a hint of danger) in 1966. The original song "Secret Agent Man" was written by famous US songsmiths Steve Barri and P.F. Sloan. The most famous recording - and biggest seller - was made by Johnny Rivers (b. John Henry Ramistella). It was used for the opening titles of the American broadcast of the British TV series 'Danger Man'. The tune was inspired by the familiar James Bond theme.

Here's the pair:

Borriquito - Borriquito

It seems that the blog has had a lot of "listeners". My DivShare monthly bandwidth has been exceeded, thanks to you ;-). It shall be reset sometimes after the 8th of October.

Mimmi Mustakallio (b. Raija Tuula Mustakallio) cut two well-received singles in the beginning of the 70's. This is first one, released in 1971, and called "Borriquito". Mimmi performed usually Spanish songs, especially flamencos. "Borriquito" was originally Catalonian rhumba, and a smash hit for a guy called Peret (b, Pedro Pubill)."Borriquito" is the diminutive for "burro" (donkey), and the song of course tells a story of a man and his little donkey.

Here's the pair:

I Can't Explain - En tahdo selittää

Now is the time to re-open the treasure box of covers of the group Clifters (see earlier entry), . In 1987 they recorded "En tahdo selittää" (I don't want to explain). It was on their album "Kuningas" (The King). The original rocker was "I Can't Explain", the first single of the legendary mod and rock group The Who. They had released singles ealier (as the High Numbers), but this was their first as The Who. And it was a great success and breakthrough for them.

Here's the pair:

Partie de dames - Entinen jää

Now we can listen how a Finnish ye-ye girl interprets the song of another ye-ye girl. Kristiina Hautala recorded "Entinen jää" (The past is left behind) in 1967 and it was released on the flip side of the single "Kenen syy, kenen syy" - Finnpicked earlier, here. The original, "Partie de dames", was performed by Liz Brady of France. Liz Brady’s image was a complete fabrication. To create a cool Carnaby Street edge image for her, her French record label gave her an English-sounding stage name and a false English heritage (six years were also trimmed from Liz’s age). In reality, she was born as Raymonde Fleurat in Heliopolis, in Egypt. Despite the effort Liz never reached the big stardom, but eventually make some good records, like this "Partie de dames".

Here's the pair:

An Old Fashioned Love Song - Vanha rakkauslaulu

As another entry in our "Both Sides Now" we now present Dave's "Vanha rakkauslaulu" (An old love song), on the B-side of yesterday's Finnpick "Rosy". It is a good song and decent cover as such, but the "Rosy" was the biger hit of the pair. The original song "An Old Fashioned Love Song" was penned by famous US composer and musician Paul Williams for the rock group Three Dog Night. It was culled as the first single from their 1971 album Harmony. The song peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Paul Williams also recorded his own version of the song on his album "An Old Fashioned Love Song" in the same year of 1971.

Here's the pair: