Oh Lonesame Me - Tänään on sunnuntai

This Finnpick is very 'up-to-date', simply because it's called "Tänään on sunnuntai" (Today is Sunday). Tuula Siponius recorded the song on 1960, and it was released on the B-side of her hit single "Tom Pillibi". The arranger and the conductor of the backing orchestra was Jaakko Borg. The Finnish lyrics were written by Reino Helismaa using one of his many pseudonyms, Rauni Kouta. The original song "Oh Lonesame Me" was written and performed by country legend Don Gibson, with Chet Atkins producing in 1958. The song topped the US country chart and reached number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was one of the all-time greatest, because on the B-side was "I Can't Stop Loving You", that became massive success for Ray Charles 4 years later. You can see Don perform "Oh Lonesame Me", here.

43 Finnpicks to go.

Here's the pair:

Souvenirs - Matkamuistoja

As I kind of promised yesterday, here's another FInnish cover of Barbara Evans' song. Tuula Siponius recorded "Matkamuistoja" (Souvenirs) in 1960. It was released as a single and on an epnymous EP. Tuula started her singing career very young, performing in the popular children radio programme of 'Uncle Markus' when she was five. She had a couple of hits in the late 50's but never really broke through. As in the original song, also the Finnish lyrics dealt with collecting memorabilia of the celebrities. On those days It was very rare to name the names of real living people in the lyrics of a pop song. The original Barbara Evans song "Souvenirs" was released in 1959 and although it never teached Billboard Hot 100 charts in USA, it became very popular in Europe through several local language versions.

Here's the pair:

Mustapha - Mustapha

The song "Mustapha" was very popular in Finland in 1960. Jussi & Eero Raittinen made a version for their debut single, but we present here the 'female version' by Brita Koivunen. The Finnish lyrics were provided by Kari Tuomisaari. The original song was an Egyptian traditional folk song adapted by Bob Azzam & His Orchestra (finnpicked before, see here).  The song was number 1 in France in 1960 and was popular all around Europe.

Here's the pair:

Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport - Katso kenguru loikkaa

We continue with the theme Aspelund and Australia. Yesterday Ami Aspelund sang about boomerang, today her big sister Monica sings about kangaroo. Monika Aspelund (see earlier entry) recorded "Katso kenguru loikkaa" (See the kangaroo jump) in 1960 together with vocal group Four Cats. It was her first single and she was only 14 years old. The original song was called "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport " and it was a smash hit for Australian all-round entertainer and singer Rolf Harris. Rolf wrote it in 1957 - inspired by Harry Belafonte's calypsos - as an Australian calypso . The song was number 1 for four weeks in Australia in 1960 and  and reached the top 10 in UK.

Here's the pair:

El Paso - El Paso

Next stop in Finnpicks Grand Tour of USA is El Paso, Texas. Tapani Rautavaara - with vocal group Neloset - recorded "El Paso" in 1960, and it was released as a single on the flipside of "Toverukset" (see earlier entry). Reino Helismaa, who was especially famous for his western songs, provided the Finnish lyrics. The original "El Paso" was written and performed by Marty Robbins, and was first released on his album "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs" in 1959. It was released as a single, and became a major hit on both the country and pop music charts, reaching number one in both at the start of 1960. It won the Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording in 1961. Marty's western ballads were eagerly covered in Finland (one example is here). The Texan city of El Paso stands on the Rio Grande, across the border from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. The two cities form a combined international metropolitan area, sometimes called Juarez-El Paso.


Here's the pair:

He'll Have To Go - Hän poistukoon

For some reason, Seppo Pirhonen did not really make it. He recorded altogether 22 songs in two years in 1960-1961, but none of those hit the upper regions of charts. In 1962 he turned 20 and after serving in army, he quit recording. The extraordinary feature in Seppo's recordings was that the orchestral backing originated from Sweden. He recorded same songs as Swedish schlager singer Gunnar Wiklund and they used the same backing tracks. This goes also for this finnpick "Hän poistukoon" (He should go) in 1960; Wiklund recorded the Swedish version as "Han måste gå". The original version "He'll Have To Go" was a big country-pop hit for Jim Reeves in 1959. Jim made his breakthrough one night in 1952, when Hank Williams failed to make an appearance on the show, and Reeves sang in his place. Reeves was at the height of his career when his private plane crashed outside of Nashville in 1964.

Here's the pair:

Papa aime maman - Isä tykkää äidistä

This is a start of "Finnpicks for Kids" -week. We present some songs for the kids, by the kids, and of the kids. We begin with a song called "Isä tykkää äidistä" (Father likes mother), recorded in 1960 by Per-Erik "Pärre" Förars (see earlier entry) with the help of Pikku-Kati (b. Kati Borg). Pärre was already an established and popular schlager singer at the time. And in a way Pikku-Kati (Li'l Kati) was, too. The young lady had done one previous recording in 1958; a duet with Kauko Käyhkö. In the end of the 60's Kati continued her singing career and joined the group Ernos. And in fact that's her singing on yesterday's finnpick! Presently she's working as a sexual therapist, and consulting how fathers can better like/love mothers ;-). The original finnpicked song was of French origin. "Papa aime maman" (Papa loves mama) was written by French orchestra leader and musician Jo Moutet (b. Joseph Moutet). He had a Euro -hit with the song in 1960 under the moniker "Le group J.M.S." (perhaps J.M.S. means Jo Moutet Singers?). However, I guess the song arrived in Finland via Sweden, where Lars Lönndahl and his daughter Anita made Swedish version "Pappa Älskar Mamma". You can see the J.M.S -group perform this song in an early Scopitone movie, here.

Here's the pair:

Partners - Toverukset

Tapio Rautavaara (see earlier entry) recorded "Toverukset" (Comrades) in 1960 with vocal group Neloset (see earlier entry). The song suits well to Tapio's manly voice, and the lyrics, too. It tells about the search of gold, partnership and greediness. As did the original, a country song named "Partners" (lyrics here), that was a lesser known song of famous US pop and country singer Jim Reeves. Known as Gentleman Jim, his songs have continued to chart again and again after his death at the age of 40 in a airplane crash in 1964.

Here's the pair:

The Girl In The Wood - Tyttö metsässä

The legendary Finnish crooner Olavi Virta (see previous entry) probably recorded more covers in the 50' than other Finnish artists combined. One of Olavi's better known songs from those years is "Tyttö metsässä" (Girl in the wood"), released as a single in 1960. The song is also credited to the backing vocal group Nordias. The original song was sung by Frankie Laine (b. Francesco Paolo LoVecchio) in 1951. It was written by Terry Gilkyson, who later wrote the classic "Greenfields". Frankie Laine is perhaps best known for singing well-known theme songs for many Western movies. However, he was not a country & western singer, but rather a singer's singer who sang in variety of song styles and genres, stretching from big band crooning to pop to gospel, to rock, to folk, to jazz and blues, all delivered in his inimitable singing style.

Here's the pair:

Everybody's Somebody's Fool - Pajunköyttä

Since today is the April Fools' Day I present song that has a title well suited for occasion. Laila Kinnunen (see previous entry) recorded "Pajunköyttä" (literally 'wicker rope'; 'giving someone wicker rope' is a finnish idiom for fooling others) in 1960. It was released as a single, but it was shadowed by the success of the A-side "Pikku pikku bikinissä" (In wee wee bikinis), which in turn was the cover of "Itsy-Bitsy Teenie-Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini". The original 'Fooling' -song was called "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and was performed by our finnpicked artist of yesterday - Connie Francis. The song was written by professional songsmiths Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller. It was a big hit for Connie and went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1960. It was Francis' first number-one single in the United States.

Here's the pair:

Pajunköyttä - Laila Kinnunen
Everybody's Somebody's Fool - Connie Francis

Adam And Eve - Kuinka rakkaus alkoi

Pirkko Mannola was crowned Miss Finland in February 1958. In that same year she came 4th runner-up in Miss Europe paget. And in no time she was also a singing pop star recording her first single in that same year. In the following year she amde her first movie and couple of years later she was voted as The Best Finnish Film Actress. It really was happening for Pirkko. With a slightly mofified name Pirko Manola she also cut records in Germany. As it happens, in 1962 she was in the national preliminaries of Eurovision Song Contest for both Finland (as soloist) and Germany (duetting with Wyn Hoop). Pirkko recorded "Kuinka rakkaus alkoi"(How the loving started) in 1960. She recorded quite a bunch of covers in those days, so I guess we will hear more of her in future Finnpicks. The original was totally Paul Anka's song, sung and written by him. Paul was as popular in Finland those days a he was all over the world. And his songs were quickly finn-covered. This "Adam And Eve" was not one of his megahits, becouse it was hidden in the B-side of "Puppy Love" released in 1960.

Here's the pair:

Ta pedia tou Pirea - Ei koskaan sunnuntaisin

The previous entry contained a song about Melina Mercouri. So it is most appropriate now to present a song sung by her. Vieno Kekkonen started her recording career in 1955 with the Finnish version of "Mr. Sandman". She was very active performing and recording in the 50's, being among the most popular Finnish artists for a long time. She recorded "Ei koskaan sunnuntaisin" (Never on sundays) in 1960. It was naturally a big hit, becouse of the success of the movie the song came from. And the movie was "Pote Tin Kyriaki") a 1960 Greek film which tells the story of Ilya, a prostitute who lives in the port of Piraeus in Greece, and Homer, an American tourist. The film starred Melina Mercouri who sang also this signature song "Ta pedia tou Pirea" (The children of Piraeus). The song and the bouzouki theme of the movie became hits of 1960s and Manos Hadjidakis, the composer, got an Oscar. The movie got an English title "Never on sundays" and the signature song was recorded by a multitude of artists. The English language version made by Connie Francis (b. Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ) in 1961 became an international hit.
Here's the triple:

Big Iron - Kostaja

The second song in our series 'Finnish Wild West In Song' is "Kostaja" (The Avenger). It was recorded by vocal group Kukonpojat and released as a single in 1960. The name Kukonpojat means something like 'Young Roosters", and it was clearly a better choice of moniker for the group that started as The Chickens. At the time there were quite a few aspiring vocal groups in Finland who got their style from popular US groups like Kingston Trio or Brothers Four. This same song was also recorded by their rival group Neloset in the same year. Some members of Kukonpojat - like Jukka Kuoppamäki and Georg Dolivo - did later succesful career in other groups and as solo artists. The original song "Big Iron" is written and performed by C&W singer Marty Robbins (real name Martin David Robinson). It was first released as an album track on his 'Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs' in September 1959. The song tells a story of a gunfight duel between the shady hero and an outlaw named Texas Red.

Updated on 17.11.2009: added Frederik's version (1971).

Here's the triplet:

Guarda che luna - Hopeinen kuu

Perhaps the most famous Finnish singer of all times has been Olavi Virta. His most productive time period was in the 50's, when he was not only recording and performing but also acting in starring role in several movies. The song that always makes us to remember Olavi Virta is "Hopeinen kuu" (The silvery moon). He recorded it in 1960 with the background singing group Nordias. I guess the majority of Finns know the words and melody of this song by heart. The original 'moon' -song was sung by Italian legendary singer and actor Fred Buscaglione (or just 'Fred') in 1958 and it was called "Guarda che luna" (Look at the moon). Fred was killed in a car accident in 1960, when he was only 39 years old.

Here's the pair: