Give Me Your Heart Tonight - Enemmän kuin nainen

Jarmo "Jamppa" Tuominen had an absolute pitch (a.k.a. perfect pitch). He mastered seven instruments - saxophone being the main istrument - and started his career as musician already at the age of 11 in youth orchestras. His recording career as a singer began in 1976, when he had a massive hit with the song "Aamu toi, ilta vei". We have already presented Jamppa before - as a "guest artist" - here. He recorded this "Enemmän kuin nainen" (More than a woman) in 1985 for his album "Onnenpoika". It was also released as a single, but received not the popularity it deserved. The original song came from UK. "Give Me Your Heart Tonight" was a big hit for Welsh rock/pop singer Shakin' Stevens (b. Michael Barratt)  in 1982. It reached number 3 in the UK chart. Surprisingly perhaps, the writer of the song, Billy Livsey, was American, a Nashville songwriter and producer. You can see Shaky perform the song, here.

66 Finnpicks to go.

Here's the pair:

Non Voglio Mica La Luna - Vie minut pakoon

This entry is dedicated to one of the Italian readers of the blog, who earlier this year send me a list of important Italian songs, whose Finnish covers so far had been omitted. This song was on the top of the list (I have to get back to that list in the future, too). Pirjo Lehti recorded "Vie minut pakoon" (Take me running away) in 1985, for her album "Se on rakkautta oikeaa". For some reason Pirjo never achieved the success that she perhaps deserved. The Finnish lyrics were crafted by Raul Reiman under the pseudonym of Pyry Lunden. The original song was called "Non Voglio Mica La Luna" (I don't want the moon) and it was performed in 1984 by Italian star Fiordaliso (b. Marina Fiordaliso ). To my mind it is one of the best Italian pop songs released in last 30 years. You can see her perform the song in television studio in 1986, here.
 
Here's the pair:
 

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:

You're My Heart, You're My Soul - Ota kii

This song was recorded in Finnish in 7 different versions in 1985. So it must have been a ultra-popular song. Well - it was, but actually none of the Finnish covers - all titled "Ota kii" (lyrics by Chrisse Johansson) - were charted hits. The most played one was done by Meiju Suvas, but I prefer the one by Seija Simola. Alas, I present them both here.  The original "You're My Heart, You're My Soul" was performed by was a German dance pop duo Modern Talking  It consisted of Thomas Anders and Dieter Bohlen, anf they were Germany's most successful pop act of the 80's. They had several hit singles reaching the top 5 all over the world. The studio vocal line up of Rolf Köhler, Michael Scholz and Detlef Wiedeke produced the high choruses characteristic of Modern Talking, but were never credited on their albums, and eventually went to law over the matter."You're My Heart, You're My Soul" was Modern Talking's first hit single and sold eight million copies world-wide. You can see them perform the song, here.

Here's the triplet:

Atmosphere - Voi tätä tunnelmaa

Seija Simola recorded "Voi tätä tunnelmaa" (Oh, what an atmosphere) in 1985, trying to jump in the disco bandwagon. Although the recording is quite good, it did not attract record buying public. The lyrics were provided by Vexi Salmi under the pseudonym of "Antero Ollikainen". The original song was called "Atmosphere" and it was written by British producer and songwriter Ben Findon, who worked especiallkly with Billy Ocean. This disco song, however, was performed by Russ Abbott. He was best known as a TV comedian, winning the British "Funniest Man On Television" award five times. "Atmosphere" was the most successful of his music singles peaking at number 7 in the UK charts. You can see him perform the song, here.

Here's the pair:

Moscow Nights - Moscow Night

Eini (see earlier entry) recorded several disco (or 'synth pop', if you like) tunes in the 80's . One of those was this "Moscow Night" that appeared on her "Eini" album in 1985. Despite the title, the lyrics (by Juha Vainio) were in Finnish. The title of the original song was just a little bit different "Moscow Nights" and was performed by a singer called Anya. She was born Anya Major, and was a British gymnast and model. Her first claim to fame was appearing as "Nikita" in the video to Elton John's song of the same name. Anya's first (and only) single, this "Moscow Nights", had moderate success in Western Europe, but she didn't continue in the music business afterwards.

Here's the pair:

80's Romance - Nykyaikaa

Anja Niskanen (see earlier entry) recorded "Nykyaikaa" (Modern times) for her first album "" in 1985. In the lyrics Anja states " ... I'm young this whole decade". And in the 80's she really was young, but today her voice sounds almost like it was 20 years back, when she tries to make come-back as a group called "Anja" (see here). The original song "80's Romance" was the last single release in 1984 from the all-girl UK rock and disco group The Belle Stars in 1984 before they split up and became a 3-piece. You can see the group perform the song in this rare promotional video, here.

Here's the pair:

Holnap Hajnalig - Kellot käy

Eini (see earlier entry) recorded "Kellot käy" (Clocks are ticking) in 1985 on her album "Eini". (She released two albums with the name "Eini", this is the latter one). It was released also as a single, but didn't actually raise commotion. Anyway, a decent rock-ish disco-pop tune it is. The original was a Hungarian song, which are rarely covered in Finland (see one earlier example here). The song "Holnap Hajnalig" (Tomorrow sunrise) was performed by popular Hungarian pop-rock group Neoton Familia (a.k.a Newton Family), and co-written by group's frontman György Jakab. The goup was the one of the most successful Hungarian pop-bands, during several decades, with various line-ups. It was most active from 1977 to 1989, releasing albums and touring in several countries. You can see the band performing "Holnap Hajnalig" live, here.

Here's the pair:

Live Is Life - Villi yö

Songs of Austrian origin are very rarely covered in Finland (or anywhere else for that matter). We had one example of those in earlier Finnpicks (here), and here is another. Leo Luoto recorded "Villi yö" (Wild night) in 1985- Altogether 6 (!) Finnish versions were made of this same song on that year. Leo's was the only one released as a single. Leo was in the group Kalmar Union in the 70's, and later cut also some solo recordings. He's still actively performing. The original song - called "Live Is Life" - was written and performed by group called Opus. Opus is an Austrian pop-rock group from Graz which was formed in 1973, and is still active today. The band is fine example of 'one hit wonders'. In 1985 they released "Live Is Life" which topped the charts in many countries, and a live recording of the song even made the Top 40 in the USA. Thereafter ... nothing. We present here the live version.

When The Rain Begins To Fall - Nousen kanssas aurinkoon

We end our Finnpicks Disco Week series with the artist that we started with. Eini joined forces with another popular singer Markku Aro (see previous entry) and recoded "Nousen kanssas aurinkoon" (I'll raise into the sun with you) in 1985. It was on her album "Eini" and was not released as a single. The original song "When The Rain Begins To Fall" was recorded by the singers Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora, and released as a single at the end of 1984. Jermaine was of course once in Jackson 5 and he had numerous solo hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Pia Zadora (b. Pia Alfreda Schipani) is an American actress and singer. After work as a child actress on Broadway, Zadora starred with Stacy Keach and Orson Welles in the 1982 film Butterfly, with a plot around father-daughter incest. She won that year's Golden Globe Award as "Best New Star of the Year". She gained success in Europe as a singer, and had several hit singles. This song was one of those and was included in the sci-fi comedy movie Voyage Of the Rock Aliens in which Zadora played a lead role.

Here's the pair:

Barbados - Lellelle

Pirkka-Pekka Petelius released "Lellelle" (For Lelle) in 1985 on a single together with "Tra la la" (see previous entry). It tells about a boy's flight to Kuopio, the capitol of Finnish Savonia to meet his girl Lelle. Flight captain Hujanen plays a prominent (Savonian) role ... The original song tells a story about a bus driver who escapes Brixton, London for the tropical island of "Barbados". It was performed by a group called Typically Tropical. It was not a real performing band but recording studio engineers Jeffrey Calvert and Max West joined with some studio musicians, including guitarist Chris Spedding. Calvert had been on vacation in Jamaica, and wanted to write a Reggae song. This came up with in 2 hours on a guitar and piano, in collaboration with West. Calvert and West provided also the vocals and the latter's Tobias Wilcock was also the hero of "Barbados," as the captain of the Coconut Airways. The song went all the way to number 1 in UK in 1975 but remained their only hit.

Here's the pair:

Acuarela Homosexual - Tra la la

As you have noticed, the Finns prefer to cover European songs, but every now and then we widen our perspectives and pick up something completely different. Let's go to the 80's for awhile and listen to a song made by Finnish comedian, actor, singer, screen writer and director Pirkka-Pekka Petelius. He had a quite successful recording career in the 80's, and one of the most popular songs was "Tra la la" released in 1985. It tells a story of a boy that vehemently denies being a gay, although everybody else think he is one. The word "gay" or similar other expressions are not explicitly said in the lyrics but replaced with "Tra la la". The original came all the way from Argentina. A very popular rock group called Los Twist, famous for playing satirical songs, recorded it in their "Cachetazo al vicio" -album in 1984 and for some reason found its way to Finland. The original title of the song was "Acuarela Homosexual" (Homosexual Watercolor).

Here's the pair: