My Toot Toot - Tuut Tuut

Anita Hirvonen recorded "Tuut Tuut" in 1986 for his album "Anna aikaa rakkaudelle". It was also released as a single but - for some reason - Anita didn't score with it. The original song "My Toot Toot" was written and first recorded by an American R&B, zydeco, and soul musician Sidney Simien aka Rockin' Sidney. He began recording in the late 1950s, but his big moment came in 1984 when "My Toot Toot" made him internationally known. Sidney released it on his third album "My Zydeco Shoes Got the Zydeco Blues". "My Toot Toot" became a national and international million-selling hit and it was the first zydeco record to get major airplay on pop, rock and country radio stations. You can see Sidney perform the song, here. American R&B and soul singer Denise LaSalle made a version (that must have inpired Anita), and made the UK Singles Chart reaching number 6. You can hear her version, here.

Here's the pair:

Ready For The Times To Get Better - Olen valmis aikoihin parempiin

Now it's time to switch from past to the future. The next couple of Finnpicks deal with the songs that look into future. Anita Hirvonen recorded "Olen valmis aikoihin parempiin" (I'm ready for better times) in 1977 for her album "Sydän rakastaa". It remained only an album track, but is well worth of reviewing, like many of Anita' songs. The lyrics were provided by Chrise Johansson. The original song was called "Ready For The Times To Get Better", and it was a sizeable hit (not in Finland, though) for American country singer Crystal Gayle. It was Gayle's fourth number one on the US country singles chart. The song hit the number one in 1978, so Anita was obviously well ahead of time to record it already in the previous year. Or, Crystal's version is not the original. Well, nevertheless, both versions are excellent, and the song has one of those haunted melody lines that you want to listen to over and over again.

Here's the pair:

Lady Bump - Lady Bump

Anita Hirvonen recorded "Lady Bump" in 1976 and it was released as a single on the flip side of Abba cover "Mamma Mia". The lyrics were provided by Chrisse Johansson. In the same year also vocal duo Koivistolaiset made their version of the song, and interestingly, it was on the flip side of another Abba cover "S.O.S". The original "Lady Bump" came from German disco scene. Penny McLean (born Gertrude Wirschinger, in Austria) had a smash hit with it in 1975. Penny was at the time also a member in the succesful German vocal trio Silver Convention. The song was produced by Michael Kunze, who wrote also the lyrics (as pseudonym Stephan Prager) and arranged by Sylvester Levay, who in turn composed "Lady Bump". You can see Penny perform the song, here.

Here's the pair:

Do You Love Me - Tule luoksein

Here's the 'smooch song' that was very popular in the 70's, but rarely heard anywhere nowadays. Anita Hirvonen recorded a version of it in 1976 with the title "Tule luoksein". For some reason it didn't gain much attention. Neither did the versions by Jukka Kuoppmäki and Danny in the previous year. The original was called "Do You Love Me" and it was written and performed by Algerian artist Sharif Dean. His real name was Sharafeddinne Kharroubi, and he was born in Casablanca, but soon moved to Paris and later to Brussels where he studied in university and started his singing career. This song was his second single and it became the first Belgian record to top the Dutch charts. The female vocals in the song are done by Belgian session singer Eveline D'Haese. You can see the song performed, here.


Here's the pair:

Amor con amor se paga - Sydän rakastaa

"Sydän rakastaa" is fine track from Anita Hirvonen's eponymous album released in 1977. This album was released in CD -form in the 90's and it's possible that the version we present here is re-recorded for that album. Anyhow, it's an enchanting love song and Anita's performance is one of her best. The touching lyrics are by Chrisse Johansson. The original song was called "Amor con amor se paga" (Love's paid with love) and it was written and recorded by Ricardo Ceratto. Born in Santa Fe, Argentina, Ricardo was succesful artist nationally in the beginning of the 70's, but became known internationally when he moved to Mexico and developed an intense artistic activity, recording and composing tunes that were hits in Spanish language world. Later he turned to recording Christian music. We present here also the version that Anita possibly covered, namely the one by Jose Velez, recorded in 1976. Jose won the Sopot Music Festival in 1977 and represented his home country Spain in Eurovision Song Contest in 1978.

Updated on 10.10.2010: Replaced Anita's 1990 version with her 1977 waltz version.

Here's the triplet:

Pes mou thn alithia - Vaikka väkisin

Anita Hirvonen - frequently presented in Finnpicks - recorded "Vaikka väkisin" (Even if by force) in 1969. It was released as a rather successful single. The lyrics were done by Juha Vainio. As usual, the lyrics in Anita's songs were strong and daring for a woman singer. The role of Anita Hirvonen in 'liberating' Finnish female singers in this respect was significant. The original song "Pes mou thn alithia" (Tell me the truth), was sung by famous Greek singer Vicky Leandros (b. Vassiliki Papathanassiou) . She is the daughter of musician and composer Leandros Papathanassiou (aka Leo Leandros, aka Mario Panas). She achieved worldwide fame after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972 with the song "Après Toi" (representing Luxembourg). Already in 1967 she sang for Luxembourg in ESC with the song "L'amour est bleu" - "Love Is Blue"

Here's the pair:

Harlekin - Rallimestari

We Finns have always been very proud of our rallye drivers. Ever since the 60's the Finns have won several championships in rallye racing. (But today they are mostly seeing the tail lights of one Mr. Loeb). I didn't know until recently that there was a song made in honour of those rallye masters. Anita Hirvonen sang about "Rallimestari" (Rallye Master) in 1968. It was on the B-side of "Those Were The Days" -cover "On nuoruus haihtuva" so maybe therefore it has been long forgotten. The original song was called 'Harlekin" (Harlequin). It was written by famous German singer and composer Hans Blum and performed by equally famous Swedish singer Siw Malmkvist. See previous finnpick of Siw here and here. She made a hugely successful career in Germany in the 60's and with this song she won the Baden Baden Schlager Festival in 1968.

Here's the pair:

Whos That Lady With My Man - Ken tuo nainen oikein on

The fourth Finnpicks Disco offer this week is "Ken tuo nainen oikein on" (Who that woman really is) recorded by Anita Hirvonen in 1977 on her album "Villitsee mun". This is already the third finnpicked track from that album, the two previous ones being the title track (here) and "Milloin saavut" (here). The original song was entitled "Whos That Lady With My Man" and it was Roberto Danova -penned disco hit for at least two up and coming disco songstresses - British Kelly Marie in 1976 and Dutch Patricia Paay in 1977. We of course present here the first version by Kelly Marie (b. Jacqueline McKinnon). Kelly Marie was an early bird, appearing in singing competitions at age twelve and made her television debut at age fifteen. At age 16 as Keli Brown she appeared on the television talent show Opportunity Knocks winning four times. This exposure led to her debut single "Who's That Lady With My Man" in 1976. It reached #1 in France and earned a gold disc for sales in excess of 500000 copies. The song that Kelly Marie is best known for is of course the classic disco anthem "Feels Like I'm in Love" released in 1977.

Here's the pair:

Tell The Boys - Itke vaan jos helpottaa

Anita Hirvonen (see previous entry) recorded "Itke vaan jos helpottaa" (Just cry if it makes you feel better) in the spring of 1967. It turned out to be her first big hit. BTW, on the B-side of the single was Anita's version of Hollies' "Tell It To My Face". I will add her version on this old Finnpick -page in the near future. The original song "Tell The Boys" was one of Sandie Shaw's entries in the UK national preliminaries for Eurovision Song Contest 1967. The rumour has it that Sandie herself preferred this song to the winner "Puppet On A String". But - eventually - she won the contest hands down (and barefooted), so I guess she had no hard feelings ...

Here's the pair:

Tell Me To My Face - Sun käsivarsilles

Lea Laven (see previous entry) recorded "Sun käsivarsilles" (To your arms) in 1979 on her album "Rotunainen". The song went unnoticed at the time, but it has something ... The original song was called "Tell Me To My Face" and it appeared on the Hollies album "For Certain Becouse" in 1966. It was the fifth UK album by The Hollies and the first Hollies album in which all the songs were written by members Allan Clarke, Graham Nash, and Tony Hicks. This album track has surfaced up at least in two notable cover versions. Dan Fogelberg did it with Tim Weisberg doing the essential flute parts. But a most intriguing version was done by US singer Keith (best known for his "98.6" hit). It has an eerie oriental flavour as the prominent solo instrument is oboe. We hear now that version as a bonus track, along with the original.

Update: On the 27th of March, 2009 I added the FIRST Finnish version done by Anita Hirvonen in 1967, with different lyrics and with the title "Tulet kuitenkin uudelleen". For my pleasure I found out that here has been adopted the oriental flavour of Keith's version. That's a good one, Anita!

Here's the bunch:

One more Reggae for the Road - Rantaregee

Here's another classic B-side. Anita Hirvonen (see previous entry) released "Rantaregee" (The Beach reggae) as a B-side of a single in 1981. This song suited well for Anita, and it was aptly arraged by Veikko Samuli. The original was a kind of monster summer hit for Bill Lovelady in 1980 as "One more Reggae for the Road". The song was also written by him. Bill, as well as being a singer and composer, is also a virtuoso guitarist. His guitar and choral music has been performed worldwide. In 1979 he had another 'reggae' hit with the song "Reggae For It now".

Here's the pair:

Raising My Family - Ihanaa Elämää

Anita Hirvonen (see previous entry) did her share of Finndisco. One fine example is "Ihanaa Elämää" (Wonderful life) recorded in 1982. It was somewhat different performance than the original one, done in Anita's own style. The original "Raising My Family" was made to worldwide hit in 1980 by singer songwriter Steve Kekana. Steve, born in 1958 in South Africa, lost his sight at age five, but with over twenty albums to his credit, has been a consistent force in the South African music scene since the early 1980’s.

Here's the pair:

Milisse mou - Villitsee mun

Anita Hirvonen (see previous entry) recorded "Villitsee mun" (Makes me wild) in 1977. It suited well for Anita and became a minor classic. The original "Milisse mou" was a Greek song written by Manos Hadjidakis and performed by Nana Mouskouri. It was released on her live album in 1975.
As I have had troubles with my file hosting service lately, I try something new here ...

Here's the pair:

One More Ride on the Merry-Go-Round - Milloin Saavut

There's something magical about this song. Anita Hirvonen (real name Anita Lindgren) recorded "Milloin Saavut" (When will you arrive) in 1977, when Anita did massive come-back after some leaner years. For some reason, you want to hear this tune over and over again. Anita was and still is definitely one of the most popular singers in Finland. Her career started already in the 60's and she's still going strong. Her style is somewhat matured along the years. The tomboy-Anita has evolved into romantic Ms. Hirvonen. The original song was written by melody and lyric masters Neal Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, and it was first recorded by Peggy Lee in 1970. This fine version here, however, is by a legendary cabaret singer Jane Olivor, who recorded it in 1976 on her first albun "First Night". Jane is often favourably compered to Barbra Streisand and for a reason. Both Jane and Anita have soul in their voices, even if they aren't exactly soul singers. I try to find also the Peggy Lee's original version and present it here later ...

Updated on 18.07.2010: added Kössi Härmä's original Finnish version (1971).

Here's the pair: