Reflections - Kipinä

Anja Niskanen (see earlier entry) recorded "Kipinä" (The Spark) in 1991 for her album "Ikkuna". It was released only as an album track, although the song might have had hit potential. The original was one of the Supremes' greatest hits titled "Reflections" released in 1967. At this point the group had already been re-christened as Diana Ross & The Supremes. It was one of their last hits written and produced by Holland–Dozier–Holland team. The song was influenced by the psychedelic rock sounds of the time. You can see Supremes perform the song, here.

Just 24 Finnpicks to go.

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:

One Fine Day - Paras päivä

Today is the day one of the fresh new year 2010. Let's hope that this and the days that follow will be the best days of our lives. Anja Niskanen (see earlier entry) recorded "Paras päivä" (The best day) in 1991 on her album "Ikkuna". Surprisingly this was the first Finnish version of the original classic song. The original "One Fine Day" was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and was a top ten hit in the summer of 1963 for girl group the Chiffons Goffin and King were inspired by the title of the aria "Un bel di" from the Puccini opera Madama Butterfly. The song originally featured a vocal by Little Eva, but was reassigned to the Chiffons who'd had a recent number 1 with the similarly entitled "He's So Fine". The Chiffons' vocals were recorded onto the original master with the Little Eva vocal erased.

Here's the pair:

They Don't Know - Syy on rakkauden

Another Anja Niskanen classic in a row. She recorded "Syy on rakkauden" (Love is to blame) in 1984 on her debut album and it was later released as a single. It was not as big success as her first single but a hit anyway. You can see her performing the song in a TV show, here. The original "They Don't Know" was the first single of English singer-sonwriter Kirsty MacColl. The song was a radio hit but lasting success failed to materialise. Kirsty is perhaps best known for her Christmas song "Fairytale of New York", performed with the Pogues. "They Don't Know" was however a big hit for Tracey Ullman in 1983. and went to number 2 in the UK and number 8 in the USA. Watch Tracey perform it here.

Dancing On A Saturday Night - Lauantaina bailataan vaan

As it's Saturday, let's party with Anja Niskanen and "Lauantaina bailataan vaan" (Saturday's only for partying). Anja won the popular "Syksyn Sävel" (Autumn Tune) TV song contest in 1984 and became a teen starlet overnight being only 16 at the time. To cash on the victory an album was released and it went gold. From that album is this teenage party song. Anja was perhaps the first Finnish female teen pop star who really sounded her age. There were of course earlier popsters that were young but this was the first entry in the girlie pop field. The original song was from the pens of Barry Blue and Lynsey de Paul, both pop artists in their own right, but often teamed up in writing songs. This "Dancing On A Saturday Night" was a huge disco-pop hit for Barry in 1973. You can see him performimg it here. Barry's real name was Barry Green and he had a small hit under that name in 1972, but when he 'changed colour', he struck gold.

Updated on 28.08.2010: added the first (1974) Finnish version "Lauantaina kaikki tanssii" by Markku Karjalainen.

Here's the triplet: