Many Moons Ago - Kaikki entinen

As I have noted before, Danny had an uncanny habit to pick up obscure - but good - songs to cover. This "Kaikki entinen" (All that was before) was an early example of those. It was released in 1964 on Danny's first single as a solo artist. Prior to that he had cut a couple of singles under "Danny & The Islanders" moniker. It was also his first recorded song sung in Finnish. The original song was performed by a Canadian teen rocker Bobby Curtola in 1964 and was titled "Many Moons Ago". Bobby was a 60s rock'n roll legend in Canada creating even 'curtolamania' when touring. However he was largely unknown outside his home country, except for one song, "Fortune Teller", that became a moderate international hit. Today's finnpick was a track on his "12 Tickets to Cloud 9" album.

Just 16 Finnpicks to go.

Here's the pair:

Snowbird - Lumilintu

Now that major part of Finland has finally been covered with snow, I find it appropiate to present this song. Päivi Paunu released "Lumilintu" (Snowbird) in 1971 as a single. It was arranged by Rauno Lehtinen and the Finnish lyrics were written by Chrisse Johansson. The original song "Snowbird" came from Canada, It was written by Gene MacLelland, who wrote also "Put Your Hand in the Hand" (finnpicked here)  and made popular by Anne Murray. The song was on her second studio album "This Way Is My Way" issued in 1969. In 1970 the song reached number 8 on the US pop singles chart. You can hear Gene perform his version of the song, here.

38 Finnpicks to go.

Here's the pair:

Papa - Isä

Today is Father's Day. Many countries celebrate it in June but we in Scandinavian countries celebrate it in the middle of darkest autumn. There are much less songs of fathers than mothers (I wonder why ...). But here's one, to honor all the fathers. Kari Tapio (yes, him again) recorded "Isä" (Father) in 1975. The Finnish lyrics were made by a woman, Chrisse Johansson. For some inexplicable reason it was at the time released only on a compilation album. The original version of this beautiful song was written and performed by Paul Anka, bearing the title "Papa". So here's to you all 'isät', 'papas', 'fathers', 'grandpas', etc,

60 Finnpicks to go.

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Heartbeat It's A Lovebeat - Sydän hakkaa

Anna Babitzin had a short solo recording career in the 70's. In 1975 she released a single with this "Sydän hakkaa" (The heart is pounding) on the B-side of a another (home-grown) teen beat pop song. Both sides failed to make any greater success. The Finnish lyrics for today's finnpick were provided by Pertsa Reponen. The original "Heart" -song was called "Heartbeat It's A Lovebeat", and it was a US hit for the Canadian group DeFranco Family. The DeFrancos were really all siblings, and they had a couple of chart hits, this one being the biggest one - reaching number 3 in the Billboard Chart in 1973. The lead cvocalist Tony DeFranco was only 14 at the time. You can see the group perform the song live, here.

83 Finnpicks to go.

Sweet City Woman - Kaunis kaupunkilainen

Purema was a Finnish country rock group, active in the 70's and 80's, releasing altogether 4 albums. The debut album "Eks tiä" was released in 1976, and the title track was a minor hit for them. The album included also this "Kaunis kaupunkilainen" (Pretty city woman). The Finnish lyrics were made by group's guitarist Matti Tuominen, who also wrote the majority of band's recorded output. The original song "Sweet City Woman" was massive hit for a canadian rock band The Stampeders in 1971. It climbed the charts to the Number One position across Canada, and after rush-released in the US, reached the Number Eight spot in Billboard Top 100 Chart. The song was written by the group's guitarist Rich Dodson. The hallmark of the song is the use of banjo as the lead instrument.

Here's the pair:

Mr. Monday - Huomispäivään - Maanantai

This is a song for today. Markku Aro recorded "Maanantai" (Monday) in 1974. It was never released as a single, and it was not on any of Markku's own albums. It was released only on the compilation album "Soitellaan 4". The original Finnish version was, however, done by a singer named Simon Scott (b. Veikko Salonen) (see earlier entry) in 1971, released on his sole album "Simon Scott". It was titled "Huomispäivään" (Till tomorrow) and the lyrics were provided by Chrisse Johansson. The original song "Mr. Monday" was witten by songwriter duo Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. Their works have been finnpicked before, here and here . The song was a big hit in 1969 in Japan and Canada for the Canadian folk-pop group The Original Caste. The groups style was characterized by rich tight vocals and a clean sound not unlike The Carpenters and the Mamas & The Papas.

Here's the triplet:

La Golondrina - Kun kesä on

This song has been discussed a while back in the Finnpicks comments (see ealier entry). Now it is a suitable time to present it here. Susanna Nio (real name Susanna Lönnberg) sung "Kun kesä on" (When it is summer) in 1971. As you can hear from her voice she was quite young and in deed she was a some kind of child star at the time. She's still in the music business, doing gigs as a singer fronting the dance orchestra DozenBeat. The "Kun kesä on" song has become a classic summer song, both for children and adults. The original song "La Golondrina" (The Swallow) has been versioned in Finnish by several artists, with at least 4 or 5 different lyrics. The lyrics for Susanna's song were made by famous female lyricist Tuula Valkama. The song was written by a Mexican composer Narciso Serradell Sevilla alreay in 1883. The first recording with Spanish lyrics was done by Mexican singer Carlo Francisco in 1906, and we are proud to present it here. The lyrics of "La Golondrina" the image of a migrating swallow to describe sentiments of longing for one's homeland. In 1961 the American songwriter duo Felice & Boudleaux Bryant provided the English lyrics, and the song got the title "She Wears My Ring". The original version with these lyrics was recorded by a Canadian country singer Jimmy Bell (real name Jimmy Sweeney). It has since been recorded by many famous artists and Solomon Burke got a big hit with it in 1968. The tune has widely been used as a wedding song.

Updated on 17.01.2011: added the first Finnish version "Pääskynen" (The swallow) in 1960 by Seija Lampila.

Here's the bunch:

Crying In The Wind - Tuuli Viedä Saa

Now, this was, and still is, one of my favourite 60's songs. Laila Halme recorded "Tuuli Viedä Saa" (The wind can take it)) in 1963. Laila represented Finland in Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Muistojeni laulu". (it came last) in that same year. Despite being a good singer and having a couple of hits in the start of 60's she never really broke through. This song, however, is one of the best, The original "Crying In The Wind" is a lesser-known Paul Anka song. He wrote it and sang it. But it never was a hit and it's quite rarely played anywhere anymore, Which is a pity, becouse I think it is one of Anka's better tunes.

Here's the pair:

Four Strong Winds - Neljä vahvaa tuulta

Barbara Helsingius was the first Finn to record "Neljä vahvaa tuulta" (Fours strong winds). She did it in 1966 on her debut album "Barbara". Barbara Helsingius is folk singer, composer and lyricist. She has recorded music in Finnish, Swedish, English and Norwegian. Prior to his career as a musician Barbara graduated as a teacher of gymnastics and participated in the Rome 1960 Olympic Games in the Finnish floret fencing team. The original "Four Strong Winds" was written by Canadian Ian Tyson and he recorded it with his wife Sylvia as a duo Ian & Sylvia. (see earlier entry). It was on an album of the same name released in 1964. The first version was done by US vocal group Brothers Four in 1963. The song has sometimes described as the other Canadian national song and it has been versioned by hundreds of artists all around the world.

Here's the pair:

Put Your Hand In The Hand - Uskon ihmiseen

Lea Laven recorded "Uskon ihmiseen" (I trust in mankind) in 1971. It was released as a single, but the song on the flip-side "Manolito" had more success. The positive lyrics were done by Chrisse Johansson and they tell about man searching his Creator. The original song was the smash hit called "Put Your Hand In The Hand" for a one-hit-wonder group named Ocean. Ocean was a Canadian gospel rock band formed in 1970. They are best known just for this record, that sold over one million copies at the time (1971). You can see the group performing the song, here. The song was penned by Gene MacLellan, a singer-songwriter, who was also a Canuck. Another well-known song of his is "Snowbird", made famous by Anne Murray.

Updated on 21.02.2010: added the other Finnish version by Lasse Mårtenson and Seija Simola, "Iske kourasi kouraan".

Here's the triplet:

You Were On My Mind - Olet mielessäin

The First (see previous entry) was a short-lived Finnish beat group in its first encarnation. They recorded "Olet mielessäin" (You are on my mind) in 1967 and it was released as the B -side of their debut single "Perjantai" ("Friday On My Mind" -cover). The First was singing in Hollies-like harmony, but was doing also Bluesbreakers and Hendrix stuff. What made the group somewhat extarordinary was that it was singing in Finnish which was rare at those times. After 3 singles the band broke up, but has resurrected at least three times with different line-ups and it's still active. The original song "You Were On My Mind" was done in 1964 by Canadian folk duo Ian & Sylvia (Tyson). It was written by Sylvia (née Fricker) and released on their third album, "Northern Journey". It was covered in a modified up-tempo version, with somewhat altered lyrics, the following year by the California pop quintet We Five. The song was also a major hit in the UK for Crispian St. Peters.

Here's the pair:

Shubidube Love - Kaksi kulkijaa

As the new year begins, I think it fits well in the mood to present an artist who will always be in the beginning of the alphabetic list of Finnish pop stars. Armi Aavikko was a beauty queen and singer. She was chosen as Miss Finland in 1977. Armi was best known for her duets with our old friend Danny (see previous entry), but she did have a short career as a solo singer. The popular opinion was that Armi can't sing, and she was herself admitting that. But what she might have lacked in technical ability was not so important when she introduced such a great amount of honesty and sincerity in her songs. As in this forgotten gem "Kaksi kulkijaa" recorded in 1981, and released as a B-side of a single. The original song "Shubidube Love" was performed by the Canadian disco duo Ottawan. And it was written by the French production team Vangarde & Kluger, as were surprisingly many of the "finnpicked" songs on those days.


Here's the pair:

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:

You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - Kolmen minuutin muna

Mauri "Moog" Konttinen (see previous entry) was very active figure in pop music in 80's and in the beginning of 90's. He had several bands and one of the them was called Moogetmoogs in 1985-1993. This band was famous for covering several 60's hits with their inimitable style and witty lyrics. Their biggest success was the second single "Kolmen minuutin muna" (Three minute egg) in 1991. The original tune was performed by the Canadian rock group Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO) as "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet". This was the first big international hit for the group in 1974. The main figures in the band were the guitarist Randy Bachman and the singer and bass guitarist C.F. (Fred) Turner. BTO had a string of hit albums and singles in the 70's, until 1977, when Randy left for solo career.

Here's the pair:

Universal Soldier - Palkkasoturi

Folk music took Finland by the storm in the beginning of the sixties. Hector (real name Heikki Veikko Harma) was one of the forerunners in the Finnish folk movement. Later in the 70's he really made his breakthrough, first in the group Cumulus and later as a prominent singer-songwriter on his own. Hector's first single was "Palkkasoturi" (The Mercenary) recorded in 1965. The Finnish lyrics were also done by him. The original is the classic folk anthem "Universal Soldier" written by a canadian folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie. The song was in her first album (1964) 'It's my way!'. It became internationally known in 1965 when Donovan made it a hit.

Here's the pair:

Hey Boba Lou - Hey boba lou

In the b-side of Danny's first single in 1964 was this song 'Hey boba lou', making the record - together with a-side's "East Virginia" - one of the best debut singles in Finnish pop history. The song is simple but irresistible. The original came all the way from Canada. Although Ronnie Hawkins was born in USA, he moved to Canada in 1958, and recorded this song in 1959 with his Canadian backing group The Hawks. Of course it's widely known that a later edition of the Hawks eventually toured with Bob Dylan and evolved into the Band. Robbie Robertson doesn't play guitar on this recoding but Levon Helm bangs the drums.

Here's the pair: