Il marsigliese - Marseillen poika

Cumulus (see earlier entry) recorded "Marseillen poika" (The boy from Marseille) in 1977 and it became one of their greatest hits and the song is fondly remembered even today. The lyrics were provided by Irina Milan. The success was largely based on the eponymous popular television series that run in Finland in summer 1977. The melody line of this song was used as it's signature tune. The tv-series as well the song originated from Italy. The tune "Il marsigliese" was composed by brothers Guido and Maurizio de Angelis. And they also performed it as M & G Orchestra. The De Angelis brothers were among the most prolific Italian musicians in the 70's. Often they were forced to use different names for many of their projects to avoid over-saturating the market. One of those names was Oliver Onions, which is the name they are mostly identified with. They also became famous as score writers for the Terence Hill and Bud Spencer movies.

Here's the pair:

Flash of Fire - Tulta isken missä taula on

Cumulus was a sort of Finnish super group. It was born in 1969 and included former 60's folk music greats, like Anki (see previous entry) and Hector (see previous entry). The members met in the Finnish production of the musical "Hair" and decided to form a folk group. Their breakthrough came in 1970 with their debut single "Puuvillapellot" (Cotton fields), a cover of a well-known American folk song "Cotton Fields". The excellent but largely forgotten gem "Tulta isken missä taula on" (I'll strike the firestone when there's tinder) was on the groups 1978 album "Uskokaa tai älkää" (Believe it or not). At this point Hector had already left the band for solo career. The original song was written and performed by American country music singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton, whose songs are surprisingly often 'finnpicked'. This song "Flash of Fire" was on his 1976 album "Fearless".

Here's the pair: