Disco Bouzouki - Villi ilta

Another weekend reindez-vous with Daniel Vangarde. Arja Koriseva recorded "Villi ilta" (Wild night) in 1990 for her first album. Arja is not known for her disco songs, so this is a rare exception. The lyrics (by Turkka Mali) tell about escapades in bachelorette night. The original song "Disco Bouzouki" was written by French producers and songwriters Daniel Vangarde and Jean Kluger. It was a continental hit for a group called Bouzouki Disco Band (a.k.a Great Disco Bouzouki Band) in 1977. It was most probably a studio band put together by Vangarde and Kluger, because after one more single it vanished from the music world.

Here's the pair:

A-I-E-A-O-A - A.i.e

Well, here's another treat from Daniel Vangarde. Paula Koivuniemi recorded "A.i.e" in 1979. It was released as a single but it was not a hit. The nonsense lyrics were from the lyrics factory of Chrisse Johansson. The original song "A-I-E-A-O-A" was part of a project called "Yamasuki". It was the brainchild of French pop composers Jean Kluger and Daniel Vangarde. In 1971 they released a concept album "Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki". It included a renowned black-belt Judo master to introduce the tracks, which were all sung in Japanese by a school choir. This "A-I-E-A-O-A " -track was also released as a single. However, the song did not break through, until it was re-worked by Belgian disco group Black Blood in 1975, with Swahili lyrics and a more African vibe. In 1981, "Aie a Mwana" became the first single released by English girl group Bananarama.

Here's the triplet:

Sitamalobadudo - Fin de semana - Viikonloppu

Now being weekend we present a song called "Viikonloppu" (Weekend). It was first recorded in Finnish by girl group Seidat in 1972, but that recording I unfortunately don't have. Instead here's the most known Finnish version by Kisu, recorded in 1973 for his "Kun paljon antaa" album. The lyrics were written by veteran lyricist Kari Tuomisaari. The original song called "Sitamalobadudo" was written by our old French friend, songwriter and producer Daniel Vangarde. I don't exactly know who recorded the original version, but the Spanish beat group Los Diablos (finnpicked before, see here) had a big hit with it in 1971 with the title "Fin de semana" (Weekend) and I guess it was just their version that inspired Finnish artists.

Here's the pair:

Un rayo de sol - Säde auringon

Ritva Oksanen had her first solo hit with "Säde auringon" (Ray of the sun) in 1970. In that same year the multi-talented actor/singer also scored big with Ossi Ahlapuro and "Maria Isabel" (see earlier entry) . The original song was composed by our old French friend Daniel Vangarde. This is already 7th finnpicked Vangarde composition. I don't have the original French version (called "Fernando") of the song, but the version that Ritva covered was done in Spain. The group Los Diablos had a massive hit with the spanish version called "Un rayo de sol" (The ray of the sun). The song earned the first Gold Record for this Barcelona band and was THE summer hit of 1970, as the the afore-mentioned "Maria isabel" was in 1969. You can Los Diablos perform the song in early promotional video, here.

Here's the pair:

Help (Get Me Some Help) - Taas laulu kun soi

We have presented a long line of Finnish male singers with single-first-name-in-english monikers; Danny, Johnny, Robin, Dave ... Now it's time to introduce Peter. (b. Pekka Parviainen). He recorded only three singles in 1969-1972, and none of them was any great success. Which is a pity, because at least this last one of those three "Taas laulu kun soi" (When there's songs played again) in 1972 deserved to be a hit. The original came from Spain. "Help Get Me Some Help" (originally "Help! ayúdame!") was a worldwide hit in for Tony Ronald. Tony was born as Siegfried Andre Den Boer Kramer in Holland but moved in the 60's to Spain (Barcelona). In 1971 he had his breakthrough with winning a Spanish song festival in Tenerife and recording this song composed by his (and ours, see earlier entry) friend Daniel Vangarde.

Here's the pair:

Trop Belle Pour Rester Seule - Yksinäinen ilta

Danny released "Yksinäinen ilta" (Lonely evening) in 1972 as a follow-up single to "Maantieltä taloon" (see previous entry). It was not one of Dannys biggest hits, but this song has got something magical ... The original song "Trop Belle Pour Rester Seule" (Too beautiful to be left alone) was performed by our old friend Ringo (see previous entry) in 1972. Ringo was French and his real name was Guy Bayle. This song was co-written by our old friend, too - Daniel Vangarde.

Here's the pair:

Sing Along With The Jukebox - Tanssi kanssani hiljaa

We continue in the company of Armi Aavikko. She recorded "Tanssi kanssani hiljaa" (Dance with me slowly) in 1981 as most of her solo output. It was only an album track, but deserves to be remembered. The arranger - as with almost all Armi's recordings - was Veikko Samuli, who is an excellent Finnish arranger and songwriter. The original was again done by Ottawan on their 1980 album and the song was written - again - by Vangarde and Kluger.

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:

Musique Magique - Mennäänks meille

Lea Laven (see previous entry) cut several disco records. One of them was "Mennäänks meille" (Let's go to my place) was released in 1982. The original is again coming fron the Frenchmen Jean Kluger and Daniel Vangarde (real name Bangalter) that produced and wrote this for Ottawan in 1982 as "Musique Magique". The song is of course worldwide known with the English title "Crazy Music".

Here's the pair:

Haut les mains - Anna kulta anna

Well, this is pure classic Disco. Mona Carita (real name Mona Hautanen) recorded "Anna kulta anna" (Let me, darling, let me) in 1981. It was destined to be big hit and it was. Mona Carita was picked up and recruited in pop business while attending Paula Koivuniemi's recording session. She and her girlfriend formed a duo named Cissy and made a single that didn't go nowhere. But Mona Carita continued as solo artist and broke through with the cover of Boney M's Rasputin in 1979. However it was probably hard to finad suitable material for her vocal abilities, and her career faded shortly after the disco boom. The original song "Haut les mains" (Hands up) was done by disco duo Ottawan. They were fronted by Martinique-born lead singer Jean Patrick and a girl named Annette, with Frenchmen Jean Kluger and Daniel Vangarde producing and songwriting. We have heard of Kluger-Vangarde before (see previous entry "Kun kohdattiin"). In addition to "Hands Up", Ottawan did also another absolute Disco Classic, "D.I.S.C.O". BTW, the band is said to be created to appeal especially to the gay section of the disco community. We present here both the French and the English versions of the song.

Updated on 01.01.2010: added another popular Finnish version from 1989 by Kikka.

Here's the bunch: