Kari Kuuva had his heyday as singer in the latter part of 60's. Later he gained fame mainly as a songwriter. But in 1973 he had a minor hit with "Go-go Sylvi". It was a hilarious story of an ample lady, who liked to go-go dance. The inspiration for Kari's recording came from Sweden, where "Sofia dansar go-go" (Sophie dances go-go) was a hit for schlager singer Stefan Rüdén in 1972, However, the song was of Danish origin. It was written and first performed by singer and songwriter John Mogensen and it was called "Fut i fejemöget"(Grit and sweepings).
Just prior to breaking through with "Tango Pelargonia" in 1964 Kari Kuuva (see earlier entry) recorded this "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" with the group Islanders (Danny's backing group) using the obvious name Kari & The Islanders. The song was on the B-side of their cover of Searchers' "Don't Throw Your Love Away". The Finnish lyrics were written by Kari himself. In 1977 Seppo Närhi did another cover with different lyrics using the title "Meikäläinen makaa niinku petaaki" (I lie in my bed as I have made it). The original "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" was written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich and originally recorded in 1963 by the American vocal group The Exciters. They are best remembered for their Top 10 hit "Tell Him" (US number 4)in 1962. (finnpicked here) The "Diddy" song was monster hit for Manfred Mann when they covered it in 1964. You can see them perform it, here.
Kari Kuuva is best known for his biggest hit, a tango parody called "Tango Pelargonia" in 1964. But Kari was of course much more than a novelty singer. He is a singer-songwriter of many moods and written hundreds of songs for himself and - especially in the later years - for various other artists. He's been active in the music business for over 40 years, starting as a guitarist and singer in guitar combo Willy and The Wanderers, and leading a folk trio called Kari, Raili & Riitta in 1964. Kari Kuuva's records were almost always his own compositions, but in early 1968 he recorded a cover version called "Asfalttia ja sementtiä" (Tar and cement). The original was of Italian origin, and called "Il ragazzo della via Gluck" (The boy from Gluck Street). It was performed in 1966 by world famous Italian singer Adriano Celentano. Celentano was born in Milan at 14 Via Gluck, hence the name for the song. For the last 40 years Adriano has retained his popularity in Italy, selling millions of records and appearing in numerous TV shows and movies.
p.s. I've added the English language version called "Tar And Cement" done by Verdelle Smith, an American R&B/folk singer. It was a big international hit for her in 1966 - although it only reached number 38 in the US charts.
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