Lonely Sunday Afternoon - Viimeinen iltapäivä

Kisu recorded "Viimeinen iltapäivä" (The last afternoon) in 1974 and while being a good song, it's sadly one of his lesser known songs. It was released on the B-side of his big home-made hit "Juustossa löytyy". The Finniah lyrics were done by Chrisse Johansson. The original was of Swedish origin and called "Lonely Sunday Afternoon". It was performed by Björn Skifs & Blåblus and co-written by Björn Skifs. At the time the group had just had a breakthrough in USA (as Blue Swede) with the number one hit "Hooked On A Feeling". So it's no wonder their records were sought-after cover material.

Here's the pair:

Carolina's Coming Home - Parin vuoden tauot

Kisu released an album called "Kun paljon antaa" in 1973, and one of the tracks was this "Parin vuoden tauot" (The breaks of a couple of years). The hit single from the album was "Uneen aika vaipuu", finnpicked earlier (see here). The somewhat odd Finnish lyrics for today's finnpick were written by Chrisse Johansson. The original song was co-written by Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway and it was minor hit for the British pop group Vanity Fare three years earlier. They are of course best remembered of the smash hit "Early In The Morning" released in 1970.

Here's the pair:

Blame It On The Pony Express - Pony Express

This song is one of Kisu's lesser known efforts. He recorded "Pony Express" in 1970 for his album "Sinulle", to the Finnish lyrics written by Chrisse Johansson. The original "(Blame It) On The Pony Express" was written by our old songwriring friends Tony Macaulay, Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. It was a number 7 hit 1970 in UK for a US soul vocal group called Johnny Johnson and His Bandwagon. Although the group originated from America they had their most successful moments in UK, and in the 70's they were based in London. They had their first hit in 1968 with "Breakin' Down the Walls of Heartache". At the time the band had a slightly different name: Johnny Johnson and The Bandwagon. The original  'Pony Express' was fast mail service that carried messages by horseback riders in relays to stations across the prairies, plains, deserts, and mountains of the Western United States in 1860-61. There was no 'Pony Express' in Finland, although horses of course were used in mail carrying in the old days.

Here's the pair:

Cracklin' Rosie - Aikansa kutakin

Kisu recorded "Aikansa kutakin" (There's a time for everything) in 1971 for his album "Sinulle". It was not released as a single, although the original song was quite popular in Finland. The Finnish lyrics for this one were made by Chrisse Johansson. The original was from the composing pen of Neil Diamond and he also had a big hit with the song. "Cracklin' Rosie" was Diamond's first American number 1 hit. The single version released in 1970 was in mono, while the album version (from "Tap Root Manuscript") was in stereo. We present here the album version. You can see Neil perform the song, here.

Here's the pair:

I Did What I Did For Maria - Tein mitä tein vuoks Marian

Kristian Jernström aka Kisu, recorded "Tein mitä tein vuoks Marian" (I did what I did for Maria) in 1971 and it was released as a single, but received no greater attention. As far as I know, it has never been released on any of Kisu's albums. The lyrics were provided by Chrisse Johansson. The original song was a worldwide hit for Tony Christie. "I Did What I Did For Maria" was written by two successful British songwriters Peter Callander and Mitch Murray (b. Lionel Stitcher). The duo is perhaps best known for their collaboration in "The Night Chicago Died" and "Billy Don't Be A Hero". This "Maria" -song is thematically like the other famous murder and revenge ballad "Delilah". You can see Tony Christie perform the song here. BTW, on the other side of Kisu's single was another Tony Christie cover, "Las Vegas".

Here's the pair:

Brown Eyed Girl - Perjantai - Punatukkainen

It's time again for "a song of the day". Kisu recorded "Perjantai" (Friday) for his 1976 album "Tunteet". It is completely forgotten track, which is quite peculiar, becouse the original is such a classic song. It is "Brown Eyed Girl", the signature song of Irishman Van Morrison. It was the first solo single for him after he left the group Them. It was first released in May 1967 on the album "Blowin' Your Mind!". When released as a single, it reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. It featured the Sweet Inspirations (Cissy "Whitney's mother" Houston and Lee "Dionne's sister" Warwick) singing back-up vocals. In Finland the song was later (1998) covered with different lyrics - with the title "Punatukkainen" (Red-haired) by singer and songwriter Aki Sirkesalo, who sadly passed away six years later in Thailand in the tsunami of 2004.

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:

Get Out of the Kitchen - Alahan tulla

Well. this is a requested song, and I'm happy to be of help. Kisu recorded "Alahan tulla" (Come on) in 1971. It was released on his album "Sinulle" as well as a single, but it went unnoticed, The original song "Get Out of the Kitchen" was a minor hit in 1970 for Peter Gordeno (b. Peter Godenho), who was born in Rangoon, Burma (presentt day Myanmar)., but made his career in Great Britain. He was a dancer, singer and actor but most successful as a choreographer. This "Kitchen" song was written by famous songwriting duo Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood.

Here's the pair:

Conquistador - Mahtava mies - Valloittaja

Kisu became popular largely by his two Santabarbara covers (presented in Finnpicks earlier, here and here), but he did also some rockier stuff. This "Mahtava mies" (Mighty man) was recorded for his album 1973 "Kun Paljon Antaa" to the lyrics of Chrisse Johansson. Kirka, on the other hand was the definitive Finnish rocker. He recorded "Valloittaja" (Conqueror) for his album "Kaksi puolta" in 1977 to the lyrics of Juha Vainio. These both song cover - in their respective mood - the same song, "Conquistador" by Procol Harum. It became a hit when Procol Harum recorded it live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Procol Harum's lyricist Keith Reid has told about this song: "... before we formed Procol Harum, Gary Brooker had been working on a tune. He said, 'What does this sound like to you?' And I said, 'Oh, conquistador.' It had a little bit of a Spanish flavor to it. I went into another room and started writing the words there and then. 99 out of 100 of those Procol Harum songs were written the words first, and then were set to music. But that particular one, the words hadn't existed before he had the musical idea." We present here rarely heard studio version of the song. Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers who set out to conquer the Americas after their discovery by Christopher Columbus in 1492.

Here's the triplet:

9.999.999 Tears - 1000000 kyyneltä

This is the last number in our lengthy 'number' -series. Kisu recorded "1000000 kyyneltä" (One million tears) in 1977 for his album "Maaliskuun kuudes". The Finnish lyrics were written by Pertsa Reponen. The original 'number song' had nearly ten times bigger figure and was called "9.999.999 Tears" and was a hit for American pop/country singer Dickey Lee (b. Royden Dickey Lipscomb) in 1976. The song was originally written and recorded by country artist Rasie Michael "Razzy" Bailey in 1966, but failed to chart. Dickey Lee picked up the tune in 1976 and made it a number 3 hit. Lee had a Top 20 pop hit in 1963 with the rocker, "I Saw Linda Yesterday. After many leaner years he struck big again with "9.999.999 Tears". You can see Dickey perform the song, here.

Here's the pair:

Sommaren är kort - Kesä häviää

Today is officially the last day of Summer. This is fortunately not exactly true, the summer is just slowly fading away here in Finland. Kurre (see previous entry) recorded "Kesä häviää" (Summer fades away) in 1995. This was not the first version of the song, Kisu recorded it in 1982 with different lyrics (I add it here if I get it from somewhere). The original "Sommaren är kort" (Summer is short) was a great success in Europe for Swedish singer Tomas Ledin in 1982. Since 1970's Ledin has been one of the most popular recording artists in Sweden. In 1980 he represented Sweden in Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Just Nu". Tomas has some close ABBA connections; in 1982 recorded a single ("Never Again") with Agnetha Fältskog and in 1983 he married to manager Stig Andersson's daughter Marie.

Updated on 17.10.2009: added first Finnish version done by Kisu.

Here's the triplet:

Make Me Act The Fool For You - Väliäkös sillä sitten on

Kisu (see previous entry) recorded "Väliäkös sillä sitten on" (Does it really matter then) in 1970 as his first solo single after quitting job as a drummer in Topmost and Kirka's backing group. It was a hit and helped to launch his short but successful career as a pop singer. The original was composed by Albert Hammond and performed by Joe Dolan (b. Joseph Francis Robert Dolan) and was titled "Make Me Act The Fool For You". It wasn't a big hit like other Hammond (and Hazelwood) -penned songs "You're Such A Good Looking Woman" and "Make Me An Island", but still - catchy quality stuff. Joe Dolan was born in Ireland, and cut his first single already in 1964, which made it to number 4 in Irish charts. The international breakthrough came in 1969 with "Make Me An Island" topping the charts all over the world.

Here's the pair:

Donde estan tus ojos negros - Onnestain on puolet sinun

Kisu struck gold again with a Spanish melody in the 70's. In 1977 he recorded "Onnestain on puolet sinun" (Half of my happiness is yours). It was a success, and coincidentally(?) was again a cover of Santabarbara song (as was his 1973 hit "Uneen aika vaipuu"). Santabarbara had a huge European hit with the original "Donde estan tus ojos negros" (Where are your black eyes) in 1976.

Here's the pair:

Charly - Uneen aika vaipuu

A couple of years after playing drums in Topmost, Kisu went solo. The first solo single came out in 1970. He had several hits in the 70's but he eventually left singing in the background and made succesfull career in production work. In 1973 Kisu recorded his most succesful song "Uneen aika vaipuu" (The time falls into dream). The original song was done - also in 1973 - by a popular Spanish pop trio Santabarbara. It was called "Charly", and despite it's title, was sung in Spanish. The tune was written by the group's base player and was a hit in almost all European countries. Who is Charly? Well, it's a bird ...

Here's the pair:

Soy rebelde - Kun paljon antaa

Kisu (real name Kristian Järnström) was only 13 years old when he started his career as a pop star in the 60's. At that tender age he was the drummer for the popular Finnish rock/pop group Topmost. In the 70's Kisu went solo. One of his minor hits from 1972 was "Kun paljon antaa" (When you give a lot). It was a version of a Spanish hit song "Soy rebelde" (I'm a rebel) sung by a girl named Jeannette (real name Janette Anne Dimech) in 1971. Four years later she would become famous for her touching interpretation of 'Porque Te Vas' in the sound track of the Carlos Saura movie "Cria Cuervos" ("Raising Ravens"/"The Secret of Anna" 1975).

Here's the pair: