My Name Is Jack - Kustaa

This is the final "Finnpicks for the Kids", for now. Robin released "Kustaa" as a single in 1968. although the song that he covered was a hit, Robin's version was not. Perhaps the lyrics by Juha Vainio did not touch the hearts of wider (grown.up) audience. The original song was written by legendary record producer John Simon and he also performed it. The song was on the soundtrack of a hippy 1967 rockumentary movie of Peter Yarrow's (of Peter, Paul and Mary) called "You Are What You Eat". Nor the movie nor the song did cause much commotion, but Manfred Mann picked up this "My Name Is Jack" and made it later that same year a smash hit.

Here's the triplet:

Ha! Ha! Said The Clown - Oy sanoi hän

This is the 3rd song in a row with the word "hän" (he/she) in the Finnish title. Fredi (see previous entry) had his first big hit with "Oy sanoi hän" (Ltd said he) released in 1967. The somewhat peculiar lyrics are made by Juha Vainio, telling of some hazards that go with the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The original song was called ""Ha! Ha! Said The Clown"" and was written by UK songwriter Tony Hazzard and performed by Manfred Mann . The other mega success for Mann written by Hazzard was "Fox On The Run". Manfred Mann was one of the most successful British Beat, R&B and pop bands of the 1960s, named after their South African keyboard player and founder, who later led the successful 1970s follow-on group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. This ""Ha-Ha" -song was made after original vocalist Paul Jones had already left for solo career. With the new lead singer Mike d'Abo, the group pursued a soft acoustic pop sound, with a tinge of social comment and surrealism in the lyrics - as in this song.

Here's the pair: