Pink Lemonade - Kuin kukka sä oot

Psychedelia was not very popular genre in Finnish music. I was quite surprised to discover a song that was recorded by Markku Suominen (not much psychedelia in him), the origin of which was in the psychedelia/sunshine pop genre. Markku recorded "Kuin kukka sä oot" (You're like a flower) in 1971 for his first album. It was perhaps a bit out-of-date as the days of the Flower Power were already long gone. But the song is still pleasent to listen to. The original song "Pink Lemonade" was written by Paul Leka. He is best known for writing the two smash hits "Green Tambourine" (finnpicked here) and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye". This "lemonade" song was the first single by a group called Peppermint Rainbow, but didn't chart at all. PR was an American sunshine pop group from Baltimore, Maryland. They did couple of singles and a mildly succesful album and folded in 1970.

Here's the pair:

Never Grow Old - Muuta tehdä en voi

Markku Suominen (see earlier entry) recorded "Muuta tehdä en voi" (I can't do anything else) in 1969. It was released as a single, but didn't do much chartwise. But it's a good song, and the little extra curiosity in this case is that the lyrics are done by Kari Kuuva, another famous Finnish singer. The original song was a considerable hit for the Israeli duo Esther and Abi Ofarim (see earlier entry). This was the 1968 follow-up single for their smash hit "Cinderella Rockafella". It wasn't nearly as successful, but still worth to remember. You can see the couple singing the song live here.

Here's the pair:

Rain - Sade

As we are at the moment experiencing showers of summer rain (and a little bit of thunder and lightning) here in Finland, I think it's more than appropriate to introduce "Sade" (Rain) as today's Finnpick. Markku Suominen (see previous entry) recorded "Sade" in 1970. It is one of Markku's best known songs and biggest hits. The original song "Rain" was written and performed by Jose Feliciano (b. José Montserrate Feliciano García). It was on his 1968 hit album "Light My Fire". Jose, who is often called "world's greatest living guitarist", was born in Puerto Rico, but moved to New York at the age of five. At early age he got guitar from his grandfather and reportedly sat in his room for up to 14 hours a day to listen to 1950s rock albums, classical guitarists such as Andrés Segovia, and jazz players such as Wes Montgomery. And as we all know, he learned well ... Besides his musical skills, Feliciano is known for his strong sense of humor. Blind from born, he often makes fun of people's reactions to his blindness. Rumour has it that in a show he said, "I was going to dedicate this song to Jackie Kennedy but I can't see her anywhere in the audience."

Here's the pair:

Honey - Hän

Markku Suominen was a singer, songwriter and lyricist that started his recording career in 1968. For a short time he was quite popular, making a couple of big hit records. First of them - maybe the biggest one of all - was "Hän" (She) released in 1968. It tells a sad story of young wife dying at early age, told by the reminiscing husband. The same story appears in the original song "Honey" that was written by US songsmith Bobby Russell. His most famous song along with "Honey" is "Little Green Apples," which won him a Song of the Year Grammy Award in 1968. The original recording of "Honey" was made by Bob Shane, a former member of Kingston Trio. His version was well-received but under-marketed and didn't sell. The big bang came when the song was a littel later recorded by Bobby Goldsboro . Bobby started his career by playing guitar for Roy Orbison from 1962 to 1964, but alter he set out on a solo career. He had several hits in the Pop and Country music charts, but his biggest was of course 1968's "Honey". The song, as rumour has it, was recorded in one take. The song has has sold millions of copies worldwide. We present both Bob's and Bobby's versions. Bob's version is of inferior quality, but for the sake of its rarity, it's here.

Here's the triple: