Highway Song - Kaikki tiet vievät Roomaan

"Kaikki tiet vievät Roomaan" (All roads lead to Rome. in Latin: omnes viae Romam ducunt) was released in 1970 on Carola's album "Kielletyt leikit". It clearly had some hit potential, but it was never released as a single. The Finnish lyrics were provided by Vexi Salmi. The original was one of Nancy Sinatra's lesser known songs called "Highway Song". It peaked at 21 in Billboard Hot 100 in January 1970.
Well, the highway is calling me too, and Finnpicks will be on vacation for next two weeks. After that we're going to take a musical journey across USA!
Here's the pair:

How Are Things In California - Kuinka voit sä kaukomailla

Seidat was one of a rare breed; a Finnish female vocal group that had a short succesful career mainly in the 70's. This trio of Kiviharju sisters Raisa, Eeva and Suvi started their musical career in the late 60's and released 5 singles and 1 album during the years 1968-1979. This "Kuinka voit sä kaukomailla" (How are you, in that faraway country?) was the B-side of their fourth single in 1972. On the A-side was their version of instrumental smash hit "Popcorn". Both songs went unnoticed. Eeva Kiviharju has made a career also as a songwriter, e.g. writing 5 songs for the Finnish national preliminaries for Euroviosn Song Contest in 1977-1990. The song that Seidat covered was "How Are Things In California" was a minor hit for Nancy Sinatra in 1969 reaching number 17 in the US Adult Contemporary Charts.

Here's the pair:

Ladybird - Leikiten - Leppäkerttu

Well, here's one true classic, covered many times all over the world. Lasse Mårtenson and Marjatta Leppänen were the first to cover this song in Finnish. They recorded "Leikiten" (Easy as a child's play) in 1968 and it was minor hit. Lasse we have met many times before but now we hear Marjatta's voice for the first time. She began her recording career already in 1961, had some hits in the 60's and 70's but she gradually turned more and more into performinmg in stage shows and doing televison work. The song was re-covered in 1989 when Anna Hanski (see previous entry) with Pekka Kaasalainen (singer/guitarist from the group Vilperin Perikunta) recorded it with different lyrics titled as "Leppäkerttu" (Ladybird). The original song "Ladybird" was written by Lee Hazlewood and performed by him and Nancy Sinatra. It was a smash hit for them worldwide even if the song stayed at number 20 in the US charts in 1967. As a bonus we present the 1993 version by Anna Hanski and Lee Hazlewood from their album "Gypsies And Indians".

Here's the bunch:

These Boots Are Made For Walkin - Saappaat ampuu lujaa

Anna Hanski (see earlier entry) is mostly known of her slow ballads. But she can rock too. Anna recorded "Saappaat ampuu lujaa" (Boots shoot fast) in 1989 and I bet you have never heard a version quite like this of the original song "These Boots Are Made For Walkin''. This was a mammoth hit for Nancy Sinatra in 1966. The song was written by Lee Hazlewood. Eventually, Lee wrote "Boots'' for himself. But Nancy told him that 'It's better for a girl to sing it, because when you sing it, it sounds mean. When I sing it, it will be sexy and cute.' Well - let's now hear Lee's tongue-in-cheek version, on which he throws comments on the original.

Here's the pair:

Sugar Town - On surut makeita

Anna Hanski (see previous entry) , recorded "On surut makeita" (The sorrows are sweet) in 1990 and it was released as single. The success was modest, Anna's major breakthrough was still to come (in 1992 with "Jos et sä soita"). The song however is a showcase of Anna's intimate singing style. The original was called "Sugar Town" and it was written by Lee Hazlewood and performed of course by Nancy Sinatra. "Sugar Town" was released in USA in 1966 and the single reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was featured also in 1967 TV special: Movin' With Nancy. The B-side to "Sugar Town" was the legendary Nancy & Lee duet "Summer Wine". That was also covered by Anna, and we hear it here in Finnpicks in the near future.

Here's the pair: