Barbados - Lellelle

Pirkka-Pekka Petelius released "Lellelle" (For Lelle) in 1985 on a single together with "Tra la la" (see previous entry). It tells about a boy's flight to Kuopio, the capitol of Finnish Savonia to meet his girl Lelle. Flight captain Hujanen plays a prominent (Savonian) role ... The original song tells a story about a bus driver who escapes Brixton, London for the tropical island of "Barbados". It was performed by a group called Typically Tropical. It was not a real performing band but recording studio engineers Jeffrey Calvert and Max West joined with some studio musicians, including guitarist Chris Spedding. Calvert had been on vacation in Jamaica, and wanted to write a Reggae song. This came up with in 2 hours on a guitar and piano, in collaboration with West. Calvert and West provided also the vocals and the latter's Tobias Wilcock was also the hero of "Barbados," as the captain of the Coconut Airways. The song went all the way to number 1 in UK in 1975 but remained their only hit.

Here's the pair:

Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron - Ganjalasta Kajahtaa

In the aftermath of Independence Day and after seeing the war movie "Tuntematon sotilas" (Unknown soldier) for the umpteenth time. this song might well fit in. Pirkka-Pekka Petelius (see previous entry) recorded "Ganjalasta Kajahtaa" (Big noise from Ganjala) in 1993. I guess it must be one of those RUI -records (Recorded Under Influece). Otherwise I cannot understand the parallels between Finnish Marshall of War Mannerheim and Ethopian Emperor Haile Selassie, and references to drugs (Ganja). But perhaps this great reggae version called for those kind of ingredients. BTW, Pirkka-Pekka played one of those unknown soldiers in a later adaption of the above-mentioned movie. The original is this time coming from USA. Royal Guardsmen had a huge hit with "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" in 1966. It's a novelty song about the imaginary World War I antics of Charlie Brown's pet beagle in the Charles Schulz' comic strip Peanuts. The Royal Guardsmen were a rock band from Florida the band adopted their Anglophile name during the British Invasion of the Beatles and others. They achieved their fame with this song, their first single. Snoopy, the Red Baron, and aircraft became a recurring theme in their later songs. Royal Guardsmen are currently experiencing a renewal and have recorded a new Snoopy song, "Snoopy vs. Osama"!

p.s. as requested - I've added the Kontra's version.

Acuarela Homosexual - Tra la la

As you have noticed, the Finns prefer to cover European songs, but every now and then we widen our perspectives and pick up something completely different. Let's go to the 80's for awhile and listen to a song made by Finnish comedian, actor, singer, screen writer and director Pirkka-Pekka Petelius. He had a quite successful recording career in the 80's, and one of the most popular songs was "Tra la la" released in 1985. It tells a story of a boy that vehemently denies being a gay, although everybody else think he is one. The word "gay" or similar other expressions are not explicitly said in the lyrics but replaced with "Tra la la". The original came all the way from Argentina. A very popular rock group called Los Twist, famous for playing satirical songs, recorded it in their "Cachetazo al vicio" -album in 1984 and for some reason found its way to Finland. The original title of the song was "Acuarela Homosexual" (Homosexual Watercolor).

Here's the pair: