Jak to dziewczyna - Varjojen yö

For his 1965 album "Lasse Mårtenson" Lasse Mårtenson recorded the song "Varjojen yö" (Night of the shadows). The excellent moody lyrics were done by Reino Helismaa. The original song was of Polish origin. It was called "Jak to dziewczyna" (Like a girl) and it tells a story about a poor piano player who one day created a girl out of the notes played on his piano, and fell in love with her. The song was made popular by singer and actor Jerzy Polomski (real name Jerzy Pajak), who scored many pop and schlager hits in Poland in the 60's and 70's. You can see a rare promotional film of the song, here. Another popular version was done by Polish songstress Irena Santor. You can see her perform the song, here. This dark eerie song has also been versioned several times in Finnish. Here is one popular one, performed by Topi Sorsakoski and Agents.

Here's the pair:

Gdzie ten swiat mlodych lat - Huulin hymyilevin

Greger (b. Greger Nervander) won a national song contest in 1977. His first single was released in the same year and was called "Huulin hymyilevin" (With smiling lips). Greger's voice and Chrisse Johansson's lyrics made it a great success. And for a couple of years Greger was in the front row of Finnish schlager singers. The original song was of Polish origin It was called "Gdzie ten swiat mlodych lat" (Where are the years of young world) and it is one of the most beloved tunes of composer Adam Skorupka. The song was performed in the 1976 Sopot Music Festival. That version is not in my possession, so I present here a beatiful 1977 version by unjustly forgotten Polish female singer Jadwiga Strlecka, who was blessed with a beautiful voice and charm on stage.

Here's the pair:

Warsaw nights - Samppanjaa

We now celebrate the end of our Finnpicks Disco Week by drinking campagne with Lea Laven. She recorded one fine example of Finnish disco called "Samppanjaa" (Champagne) in 1983. The original song didn't actually tell about drinking champagne, but was called "Warsaw nights" And it really was from Poland (although heavily produced by Germans). The song was performed by a Warsaw group called Dwa Plus Jeden (2+1 in Polish, and yes, it was three of them). It was sometimes considered as Polish Abba, but it's hard to see why. The band was fronted by sexy Elzbieta Dmoch who also took care of the lead singing. He was accompanied by two bearded guys who seemed not to have any active role on stage. They sang partly in English, as you can hear also in this song.

Here's the pair:

Kasztany - Yö saaristossa

Eija Merilä (real name Eija Muhonen) was a promising new singstress already in the 60's, but her breakthrough came in 1971 when she recorded the cover of Lynn Anderon's "Rose Garden". In 1964, however, her second single was "Yö saaristossa" (A night in the archipelago). This beautiful song has became a Finnish dance band classic, and is guaranteed to fill the dance floors, at least in the dance balls for elderly people ;-). The song sounds so much like a traditional Finnish song, that it was a big surprise to find out that it is in fact of Polish origin. The original was called "Kasztany" (Chestnuts), and was recorded in 1956 by a popular Polish singer Natasza Zylska (real name Natasza Zygelman). She had many hits in Poland in the 50's and 60's, but in 1963 she emigrated to Israel.

Here's the pair: