Dschinghis Khan - Tsingis Khan

It's Frederik Friday and Frederik's contribution to Finnpicks Disco Week is his rendition of "Tsingis Khan". The album of the same name was released in 1979. It was Frederik's biggest success to date and earned him his first Gold Record. I don't know it this is true, but it has been told that when the German composer of the song Ralph Siegel heard this version, he called to Finland saying that this was better than original. The original being of course "Dschinghis Khan" performed by the group Dschinghis Khan. The group was initially formed for just one purpose; to perform this song in Eurovison Song Contest 1979 (as it did, and placed 4th) but it became a much bigger and long-lasting phenomenon and has earned some cult status among disco people. The real Genghis Khan - the name meaning ‘Universal Ruler’ - lived about 1155–1227. He was originally called Temujin and was the son of a Mongol chieftain. He became ruler of all Mongols in 1206 and subsequently conquered other areas in Asia. When he died, his empire ranged from the Yellow Sea to the Black Sea. Genghis Khan controlled probably a larger area than any other individual in history. The ruins of his capital Karakorum are southwest of Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.

Here's the pair:

Hadschi Halef Omar - Sheikki Ali Hassan

It's Frederik Friday again!. Frederik recorded "Sheikki Ali Hassan" in 1980. It fit like a glove for him and became a moderate-size hit. The lyrics - made by Juha Vainio - tell about mischievous Sheik Ali Hassan in an unnamed country. Not politically correct these days, I guess. The original song was from the pen of the German songsmith Ralph Siegel. His compositions have been frequently covered in Finland - at least about 30 of those. The original song was titled "Hadschi Halef Omar" and performed by disco stomper group Dschingis Khan. "Hadschi Halef Omar" is not a Sheik but a character in the adventure books written by Karl May, and his whole name is Hadschi Halef Omar Ben Hadschi Abul Abbas Ibn Hadschi Dawud al Gossarah (whoah!). He's the side-kick of the German adventurer Kara Ben Nemsi ('Karl, the Son of the Germans' in Arabic) . Dschingis Khan was a group that was created for 1979 Eurovision Song Contest. Their entry was also called "Dschinghis Khan". It placed in 4th and the group gained some cult status among ESC fans. The group had some succesful singles, but they disbanded in 1985.

Here's the pair:

Brasilo Brasila - Brasilo brasila

Let's have another one from Taiska. In 1976 she recorded "Brasilo brasila". It reflects the well-known tendency of the Finns to love anything EXOTIC in those days. It usually was a sure bet to pick up an exotic sounding song for the artist to cover. The exotism might have been in the name of the song or in the melody or arrangement. This Taiska's song has it all - carnival music from Brazil. But it was not from Brazil. Not a long way. The song was the Eurovision Song Contest entry in the national semi-finals of Luxembourg in 1976 (it placed in 2nd). It was presented by a group called Best Wishes, of which we haven't heard anything since. But the composer of the song was ESC -legend Ralph Siegel. He has been composer for 18(!) ESC entries and his big moment came in 1982, when Nicole won with his 'Ein Bisschen Frieden'.

Here's the pair: