One of the bifggest hits in 1984 in Finland was "Miljoona ruusua" (Million roses). The song was released in several versions, but the most successful was the one by Vera Telenius. She had also written Finnish lyrics. At the time Vera was already 72 years old and was the oldest artist ever to be chosen as the 'Soloist of the Year' in 1984. The sales of the album "Miljoona ruusua" earned her a Diamond Record. The original song was composed by Latvian master of melody, Pauls Raimonds. And the performer was the Russian Diva herself, Alla Pugacheva. we have finnpicked one Pauls-Pugatsova collaboration before, see here.
Merja Rantamäki is known for her personal singing voice described as "gypsy vibrato". Her first recording and her big breakthrough in 1976 was "Mä mistä löytäisin sen laulun" (Where would I find that song). The end of the the 70's was her prime time with 4 succesful albums under her belt. In the beginning of 80's Merja abandoned her singing career and devoted to family life. The original song was called "A Gde Mne Vzjat Takuju Pesnju" (Where do I take this song ) and was recorded by Russian Olga Voronec in the 60's. Olga was a famous mezzo-soprano performing mainly Russian folk songs. In 1956 at the International Folk Festival in France, the Russian folk song "Kalinka" performed by Olga enjoyed such success that the singer was renamed as "Olga-Kalinka". Her voice ranging from delicate pianissimo to powerful forte contributed to her big success in Soviet Union.
From the end of the 60's through the beginning of the 80's was the era of left-wing song movement in Finland. It had its roots in political theatre in the 60's and the program groups of the radical youth movement of the university students. One of the later emblems of the era was Arja Saijonmaa and her "Ystävän laulu" (Song about a friend). Although the lyrics (written by Juha Vainio) of the song are nothing more than simple story of how a true friend behaves, the song has been labeled as "political". Arja Saijonmaa recorded the song in 1983 and it became one of her greatest hits. Arja was already an established entertainer at the time having recorded with Mikis Theodorakis and making other international appearences. She later made her biggest breakthrough in Sweden. The original song is of Russian origin and called "Pesnya o druge" (Song about friend). It was written and performed by legendary Russian troubadour Vladimir Vysotski. Vysotski sang simple ballads about love. war, peace and everyday Soviet life. However in Soviet Union he was considered as "forbidden singer", and thus his recordings are often made with elementary equipment. The quality of sound is not very good as you can hear yourself. But the feeling of utmost sincerity is there ...
This is the one song that has - perhaps more than any other pop song - raised the question of who can rightfully claim to be the original author. Päivi Paunu recorded "Oi niitä aikoja" (Oh those times) in 1968. After 2 years modest success as a folk singer, this was her big break-through and the one song she's later been labeled with. She represented Finland in 1972 Eurovision Song Contest together with Kim Floor performing the song "Muistathan". Päivi ended her professional singing career in the 80's. The original song is an old Russian romance "Dorogoi dlinnoyu" (By a long road) composed by Boris Fomin. The oldest recorded version I could find was done in the 1920's by Alexander Vertinsky, a legendary Russian singer, cabaret artist and actor who had a great influence on the Russian tradition of artistic singing. The song has since been recorded by several Russian artists. It even travelled across Europe and to the United States; Maria Schell sang it in the Richard Brooks film "The Brothers Karamazov" in 1958. An American folk singer Gene Raskin wrote English lyrics to it and performed it, with his wife Francesca, in the Greenwich Village folk circuits in New York. This first English version of the song as "Those Were The Days" was recorded and popularized in 1962 by folk group Limeliters. The Limeliters had never a true chart-topping hit record, but they were well known for their large repertoire of songs, which are performed on their more than 25 albums. Paul McCartney heard Gene & Francesca play "Those Were the Days" in a London club and recalled the song when picking material for his protégée Mary Hopkin. And the rest is of course history. It became one of the most popular songs worldwide - ever.
Updated on 15.08.2010: added Annikki Tähti's original Finnish language version (1958).
"Ilman Minua" (Without me) by Paula Koivuniemi was released as a single in 1986. This dramatic ballad was well suited for Paula's voice and it has since remained one of her most requested songs. The original "Bez Menja" (Without me) was done by none other than Alla Pugacheva of Russia. It was perhaps appropriate for a great diva to sing a love song as "Without me", than more commonly "Without you". The song was composed by famous Latvian composer Pauls Raimonds. Alla's career started in 1965 and is still flourishing today. Recently, a radio station was launched bearing her name - Radio Alla. She enjoys a somewhat iconic status in Russia and is the most successful all-time-Soviet performer in terms of record sales and popularity. In 1991 she became the last person to be named a "People's Artist of the USSR".
The Finns have always had a fling for sad slavic ballads. Heikki Aarva recorded one of those in 1963, and it was titled 'Tuulella ei ole ystävää' (The wind has no friend). The warm-voiced Heikki was working for Finnish Television as editor and producer and he had a quite short career as a singer. But this song has become a classic. It was originally a Russian song called 'Pesnya o druge' (Song about friend) from the 1962 movie 'Put k prichalu' (aka Road to Berth) directed by famous Georgian director Georgija Danelija. The song was performed - sung and whistled - by Eduard Hill, a renowned Russian singer from St. Petersburg.
Updated on 15.01.2011: added Tapio Rautavaara's version (1963), with different Finnish lyrics.
This song is not a real Finnish version, but as it is sung in Finnish and made for the Finnish audience, I will let it pass. Hootenanny Singers were the top Folk singing group in Sweden in the 60's. As to widen their audience in Scandinavia they released 1964 a song in Finnish called "Gabrielle". Although their pronounciation of the Finnish language made people smile, the singing and the melody were strong enough to make it a hit. All we Abba fans know of course that one of the members of the group was Bjön Ullvaeus. The original song originated from Soviet Union (i.e. today's Russia). It won the Sopot International Song festival in 1963, and was then performed by Tamara Miansarova. The title of the song would transcribe something like this "Pust vsiegda budiet solnce" meaning 'May there always be sunshine'. The song is very patriotic and became very popular in Soviet Union and was frequently performed by children, usually dressed in their Young Pioneers uniforms. So, let's hear an example of those versions, too.
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