Captain Sky - Kapteeni Aika

Paula Koivuniemi (see previous entry). released the song "Kapteeni Aika" (Captain Time) on her "Lady Sentimental" -album in 1978. It was also released as a single and it was a big hit turning out to be some kind of come-back for Paula at the time. The original song was called "Captain Sky" and was performed by Egyptian/Italian/French singer Dalida (see previous entry). The song was on her 1977 album "Femme est la nuit" and released as a successful single.

Here's the pair:

Flash of Fire - Tulta isken missä taula on

Cumulus was a sort of Finnish super group. It was born in 1969 and included former 60's folk music greats, like Anki (see previous entry) and Hector (see previous entry). The members met in the Finnish production of the musical "Hair" and decided to form a folk group. Their breakthrough came in 1970 with their debut single "Puuvillapellot" (Cotton fields), a cover of a well-known American folk song "Cotton Fields". The excellent but largely forgotten gem "Tulta isken missä taula on" (I'll strike the firestone when there's tinder) was on the groups 1978 album "Uskokaa tai älkää" (Believe it or not). At this point Hector had already left the band for solo career. The original song was written and performed by American country music singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton, whose songs are surprisingly often 'finnpicked'. This song "Flash of Fire" was on his 1976 album "Fearless".

Here's the pair:

Second Hand Rose - Divarin helmi

Kristiina Hautala (see previous entry) recorded "Divarin helmi" (Pearl of the antiques shop) in the summer of 1966. It was on the B-side of her big hit "En koskaan". The song portrayed Kristiina as a budding cabaret singer. This subsequently lead her to doing successful tv- and night club shows. The original song was called "Second Hand Rose", which is an old vaudeville number that surfaced first time in the Broadway show "Ziegfried Follies" in 1921. In the show it was performed by Fanny Brice but - as solo singers were not hitmakers those days - it was recorded and made into hit by Ted Lewis Jazz Band. Ted Lewis was a clarinetist, singer and entertainer (He even was called 'Mr. Entertainer'). The song and the success was reborn in 1965, when Barbra Streisand performed it in a Broadway stage act "Funny Girl" telling the story of afore-mentioned Fanny Brice.

Here's the triple:

I Still Believe In Tomorrow - Yhä virta venhettä kantaa

As I have stated before Danny was brilliant in finding hidden gems to record. "Yhä virta venhettä kantaa" (The boat still rolls on the river) was one of those. It was released as a single in 1970. The original tune was called "I Still Believe In Tomorrow" and perfomed by a duo called John & Anne Ryder. Unfortunately I know nothing about them. The song was a minor hit for the couple in UK in 1969. The song still gets plenty of requests, described as "flower pop/psych" and as "a breakup song with rather anguished male-female vocal harmonies and a great horn arrangement." BTW, the song was co-written by Marty Wilde, father of Kim Wilde.

Here's the pair:

I Can Hear The Grass Grow - Kuulen ruohon kasvun

We end this 5-day Finnpicks rock spree the same way we started it. It's time for Kontra again. The group recorded "Kuulen ruohon kasvun" (I hear the grass grow) in 1978. The song was on their album "Kontran toinen puoli" (The other side of Kontra). It was a truly remarkable album, covering songs from Rogers & Hammerstein to Frank Zappa. The original "Grass" -song was written by Roy Wood and of course performed by his group The Move in 1967. It was the second single by the group and the song itself was psychedelic rock song referring to the synesthetic effects of hallucinogenics. Moog Konttinen's Finnish lyrics even go beyond that and appear to be written under influence ... ;-9

Here's the pair:

Squeeze Box - Mutsi täytti viiskyt

Freeman (real name Leo Friman) broke through in 1976 with his smash hit 'Ajetaan me tandemilla" (Lets ride on a tandem bike). At first Freeman was guitarist in a group called Waterloo, but later went solo. His early hits were all his own compositions and lyricist was our old Finnpicked friend Hector (se previous entry). In the 80's Freeman was music jourmalist in Finnish National Radio, and from the 90's until present days he's been very active with the retro group Menneisyyden Vangit (Prisoners of the Past). Freeman recorded "Mutsi täytti viiskyt" (Momma turned fifty) in 1976 and it was released as a B-side to his another hit single "Osuuskaupan Jane". Lyrics were again done by Hector. The original song was performed by The Who and was called "Squeeze Box". It was on their "Who By Numbers" -album and released as a single in 1975. The dictionary tells us that "The term Squeezebox is a colloquial expression referring to any musical instrument of the general class of hand-held bellows-driven free reed aerophones such as the accordion or concertina. The term is so applied because such instruments are generally in the shape of a rectangular prism or box, and the bellows is operated by squeezing in and drawing out." Of course lyrics both in Finnish and original version, song contain sexual innuendo.

Here's the pair:

Blinded By The Light - Mennään Rööperiin

Pepe Willberg has been active in the Finnish pop and rock scene for nearly 50 years. Between 1962 and 1975 he worked in groups like Islanders, Jormas and Pepe & Paradise. After that mainly as a solo artist. He recorded "Mennään Rööperiin" (Lets go to Rööperi) in 1977 on his album "Lady Madonna". Rööperi is a shady neighborhood in Helsinki City. And it was not the first time Pepe sang about it. Jormas recorded ten years earlier a very successful cover of Beatles' Penny Lane called "Rööperiin" (to Rööperi). The later 'Rööperi' -song was also released as a single, but didn't exactly cause a commotion. Which is a pity, becouse it is a good cover of the original. And the original is no less than "Blinded By The Light" made famous by Manfred Mann's Earth Band in the start of 1977. If Pepe's version was a good cover of Earth Band's version then their cover was an excellent cover of the original written and performed by Bruce Springsteen in 1973. It was the first song on, and first single from, Springsteen's debut album "Greetings from Asbury Park N.J". Springsteen's version was unsuccessful, and failed to appear on the music charts. But thanks to Manfred Mann the song has become a classic.

Here's the triple:

Bad Bad Boy - Paha tyttö

Muska (real name Marija Babitzin), the younger sister to Kirka recorded several rocking pieces in the 70's. She was about the only Finnish female pop artist at the time to own a 'rocker' image. She cut her first single in 1971 and has been recording and gigging ever since releasing a new album even this year. In 1973 she released "Paha tyttö" (Bad girl) as a single. The original song was written and performed by the members of UK rock group Nazareth. It was very popular in Finland in the 70's with their own singles and albums. For some reason this "Bad Bad Boy" seems to be only Nazareth song that has been covered with Finnish lyrics. There's another one with different lyrics done by the famous Eläkeläiset -group with the original title "Mä humppapappa oon" (I'm an Humba Papa). Perhaps the extraordinary voice of Nazareth's lead singer Dan McCafferty have intimidated Finnish hopefuls. But not Muska ...

Here's the pair: