Mama Packed A Picnic Tea - Miten olis pienet teet

Let's present another one from Marco I, or Markku Härkönen. He used his real name when releasing this "Miten oli pienet teet" (How about a cuppa tea) in 1971. Of his recorded out of 8 songs this song was most close to be a hit . It has become some kind of 'underground classic'. The finnish lyrics were provided by Chrisse Johansson. The original song was called "Mama Packed A Picnic Tea". It was one of the lesser known Matt Monro singles, released in 1971.  The song tells about an English family, who made it their Sunday picnic to go to see different kind of accidents and nature disasters. And one day they apparently met their destiny in a similar kind of accident. An odd story, it is ... The producer of the record was the one and only George Martin and in deed you can hear some familiar beatles-que elements in the production.

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Man kann nicht alle mädchen kûssen - Jos vielä kerran hetken verran suudellaan

In the 50's and still in the beginning of the 60's Finnish singers did frequently covers of German schlagers. After the pop revolution (i.e. Beatles e.a.) there were fewer and fewer of those. And in the 70's it was quite a rarity. So, this "Jos vielä kerran hetken verran suudellaan" (If we still kiss for awhile one more time) is one of the rare breed. It was recorded by a singer named Marco I (real name Markku Härkönen) in 1970. Marco I released only 4 singles in the years 1968-1971, using also his real name on some. Sadly, the big success avoided him. The original German song was called song was called "Man kann nicht alle mädchen kûssen". (One can not kiss all the girls). It was first mad national hit by an artist named Bernd Apitz. Bernd was a singer and a disc jockey, who had a couple of hits 40 years ago and is still active and touring today. BTW, his present road show is called "Reiner Wahnsinn" (Pure Madness).

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Delta Queen - Tule kotiin

Jetit (see earlier entry) recorded "Tule kotiin" (Come home) in 1973. It was released on the flipside of their cover of Seals & Crofts "Funny Little Man". This "Tule kotiin" clearly had some hit potential, but it never realized. The Finnsih lyrics were done by Vexi Salmi. The original song was called "Delta Queen". It was first recorded by a South African group called Proudfoot. I don't know if it ever was a hit for them outside South Africa, but the song, sounding not unlike the 1971 smash hit 'Mamy Blue', was at least moderate hit in Germany (see it here), and in France (see it here) in local cover versions. Well, the song could have another "Mamy Blue", but wasn't ... 

58 Finnpicks to go.

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Emotion - Sua tarvitsen niin

Bon Bon (see the earlier entry) recorded "Sua tarvitsen niin" (I need you so) in 1979. It was released on the B-side of their cover of Blondie's "Heart Of Glass". Both sides, however, failed to cause any action chartwise. The Finnish lyrics for today's finnpick were (again) done by Chrisse Johansson. The original song "Emotion" originated from the pens of Gibb brothers Barry and Robin, who wrote it in 1977 for the Australian songstress Samantha Sang (b. Cheryl Lau Sang) while she was visiting Bee Gees in France, where they were recording songs for the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The recorded song featured backing vocals by Barry, and in 1978 it became a major hit worldwide. In USA, it reached number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100. You can see Samantha perform the song, here.

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Papa - Isä

Today is Father's Day. Many countries celebrate it in June but we in Scandinavian countries celebrate it in the middle of darkest autumn. There are much less songs of fathers than mothers (I wonder why ...). But here's one, to honor all the fathers. Kari Tapio (yes, him again) recorded "Isä" (Father) in 1975. The Finnish lyrics were made by a woman, Chrisse Johansson. For some inexplicable reason it was at the time released only on a compilation album. The original version of this beautiful song was written and performed by Paul Anka, bearing the title "Papa". So here's to you all 'isät', 'papas', 'fathers', 'grandpas', etc,

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Shang-a-lang - Shang-a-lang

Upon researching the Finnpicks I have come up with many surprises and amazing facts. Today's finnpick is one example of those. Well, I couldn't have imagined Kari Tapio ever covering Bay City Rollers. But he really did it, in 1974, when he released single with "Shang-a-lang" on it. Perhaps understandably, it was not a hit and the song has not been included in any of Kari's compilation albums. But nothing wrong with the song, though ... The original "Shang-a-lang" was written by top songwriter duo Phil Coulter and Bill Martin and was the 3rd UK Top Ten hit for Bay City Rollers  reaching number 2 in 1974. You can see them perform it, here.

61 Finnpicks to go.

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The Way - Hillitön hopeinen kuu

On the trail of yesterday's 'full moon' we today present another moon -themed song. Heikki Hela recorded "Hillitön hopeinen kuu" (Uncontrollable silvery moon) in 2007. You can see him perform the song live, here. Heikki was going to be a teacher, but he started a career as musician in the 80's, first in a gospel group and then in the 90's as a solo artist. He's also known for his work with the comedy act Kummeli and for several appearences in TV shows, TV plays and movies. The original song "The Way" was a sizeable hit in 1998 for the American rock group Fastball . This song is based on the true story of an elderly couple, who drove to a local festival and then just kept on going. She had Alzheimer's disease and he was recovering from brain surgery. When they disappeared, there was a series of newspaper articles about the missing couple and after reading the articles Fastball bassist Tony Scalzo came up with the idea for the song. You can see the official music video of the song, here.

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Under The Moon Of Love - Meidän on täysikuu

Today we all can see - clouds permitting - the full moon. So it's also precisely right moment for presenting this song. Kisu recorded "Meidän on täysikuu" (The full moon is ours) in 1977. It was released as a single, but proved out to be a non-hit. The original song "Under The Moon Of Love" was minor hit in the U.S. reaching number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961. It was performed and co-written by Curtis Lee  and produced by Phil Spector. The best-known song of Curtis Lee is "Pretty little Anger Eyes", which reached US Top 10 in 1961. The "Moon" -song was revived in 1976, when Showaddywaddy, a popular British teddy-revival band of he 70's hit number one in UK and it reached the Top 20 also in Finland. You can see the band perform the song, here.

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