Kari Jalkanen - Niskavuoren Nuorimmainen

KARI JALKANEN

Tuuli kääntyköön / Niskavuoren nuorimmainen

RCA Victor FAS 051
1972
7"






Kari Tapio (born Kari Jalkanen) is one of the most famous schlager singers in Finland. He started his career attending Danny's tours and acting as a keeper for the snake used in the shows. This first single was released under his real name Kari Jalkanen, but shortly after he took the artist name Kari Tapio. Despite the slightly unfunky singing on the funk song Niskavuoren Nuorimmainen, this 45 is one of the most sought after funky records from Finland among the Finnish groovy music enthusiasts. The song itself is pretty strict rip from Quincy Jones' hit Hicky burr with Jukka Virtanen's lyrics about the fictional Niskavuori family (propably related to the famous Finnish drama series). They've even wrote a "thanks also to Quincy Jones" on label, but no writing credits. The song is arranged by Esko Linnavalli and backed by his band. The a-side song Tuuli kääntyköön is quite non-interesting schlager song.


Niskavuoren nuorimmainen

Vesa-Matti Loiri - 4+20

VESA-MATTI LOIRI

4+20

Finnlevy SFLP 9513
1971
LP






4+20 is the first album of Finnish well know actor, comedian and musician Vesa-Matti Loiri. Best known for his lead role in countless Uuno Turhapuro movies, he is also a professional flautist. The album is mostly flute-driven jazzfunk and free jazz, but there's also elements from folk songs on some songs. Vesa-Matti Loiri's musical career headed more and more into singing after this album. Due to a quite small pressing and poor distribution, this album is really hard to find nowadays. The best songs on this album are 3 different takes of the title track 4+20, uptempo groover Turkish coffee, latin influenced Carnavalito & El condor pasa, heavy vocal track Itkevä huilu (weeping flute in English) and of course the uptempo jazzfunk monster coming home baby. There's pretty impressive list of famous Finnish musicians on this album too. Pekka Sarmanto on bass and drums, Esko Rosnell on drums, Hasse Walli on guitar, eero Koivistoinen and Esa Pethman on saxophones, Tuomo Tanska on Organ and of course Vesa-Matti Loiri himself on flute, recorder and percussion among other musicians. Highly recommended album. If there's any chance, pick it up with no hesitation. Album was reissued in 2011.


Turkish Coffee


Carnavalito & El condor pasa


Coming home baby


Itkevä huilu


4+20 (1. session)

Eero Koivistoinen - Valtakunta

EERO KOIVISTOINEN

Valtakunta

Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava OTALP 66
1968
LP






Valtakunta LP from 1968 was a pretty ambitious album by Finnish jazz scene maestro Eero Koivistoinen, who is best known for his work with psychedelic rock/blues band Blues Section among his own jazz albums such as For Children, Original Sin, Wahoo! and many others. Valtakunta was his first solo project and it's a mixture of psychedelic rock, jazz and ballads. It was even published not by any record label, but by a Finnish book publishing company Otava. The musicians in this album are familiar from other projects such as Blues Section, Suomen Talvisota 1939-1940, Wigwam and so on. With Ronnie Österberg on drums, Pekka Sarmanto on bass, Juhani Aaltonen, Paroni Paakkunainen and Eero Koivistoinen on saxophone, Hasse Walli on electric guitar Antero Jakoila on sitar among others, the line-up is top notch. Vocals are sung by well known singers of that time; Eero Raittinen, Seija Simola, Vesa-Matti Loiri and also Eero Koivistoinen himself. Lyrics on this album are written by poets Pentti Saarikoski, Tuomas Anhava, Jarkko Laine and Hannu Mäkelä. Valtakunta is a pretty weird album with really psychedelic and a little messed up feeling. Unfortunately the album is really rare these days, and even the cd reissue from 1995 is really hard to find.


Lennosta kii


Pientä peliä urbaanissa limousinessa


Kello kuusi

Danny - Seitsemän kertaa seitsemän

DANNY

Seitsemän kertaa seitsemän / Tukholma

Scandia KS 765
1968
7"






A-side song Seitsemän kertaa seitsemän is a italo-western style soundtrack song from a Finnish Robin Hood parody Noin seitsemän veljestä. It's written and arranged by Jaakko Salo, as are most soundtrack songs in Spede Pasanen's movies. B-side song Tukholma is a cover of Bobby Bare's country hit Detroit City from 1962. It's however more uptempo and funkier than the original with arrangements made by Paroni Paakkunainen and backed by Danny's band Islanders.


Seitsemän kertaa seitsemän


Tukholma

Check out also the over 8 minutes long extended version from the movie.

Paula Koivuniemi - Kapteeni aika

PAULA KOIVUNIEMI

Kapteeni aika / Taas tuuli soi
Blue MAster SPS 16
1978
7"







Kapteeni aika is one of my favorite Finnish cover songs of all time. The original, Captain sky, was written by Pino Massara and Vito Pallavicini and sung by Dalida in 1977. Nice groovy downtempo track that follows the original quite strictly. The b-side song Taas tuuli soi is a quite dull uptempo schlager song.

Seidat - Kuinka voit sä kaukomailla

SEIDAT

Sumu / Kuinka voit sä kaukomailla
Scandia KS 889
1972
7"







Kuinka voit sä kaukomailla is a groovy cover of Nancy sinatra's How are things in california. Arranged by Jaakko Salo and backed by Jaakko Salo's orchestra it can't go wrong. A-side song is a vocal version of early electronic pop classic Popcorn made originally by the great moog maestro Gershon Kingsley. Somehow Popcorn have always given me the creeps but I kind of like this version arranged by Olli Heikkilä and backed by his orchestra.


Kuinka voit sä kaukomailla


Sumu

Eija Merilä - Iät ja ajat

EIJA MERILÄ

Mä tahdon teidän oppivan / Iät ja ajat
Scandia KS 875
1972
7"







I've never been a big Dionne Warwick fan I must admit, but Say a little prayer makes an exception for me. I've always loved the song, and the way Eija Merilä did the cover version of that song gives me goose bumps. In a good way. It's a quite pompous song in a strong Bacharach-David way. Really good groover I must say. A-side song Mä tahdon teidän oppivan is a cover of The New Seekers song I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing, a song originally for a Coca Cola commercial in 1971.

Arto Nuotio - Seksikkäin

ARTO NUOTIO

Seksikkäin / Kesä saapuu sittenkin

Fifty-Fifty FFS 61
1980
7"






"Seksikkäin" is a cover version of the song "Sexy eyes" originally recorded 1979 by Dr. Hook, a pop-country rock band from USA. The song is quite similar to the original, a nice modern soul groover. B-side song "Kesä saapuu sittenkin" is an Arto Nuotio original, a schlager song that's not that good at all. Both songs appear also on Arto Nuotio's self titled LP (Fifty-Fifty 1980) and "Seksikkäin" also appear on Timanttihitit 2 compilation (Fifty-Fifty 1980).

Danny - Painajainen

DANNY

Alla sateen öisen / Painajainen

Scandia KS 705
1967
7"






Danny did a pretty good job when covering the Jorge Ben classic Mas que nada. Arranged by Esko Linnavalli and backed by Esko Linnavalli's orchestra, this song is a Finnish latin music classic. The lyrics are about a nightmare Danny is having every night. Painajainen is also released on his album Danny (Scandia 1969) and also on Scandia various artists 45 EP Neljä iskelmää (1967). All these are pretty hard to find tho. This 45 also has the best sound quality of those mentioned. A-side song Alla sateen öisen is a Finnish version of Andy Williams song The Many Faces Of Love written by Doc Pomus.

Calypso king & the soul investigators - Calypso strut

CALYPSO KING & THE SOUL INVESTIGATORS

Calypso strut / Party food

Jive 001
1998
7"






Debut 45 from the world famous Finnish funk group The soul investigators released under the longer form of their name Calypso king & the soul investigators. Released in 1998 on their own Jive label (not to be confused with the multinational record corpration with the same name), it started their long lasting career as one of the leading new funk bands in the world. Side a track Calypso strut is a uptempo funk song that starts with a break and continues to bang whole way through. B-side track Party food is a downtempo funk track with a little psychedelic feel and some nice fuzz guitar working. Especially the a side track has a strong bayo funk feel in it. This 45 was realesed with a pressing of only hundred or two so it's really scarce and in demand these days.


Calypso strut


Party food

Kirka - Igor

KIRKA

Igor / Alku kaiken kauniin

Scandia KS 810
1969
7"






Igor is a very raw uptempo funk song about a dog named Igor. Both songs are taken from a Jörn Donner movie 69, that was released the same year. In an interview Kirka tells that Jörn Donner was making a movie at that time and needed the music for it. So he rushed into the Scandia office and told that he needed a singer, a good one, and he knew Scandia had one. So Donner picked up Kirka to sing the soundtrack songs that were first released on a four track 45 ep and later on Kirka's self titled debut studio album. Kirka also tells that Donner already had in mind some songs made by Claes af Geijerstam that were already recorded in Sweden and he wanted Kirka to sing them in Finnish. On the other hand, Kirka's autobiography says that these songs were made for the movie 69 and later sung in English by Tommy Körberg for the international version of the movie. Anyway Igor is a great funk track that starts with a raw drum break and also features some exotic sounds made by a guitar with really loose strings that sound just like a sitar. There's two different versions of the Igor 45 with the other one (KS 811) having the song Pitkän tien pää (another Spinning wheel cover) on the flipside. KS 810 starts with an introduction of the song and the drum break fades in from the silence while KS 811 (and the album version) starts with the banging break without any fade in. B-side track Alku kaiken kauniin is a ballad from the movie. Both tracks appear also on the album Kirka (Scandia HSLP 114). Both the album and the 45s are quite hard to find.

Purema - Kaunis kaupunkilainen

PUREMA

Eks tiä / Kaunis kaupunkilainen

Sonet T6594
1975
7"






Purema was a band from Pori, who released four albums before they were disbanded in 1984. This 45 is from their first album Eks tiä released in 1976. The b-side song Kaunis kaupunkilainen is a cover of Sweet city woman, a nice funky pop rock tune that was originally made famous by Canadian rock band The Stampeders. The a-side song Eks tiä is a quite non-interesting pop rock song.

Dirty Harry sextet - Go ahead! (make my day)

DIRTY HARRY SEXTET

Go ahead! / Footsteps

Rey Records REY001
2005
7"






Dirty Harry sextet is a combo from Turku who concentrate on instrumental funk, mixing blaxploitation themes, chase funk and police movie atmospheres. Their debut 45 was released in 2005, but they haven't released nothing since. Hopefully they will activate themselves again some day, because this 45 is a nice peace of cinematic funk that I like. The a-side song Go ahead! is a banging uptempo blaxploitation chase scene'ish percussion driven banger with a really hectic feeling. The b-side song Footsteps is more mellow, groovy midtempo soft porn movie theme styled song. The pressing of this 45 was only 525 copies so it's getting scarce nowadays.


Go ahead!


Footsteps

Brita Koivunen - Jauhan Kahvia

BRITA KOIVUNEN

Jauhan kahvia / Untamon Sormus

Scandia KS 450
1962
7"






Although filed under samba, "Jauhan kahvia" is actually a cover of "Moliendo cafe", a venezuelan rumba song from 1958 by Hugo Blanco. Also known as "Coffee rumba", this old standard has spawned nearly 1000 covers worldwide and Brita Koivunen's groovy version follows the original theme quite well. The lyrics are about grinding coffee to a date that never shows up. The backing band in this 45 is the always tight Jaakko Salo's Orchestra. The b-side song "Untamon sormus" is a regular 60s schlager song. This 45 though is quite hard to find these days.

Farout - Further out

FAROUT

Further out

Kompass Records KOLP-16
1979
LP






Farout was a jazz-rock band from Lappeenranta, eastern Finland that won the national rock championships on a progressive line in 1978. After the success on championships, they got their debut album Further out released on Kompass Records in 1979. Unfortunately the success of the album was really poor with the sales only about 500 copies. From the beginning, the band played only instrumental music and so it is with the album too. The tracks are pretty strict jazz-rock fusion with a hint of progressive nuances. Best track on this album is the last song, funky fusion jam Brainwash (...Uhh!). Saxophonist Pekka Pöyry is also featuring on few tracks. Rare album nowadays.

Unisono - Unisono

UNISONO

Unisono

Hi-Hat HILP 106
1975
LP






Unisono was a Finnish jazz-fusion group that was founded 1973 by saxophist/flautist Paroni Paakkunainen, trumpetist Mike Koskinen, pianist Olli Ahvenlahti, guitarist Hasse Walli, bassist Make Lievonen ja drummer Reiska Laine. They recorded their only album in Stockholm in 1975 with Nono Söderberg on guitar and Pekka Pohjola on bass among Paakkunainen, Ahvenlahti and Laine. The band was disbanded few months after the album release and the players continued with their other projects. The music itself is quite strict jazz-rock fusion on a Chick Corea and Miles Davis manner. The grooviest track on this album is the opening track TVL, a nice funky fusion jam that goes smoothly the whole six minutes. This record though is hard to find for a reasonable price.

Lea Laven - Niin

LEA LAVEN

Niin

EMI 5e062-35052
1974
LP






From the Lea Laven 1974 album Niin is picked the track King Kong. I'm not 100% sure who first recorded the original, but I have a strong doubt that it was The Electric Ladies on Mainstream Records the same year. King Kong is a downtempo funky track about the huge gorilla we all know. The rest of the record is decent and not-that-decent schlager with covers from songs like We've only just begun, Dark lady, Yesterday once more, The man who sold the World, Superstar and so on. Not too common album, but not that hard to find either.

Esa Nieminen - Jo vain

ESA NIEMINEN

Jo vain / On meillä aikaa

Decca SD 5827
1976
7"






Funky downtempo schlager song Jo vain on side a is a cover of Bad blood, a song by Neil Sedaka that hit #1 in Billboard Hot 100 list in 1975. Lyrics on this song are written by Juha Vainio. B-side track On meillä aikaa is a quite dull schlager song. Common 45 and quite easy to find.

Soulset - Ahdistus

SOULSET

Ahdistus / Nyt on tie sulle avoin

Sonet T 6519
1968
7"






First of the three singles released by Soulset, a Finnish soul band formed in 1968 by Paroni Paakkunainen, Pekka Laitinen, Juhani Aaltonen, Ilpo Saastamoinen, Jori Auvinen, Edward Vesala and Harri Saksala. Band was disbanded already 1969 after the three singles and two split albums. Ahdistus (anxiety in English) on side a is a downtempo soul-funk song with heart-rending lyrics. Nyt on tie sulle avoin instead is an uptempo soul song with a beat influence. This 45 is hard to find, as are all the releases by this band.


Ahdistus


Nyt on tie sulle avoin

Night train - Pyörä pyörii

NIGHT TRAIN

Pyörä pyörii / Voit yksin kaiken muuttaa

Blue Master 45-BLU 725
1969
7"






A nice double sider with really big beats. Night train was a short lived band from late 60s with possibly only two 45 releases. Here's the better one with a cover of Blood, Sweat & Tears classic Spinning wheel on the a-side. On the b-side you will find cover of You've made me so very happy as recorded by Brenda Holloway and later made famous by Blood, Sweat & Tears. The arrangements for both songs are made by Esa Helasvuo. There's even a nice break on the Spinning wheel cover Pyörä pyörii. Unfortunately this is a scarce 45 and quite hard to find.


Pyörä Pyörii


Voit yksin kaiken muuttaa

Maarit - Herään eiliseen

MAARIT / PEPE WILLBERG

Herään eiliseen

Kodak KOD 1
1976
7" advertisement record






When celebrating the 10th anniversary of Kodak products in Finland, they released this 45 in 1976. Originally Kodak film created an advertising campaign in 1975 that featured Paul Anka singing a jingle entitled Times of your life and Herään eiliseen is a cover of it. There's the same song on both sides, but with a totally different versions. The b-side version by Pepe Willberg is a slow ballad, but the a-side by Maarit is a really funky modern soul number with nice vocals. I guess they pressed this single with quite a big quantity as it's not that hard to find.

Tuula Amberla - Korppi

TUULA AMBERLA

Korppi / Alkava kevät

Sonet SOPOS 190
1992
7"





"Korppi" is one of the several Finnish versions of Jeanette Dimech classic "Porque te vas". While the other versions are about lost love, this one is about teenage agony and a stuffed raven... Really beautiful song even though it's made as late as 1992.

Janus - Huono juttu

JANUS

Hyvää matkaa / Huono juttu

Love Records LRS 2144
1976
7"






Janus was a short lived band formed in 1970's by Maarit and Sami Hurmerinta among some other musicians. They released only this one 45 and were disbanded shortly after. A-side song Hyvää matkaa is a cover of You got the love by the funk band Rufus which is quite nice. The real winner in this 45 is the b-side funky modern soul track Huono juttu written and arranged by Sami Hurmerinta. Pretty hard to find 45 on a legendary Love Records label.

Lasse Mårtenson - Miltä meno maistuu

LASSE MÅRTENSON

Miltä meno maistuu / Yksityisjuttu

Scandia KS905
1973
7"






Here's a really nice double sider from Lasse Mårtenson. A-side song is a cover of Lou Reed's Walk on the wild side that follow the original quite strictly. Even the lyrics are of the same topic. B-side song instead is a cover of Syreeta's To know you is to love you that was written by Stevie Wonder and Syreeta Wright. Besides this 45, Miltä meno maistuu has also been released on Huipulla 5 compilation (Scandia 1973). Yksityisjuttu is only on this 45, which is semi hard to find.


Miltä meno maistuu


Yksityisjuttu

Kirka - Liikaa Stadiin

KIRKA

Liikaa Stadiin / Pintaa

EMI 5e006 35041
1974
7"






Another Stevie Wonder cover made this time by one of my all time favorite Finnish musicians, Kirka. Liikaa Stadiin is a cover of Stevie's Living for the city and quite a good one. Kirka's rough voice with tight rhythm section makes this one a nice groover. Also released on Kirka's Tiukka linja LP same year. Both 45 and LP are quite common and pretty easy to find. B-side song Pintaa is made by Nono Söderberg and Frank Robson

Jakke ja Jokke - Tunteen sain

JAKKE JA JOKKE

Teillä tuulen / Tunteen sain

Delta DES 18
1976
7"






Beautiful ballad Loving you by Minnie Riperton gets a Finnish treatment here by brothers Jakke and Jokke (Jarmo and Jorma Seppälä). The Finnish version is called Tunteen sain (I got the feeling in English) and it's really close to the original one. Even the high pitch vocals are done quite well on the chorus despite the fact that the song is sung by a male singer. There's also another cover of the song from the same year sung by female singer Seija Simola. This song appears also on their LP Kaksi Seppälää (Delta 1976) and the Huippuhittejä 4 compilation (Delta 1976). These are all pretty easy to find for a cheap price. The a-side song Teillä tuulen is a Finnish cover of Alta mira by Edgar Winter Group.

Cumulus - Noustaan perhosilla lentämään

CUMULUS

Noustaan perhosilla lentämään / Voin rakkauden antaa

Top Voice TOP 70
1973
7"





Cumulus was a Finnish folk group formed in 1969 by Anki Lindqvist, Cay Karlsson, Hector and Sakari Lehtinen. Mostly their music was typical folk, but occasionally they had a really good groove going on. Like in this one, a Eurovision Song Contest national nominee from 1973, they really hit it. Too bad they didn't win the Finnish trials and didn't get to the contest. Noustaan perhosilla lentämään is a really groovy uptempo percussion driven folk-funk song that you can listen again and again. Both tracks in this 45 are composed by Valto Laitinen and arranged by Jörgen Petersen. Again, this song is only released on this 45 and on a compilation, Kootut Teokset 7 (Blue Master 1973). The 45 is pretty scarce nowadays but the compilation LP is much easier to find.



Cumulus in Eurovision Song Contest Finnish trials 1973.

Jouko ja Kosti - Salapoliisin tytär

JOUKO JA KOSTI

Menee mikä menee / Salapoliisin tytär

Polydor NH 59516
1969
7"






Brothers Jouko and Kosti Saari formed this duo and started their recording career in 1968. Salapoliisin tytär is from their second 45 release in 1969. The song is a cover of Dusty Springfield classic Son of a preacher man, although in this case the lyrics are about the daughter of a private eye. As it was normal back then, the arrangements made by Paroni Paakkunainen are pretty conventional and follow the original all the way. That don't matter of course, because the original is also pretty damn good song. Menee mikä menee on the b-side is a cover of A good thing going by Engelbert Humperdinck. The 45 is pretty easy to find for a reasonable price and the song also appears on the duo's self titled album Jouko ja Kosti (Finnlevy 1969) and the Toivekonsertti 37 compilation (Rytmi 1969).

Paula Koivuniemi - Sä et suurennella saa

PAULA KOIVUNIEMI

Sä et suurennella saa / Laulun sain matkallein

Blue Master MPS 540
1974
7"






What we have here is a Finnish cover of Stevie Wonder's Don't you worry 'bout a thing performed by Paula Koivuniemi. The song is quite similar to the original, a strong latin groover with the arrangements done by Matti and Pirjo Bergström. As it was usual in those days, it's a 45 only release for the artist, but also compiled on the Kootut teokset 12 - Kuuma kesä kanssain jaa compilation (Blue Master 1974). The b-side song is a cover of Born with a smile on my face by Simon May. Not too hard to find for a quite cheap price.

Erkki Liikanen - Remu

ERKKI LIIKANEN

Evakkoreki / Remu

RCA Victor YFPB 0-631
1975
7"






While the a-side song is quite dull schlager song, the b-side song Remu is a downtempo funk track that starts off with a break and continues as a slow jam backed by the Aarno Raninen Orchestra.. The lyrics are about Remu Aaltonen, drummer and bandleader of the legendary Finnish rock band Hurriganes. Quite common 45 because of the side a song, which was nomineed in the "Syksyn Sävel" 1975 competition.

Keijo Minerva - Taikausko

KEIJO MINERVA

Taikausko / Salli veit satasein

EMI 5e006-35088
1975
7"






Taikausko is a groovy cover of Stevie Wonder standard Superstition sung - of course - in Finnish. There's three different versions of Finnish Superstition-covers and I consider this one to be the best overall. The song starts with a 16 bar open drum break almost identical to the original and continues as a groovy guitar driven funky track just like the Stevie one. The lyrics by Raul Reiman are quite fierce with stories of spiritism, emergency baptisms, agony and magic. Same lyrics are also used in the other version of the song recorded by Aaron. This 45 is quite hard to find, especially with the picture cover. The song is also relased on Mukavaa musaa 9 compilation (Odeon 1975) which is much easier to find. B-side song Salli veit satasein is a cover of Judy teen by Steve Harley.

introduction

After years and years of collecting domestic grooves, it's finally time to bring the knowledge reachable for everybody. It's always been really hard to find information about funky and groovy music made here, especially for people abroad. If there's some little crumbs of knowledge available, it's mostly in Finnish and therefore extra hard for people without skills in this "one of the hardest languages in the world". Even though a numerous records of jazz, fusion, prog, funky- and latin influenced schlager and even some funk have been done, they also usually have had really small pressings and poor distribution. After years of searching and of course with the great help of fellow Finnish music enthusiasts and cratediggers a great number of LP's and 45's have been brought to daylight. this blog will reveal some of the groovy treats made in finland between 1960 and 2010. updates are made whenever there's enough time...