Sirkka Keiski - Ei vieläkään

SIRKKA KEISKI & SOULSET

Mä heräsin / Ei vieläkään

Sonet T6523
1969
7"






Sirkka Keiski started her singing career in the early 1960s as a vocalist of a local dance ensemble. She released only three 45s in the 1960s. In 1969 she recorded her last 45 with the legendary Finnish soul/funk group Soulset. After this 45 she quit her musical career and started her studies. Later she graduated as an interior designer and doctor of arts. Both of the songs in this 45 are covers of the legendary female soul group The Supremes. Side a song "Mä heräsin" is a cover of the "The happening", a Billboard #1 hit from the 1967 that was also a theme song of the movie The happening. Side b song "Ei vieläkään" is a cover of the propably most well known Supremes hit "Baby love" that was also a Billboard #1 hit in 1964.


Mä heräsin


Ei vieläkään

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.

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

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).