Johnny - 3 albums plus singles

Eljon "Johnny" Liebkind (b. 22.9.1945) was one of the most popular Finnish pop singers in the 1960's.

He started his career as drummer for Shadows-type guitar band The Sounds. Their still best-known recording is the smash hit "Emma", which single-handedly started the instrumental guitar rock'n'roll - affectionately called rautalanka - craze in Finland in 1963. Following Scandia's suggestion Johnny became a solo singer the same year, debuting with the hit song "Hymyhuulet", a cover of Cliff Richard's "Lucky Lips" The success encouraged Johnny to turn himself into a full-time singing artist.

Johnny toured around the country for the rest of the decade and recorded numerous singles, many of which were covers. "Rehtorin luiseva Salli" ("Long Tall Sally"), "Kotihipat" ("Jailhouse Rock"), "Tutti Frutti", "Rakastuin sinuun liian helposti" ("I Could Easily Fall in Love With You"), "Tunti vain" ("Concrete and Clay"), "Öisin vain valvon" ("Tossing and Turning"), "Melkein" ("Daydream"), "Pillipiipari" ("Pied Piper"), "Kahden sateessa" (The Lovin' Spoonful's "You and Me and Rain on the Roof") and "Teet mulle hyvää" ("Sugar Sugar") are some of his recordings with British or American origins. None of Johnny's singles sold gold, however, but that wasn't very common in those days.

In 1970 Johnny's popularity had waned somewhat, so he cut down on touring and publicity and began studying economics. His biggest seller came the same year, with the single "Ihana aamu" (Wonderful Morning), originally a Hungarian song.

From the beginning of the seventies Johnny cut a short string of LP's, although he wasn't really an album artist. "Polttopiste" (1970), "Kotidisco" (1972) and "Jonglöörit" (1973) were, like his earlier material, mainly assembled from foreign songs considered suitable for him to record and are thus rather patchy.

Although Johnny also wrote a few songs himself. He had already penned "Kaipaan sua" and "Hei tytöt" for The Sounds, for himself he wrote "I Have Found a Friend", "What Do You Want", "Salainen hymy", "Kyllä se iloksi muuttuu" and "Tanssin koko yön".

"Polttopiste" contains one particularly interesting song: "Kesäyö (Kesäillan valssi)", is Johnny's version of "Kesäillan valssi" (Waltz of the Summer Evening) composed by Oskar Merikanto (1868-1924). Since 1904 it has been one of the most oft-recorded Finnish compositions.

"Kotidisco" is my own favourite of Johnny's final albums. Tunes like "Little Green Apples", "Is This the Way to Amarillo", "Funny Funny", "Che sara", "Feliz Navidad", and Christie's "Man of Many Faces" make a pleasant old-fashioned pop LP. "Piiri pyörii" (literally "The Circle Rotates", figuratively "That's the Way Things Go Around Here") is fun and indeed sounds like a wildly spinning carousel.

"Jonglööri" contains slightly rockier material like David Bowie's "Life on Mars", Paul McCartney's "Hi Hi Hi" and Wild Angels' only hit "Clap Your Hands and Stamp Your Feet". Jim Croce's "Don't Mess Around With Jim" is another interesting choice, and even the oldie ballad hit "The End of the World" received a surprisingly fast and energetic arrangement. It wasn't really a good idea to mould Johnny into a "jytä" rock singer, so the LP is his weakest despite a few good songs that really work for him.

The copy I have of "Jonglööri" is in a truly peculiar shape. The first four songs have been played almost to death, and the surface noise almost outweighs the music. When the fifth song ("Tanssin koko yön", for which Johnny wrote the music) begins, the surface noise vanishes almost completely. Midway through the sixth and last song on side A, the noise returns but doesn't become very prominent. Side B has some mild surface noise throughout. I guess it shows what the previous owner thought of the LP. The removal of most the surface noise ruined the sound of the first four songs pretty badly, but at least I could pick the fourth song - "Ihanaa elämää" - from a CD. Sorry about the sound quality on the first three songs.


1. Hymyhuulet (Smiling Lips)
2. Iltaseuraa (Evening Company)
3. Rehtorin luiseva Salli (The Headmaster's Skinny Salli)
4. JOHNNY, ANN-CHRISTINE & THE HOUNDS: Meidän yhteinen (Our Mutual Thing)
5. JOHNNY, ANN-CHRISTINE & THE HOUNDS: Jos käden annat vain (If You Just Give Your Hand)
6. I Have Found a Friend
7. Kotihipat (House Party)
8. Tutti Frutti
9. JOHNNY & PETER: Lonely Avenue
10. JOHNNY & PETER: Be Bop a Lula
11. Rakastuin sinuun liian helposti (I Fell in Love With You Too Easily)
12. JOHNNY & ANN-CHRISTINE: Eksynyt kokonaan oon (I'm Lost Completely)
13. JOHNNY & ANN-CHRISTINE: Tule mun talooni (Come Into My House)
14. Tunti vain (Just an Hour)
15. Mä elän yhtä päivää varten (I Live For One Day Only)
16. Öisin vain valvon (I Just Lie Awake All Nights)
17. Itke siis, siitä viis (Just Cry, It Won't Matter)
18. Hyvin menee kuitenkin (Everything's Going Well Anyway)
19. Melkein (Almost)
20. Hymyillen (Smilingly)
21. Iltapäivää (Good Afternoon)
22. Laia Ladaia
23. Ei syytä huoleen (No Need to Worry)
24. Ei se kesää tee (It Won't Make a Summer)
25. Olen onnellinen (I'm Happy)
26. Ujo rakkaus (Shy Love)
27. Kun aurinko polttaa (When the Sun Burns)
28. Yksi punaruusu (One Red Rose)
29. Pillipiipari (Pied Piper)
30. Hupsu sydämeni (My Foolish Heart)
31. Takaisin luontoon (Back to Nature)
32. Judy-ystäväni (Judy My Friend)
33. Kahden sateessa (Together in the Rain)
34. Sanoit liian paljon (You Said Too Much)
35. Kissankellojen aikaan (At the Time of Bluebells)
36. Tyttö niinkuin pitää (A Girl Like a Girl Should Be)
37. Olet kaikki (You're Everything)
38. Et vielä tiedä (You Don't Know Yet)
39. Teet mulle hyvää (You Do Me Good)


POLTTOPISTE (1970):

1. Luulet vaan (You Just Think)
2. Ei haittaa sää (Weather Won't Do Any Harm)
3. I Need Your Love Tonight
4. Käyköön niin taikka näin (No Matter What Happens)
5. Kuivaa kyyneleet (Dry Your Tears)
6. Muutu en, tiedät sen (I Won't Change, You Know That)
7. Kesäyö (Kesäillan valssi) (Summer Night (Waltz of the Summer Evening))
8. Ihana aamu (Wonderful Morning)
9. Speedy Gonzales
10. Kaipaan niin (I Miss You So)
11. Be-Boom
12. Pikku Belinda (Little Belinda)


KOTIDISCO (1972):

1. Sua katson (I Look At You)
2. Vihreät omenat (Green Apples)
3. Amarillo
4. Meillä hyvin on (We're Doing Well)
5. Toivotaan, toivotaan (Let's Hope, Let's Hope)
6. Onneksi olkoon (Congratulations)
7. Käymme kahden (We're Walking Together)
8. Olen aivan joku toinen (I'm Someone Else Entirely)
9. Kauniit kuolleet tunteet (Beautiful, Dead Feelings)
10. Piiri pyörii (The Circle Rotates)
11. Kirjoitettu kohtaloon (Written in the Destiny)
12. Dum-dum


JONGLÖÖRI (1973):

1. Jonglöörit (The Jugglers)
2. Lyö kättäs näin (Clap Your Hands Like This)
3. Kaunein laulu (The Most Beautiful Song)
4. Ihanaa elämää (Wonderful Life)
5. Tanssin koko yön (I'm Dancing All Night)
6. Ai jai jai (Oh Oh Oh)
7. Tosiystävä (A True Friend)
8. Onnen maa (Land of Happiness)
9. Shooby Dooby Sha Na Na
10. O la laa
11. Kun Reiska lyö (When Reiska Hits)
12. On mennyt elämäin (My Life Has Gone)


http://finnishrock.blogspot.com/2009/05/johnny.html