Nyåret/New Year 2021-22 Playlist

2021 är ett år världen väldigt gärna glömmer. Vi hoppas på ett Gott Nytt 2022, då corona-krisen äntligen avtar och diktaturernas skrammel försvagas. Vi hoppas på ett år med goda nyheter. 

Strax före nyår utkom Classic Pop med ett nummer om jubileumsåret 1982. Ett år då synthpopen och nyromantiken stod för sound och modetrender som andades framtidstro. En stor dos naivitet, förstås, också. Men 40 år senare, under en mörk och splittrad tidsperiod, behöver vi framtidstro igen, både realistisk och naiv. 1982 inspirerade playlisten för ikväll, och det hörs tydligt i valet av de 21 låtar som ingår.

We live in bad times right now, with our hopes set on a better, more corona-free, year 2022. Classic Pop celebrated 1982 in the current issue, 40 years on. Synthpop and New romantic were large trends that year, and 40 years on, we need optimism and belief in a better future, futuristic hope for a Happy New Year 2022. Year 1982 came to inspire tonight’s playlist, which is also noted in the choice of songs. 21 songs.

To All of You - From All of Me

Från Hela Mig till Alla Er

Gott Nytt År!

Onnellista Uutta Vuotta!

Happy New Year!

Gluckliches Neues Jahr!

NEW YEAR EVE PLAYLIST 2021-22

C’mon Eileen/Dexy’s Midnight Runners

Bad Connection/Yazoo

The Safety Dance (Extended Club Mix)/Men Without Hats

Gamla Ideal (10”)/KSMB

Fuck Me Up Before You Go-Go/Grillijono K.O.

Levande och Varm/Ulf Lundell

Själ och Hjärta (10”)/Lars Winnerbäck

Living In The Western World 7”)/Paul Oxley’s Unit

Hanging On The Telephone/Blondie

Our House/Madness

Kylan Ligger Över Hela Stan (Cd-s)/Lustans Lakejer

Electricity/Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Thriller/Michael Jackson

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye/Soft Cell

Heart Is King-Save The World (Knife Party Remix)/Axwell-Swedish House Mafia

När Sommaren Kommer/Lars Winnerbäck

Someone Somewhere In Summertime/Simple Minds

Leave In Silence/Depeche Mode

Elämä Jatkuu/Anssi Kela

Over The Top (Live 1981)/Motörhead

Wonderful World/Vince Clarke & Mick Martin

Julkalendern (The Christmas Calendar) Dec 24

Slot 24: Önska dig en stilla natt/Bo Kaspers Orkester.

A favorite Christmas popsong. Simply beautiful and moving, but with a lyrical edge. Multidimensional and warm. A sweet and sour Christmas candy by a very fine Swedish jazz-pop band.

And this brings us to the very end of the Christmas RockCalendar 2021. 

Hope you have enjoyed it, and discovered new songs and/or versions in the process.

I leave you with a bonus song, not from Finland or Sweden, but from Edinburgh, Scotland, and with a global hope for the New Year:

Bonus Slot 31.12: Hard Times Come Again No More/The Proclaimers

From All of Me

- to All of You

Merry Christmas 2021 

& Happy New Year 2022!

God Jul och Gott Nytt År!

Hauskaa Joulua ja Onnellista Uutta Vuotta!

Frohe Weinachten und ein glückliches neues Jahr!

Julkalendern (The Christmas RockCalendar) Dec 23

 Slot 23: Sankarit/J. Karjalainen

(The Heroes)

We all are heroes in life, in our own lives. Both the celebrated Megastars and the unsung heroes, everyday-women and -men. We all can make a difference. And that is a valuable point in J Karjalainen’s classic song.

For Finns, this song has also another, historical, significance. Sankarit is also closely connected to the first World Cup championship in icehockey for Finland, in 1995. 

Finland’s first gold medal ever in a team sport. 

It was a great booster for Finnish self esteem after the long and deep economic depression of the early 1990’s. And the gold was won against loved arch rivals Sweden, in Stockholm. The sweetest kind of victory.

No Finn will ever forget the first World Cup gold, 1995. The biggest day in Finnish sports history. 

Even a movie has been made about it, simply called 95. Everyone knows what that stands for.

I stood on Kauppatori (Market Square) in Helsinki with 100.000 other Finns in 1995, cheering for the Gold Medal Team. The Heroes (Sankarit). And we all sang, together with the national team, Den glider in (Sweden’s world cup song that Finland adopted) and Sankarit. And there was a small Swedish victory too, as the Finnish Head Coach was Swedish, Curre Lindström. He helped Finland win in a team sport and consequently became  a megastar in Finland.

Sakari Kuosmanen sang the World Cup-version of Sankarit, but it’s J’s song, and his original version is simply the best.

The video clip shows a flow of ”heroes”, in pics, international and national. How many did You recognize?

Still, the most significant, important heroes in our lives are the unsung, everyday, ones.

Julkalendern (The Christmas RockCalendar) Dec 22

Slot 22: 747/Kent

Last song and show-stopper on Kent’s concerts for many years. 7 minutes and 47 seconds. Period. 

Both fragile and heavy, with the push of the guitar wall and the best quote ever (in Swedish) aimed at all small- and narrow-minded individuals, places and groups out there: 

”Laugh if you want/Mock us/We are moving/You stand still”. 

And it sounds even better in Swedish:

”Ni kan skratta om Ni vill/Håna oss/Vi rör oss/Ni står still”.

A great quote. Tattoo-class.

Kent. Biggest in Sweden. With the coolest and probably most memorable and long-lasting band farewell ever.

Suddenly, a video clip on the band’s homepage (kent.nu) declared the end of kent, their last year as a band, by advertizing an upcoming last album and the last kent tour.

That video clip is a classic, filled with kent-related symbolic signage from album covers etc. and set to a driving, spell-binding rhythm.

The last album.

The last tour.

And the last song, titled Den sista sången (The Last Song), as show-stopper on the last concert and soundtrack for the last, farewell, video clip.

And then silence. Ever after.

At least for now.

Wow.

Julkalendern (Christmas RockCalendar) Dec 21

Slot 21: Murheellisten laulujen maa/Eppu Normaali

(The Land of sorrowful songs)

Eppu Normaali is probably the most popular rock band in Finland over time. That is not to say the best, but they are impossible to neglect, a Finnish rock institution whose melodies, and perhaps especially lyrics, have touched many Finns over the years. 

Just take the song title, really, The Land of sorrowful songs? 

That’s Finnish melancholy for you!

There is something explicitly Finnish with Eppu Normaali’s sound and lyrics. And a funny detail is that some album titles and covers are travesties of international classics. Valkoinen Kupla (White Bubble) for Beatles’s White Album, and especially Akun Tehdas (drummer Aku’s Factory). Just compare that album cover to CCR’s classic Cosmo’s Factory!

Julkalendern Dec 20

Slot 20: Get on/Hurriganes 

The most legendary rock band ever in Finland. Hurriganes (known by Finns also under nickname "Ganes") were pathfinders on the Finnish rock scene in the early 1970's. Their second album, Roadrunner, which was recorded in a fancy Stockholm studio,  is overall considered the greatest rock album ever made in Finland, no less. And Get On is magnificent. Hurriganes even won a European music competition by performing Get on.

Now Hurriganes is rock history. Drummer/singer Remu Aaltonen has played his farewell-gig and retired, both bass player/singer Cisse Häkkinen and Albert Järvinen, probably the greatest Finnish rock guitarist ever, have passed away. They were three larger-than-life profiles and only played together on a handful of Hurriganes' albums. Ile Kallio was the original guitarist, but left before the first album, and then replaced Albert Järvinen for some years (and albums) after the second. His guitar play was heavier and more rhythmic than virtuoso Järvinen’s. Janne Louhivuori in turn handled the axe (guitar) on a few later-era records. Three great guitarists, but Albert Järvinen was the greatest. Just listen to Get on. All five also made solo albums, Cisse having the greatest chart success. 

With Roadrunner the band’s status as Rock Legends was already cemented.

Julkalendern (Christmas Calendar) Dec 19

Slot 19: Kylan ligger över hela stan (cd-single version)/Lustans Lakejer

(The Cold is all over town)

From today, Sunday, the weather turns colder again. And there’s a true Nordic winter feeling - freezing cold, dark and blue - in this cd-single from legendary Swedish New Romantic/Synthpop group Lustans Lakejer. 

Kylan ist die Kälte auf Deutsch. 

I found this specific cd-single many years ago in a small, obscure record store in Stockholm that I never located again. The single is from 1999, and I think I bought it the following year. Perhaps the shop closed very shortly thereafter. It focused strongly on singles and club-12”s, no less. 

And this single-version was worth bying, it is (slightly) better than the album version.

Julkalendern Dec 18

 Slot 18: 1972/Anssi Kela 

The years pass us by…

Anssi Kela’s fine hit 1972 (from 2003) is a reflection on school class reunions and what happens over time, how different life turns out for classmates, 10, 20 years later. 

Anssi Kela’s classic debut album Nummela came out on cd 2001, and now, 20 years on, the album for the first time is also available on vinyl (2 LP, orange-coloured vinyl). I like.

Julkalendern Dec 17

 Slot 17: Stad i Ljus/Måns Zelmerlöv & Per Andersson

(City in Lights) 

The videoclip is called Vartannat ord-duett (The every second word duet).

It should have been just one more duet in a row of ex tempore duets that have been performed on tv music game shows. But then actor / comedian Andersson and singer Zelmerlöw decide to challenge themselves just for fun and take turn singing every second word of the lyric. A recipe for disaster, you may think. The studio staff is excited, and the (studio and tv) audience just can’t believe their ears as the song builds up. A one-off, but what a moment, when a prank turns into pure magic. 

Bonus Slot 17b: Stad i Ljus/Tommy Körberg

The original version. A Eurovision song contest contribution for Sweden in 1988, and a massive hit for good-voiced singer Körberg.

Julkalendern Dec 16

 Slot 16: 11th Street Kids/Hanoi Rocks

The most famous and legendary cult band from Finland on the international scene, Hanoi Rocks, were mega-big in Finland and friends with for example members of Mötley Crue, who like other international glam-metal bands idolized Hanoi Rocks. 11th Street Kids is from first, break-through, album ”Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes - Hanoi Rocks”. One of several great  songs.

Band leaders, singer Michael Monroe and guitarist Andy McCoy, both started long-term solo artist careers after Hanoi Rocks split up. 

Julkalendern Dec 15

 Slot 15: Viidestoista Yö/Juice Leskinen

(Fifteenth Night)

Juice Leskinen was one of the greatest rockpoets in Finland, a legend with clever and often ambiguous lyrics, as well as a writer of touching poetry and insightful notes. 

His intact personal library is nowadays on display as meeting-room Juicen Kirjasto in Viola-koti, Tampere. The song Viidestoista yö, about an approaching Fifteenth night and the hope for tranquility, after a worried, roistering fortnight, is one of his most popular evergreen-hits. 

Very Juice.

Julkalendern Dec 14

Ruta/Slot 14: Ängeln i rummet/Laleh

A frisky, warm and touching live cover version of Eva Dahlgren’s Swedish megahit, performed in front of a live/tv audience at Skansen, Stockholm. 

Laleh (Pourkarim) was born in Iran and moved with her family to Sweden when she was 10. A good representant for a new (and already established) generation star musicians in Sweden  - and a great pop singer and songwriter.

JulRockKalendern (halvtid, del 1-13/halftime part 1-13)

Först, beklagar den långa pausen, 

sorry for a long break!

Christmas is approaching and I have a Christmas RockCalender going on for a few good friends. And then a simple, obvious question was raised, why not post that playlist here? Yes, why not, indeed. 

So starting at about half time I will bring you up-to-date with the calender. The idea was to present one example of fine Finnish and Swedish popular music each day 1-24 December. That is, a short introduction to Finnish and Swedish popular music in general, not specifically to Christmas-celebrating songs, a certain genre or time.

Och samma på svenska, 

JulRockKalendern var först bara en passning till några goda vänner, ett dagligt tips på bra finsk och svensk musik 1-24 december. Tanken var en kort introduktion till finsk och svensk populärmusik, inte en specifik lista med jul-tematiska sånger, ingen enskild genre eller tidsperiod. 

Och på frågan varför inte kalender-playlisten körs på bloggen blev ju svaret givet: ja, varför inte. 

Så, med en försenad start från omkring halvtid kör vi igång.

The story thus far….

JulRockKalendern / ChristmasRockCalender

Part 1-13

Dec 1: Lev nu dö sen/Miss Li

Dec 2: Jag har vänner/Mikael Wiehe

Dec 3: Leevi & The Leaving/Vasas Flora och Fauna

Dec 4: Sportti voittaa!/Klamydia

Dec 5: Raparperitaivas/Leevi & The Leavings

Dec 6: Suomirokkia/Aknestik

Dec 7: Höstvisa/Von Hertzen Brothers

Dec 8: Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg/Håkan Hellström

Dec 9: Pop-musiikkia/Neljä Baritonia

Dec 10: I Stockholm/Lars Winnerbäck

Dec 11: Olen kaunis/Pelle Miljoona OY

Dec 12: Amuri/Amuri

Dec 13: Luciasången/Thomas Di Leva