Friday, July 31, 2009

Celluloid Heroes - Paperitähdet


Juice Leskinen (b. Pauli Matti Juhani Leskinen) was a contemporary and friend of yesterdays Finnpick Mikko Alatalo. They both were in the University of Tampere in the 70's and eventually co-worked in a couple of bands. Later Juice and Mikko went separate ways and both made a highly succesful career as pioneers of Finnish rock. Especially Juice is considered to be THE initiator of original Finnish rock and rock sung in Finnish language. Juice was fore and foremost a poet. His lyrics were groundbreaking, often gross, often bold but often tender, too. He was also a potent composer and arranger. He very rarely did covers, but this "Paperitähdet" (Paper stars) is an excellent exception. The lyrics tell about Finnish celebrities (naming the names) and their treatment in the media. It was recorded for "Tauko 1" -album released by Juice and his band Slam in 1978. The original song "Celluloid Heroes" was written by Ray Davies of the Kinks. It was included in their 1972 album "Everybody's in Show-Biz". The central theme of the songs lyrics is the inhumane manner in which the Hollywood movie industry exploits its stars.

Here's the pair:

2 comments:

Arrowman said...

One of the handfull of Finnish legends "second hand songs" and does not work anymore... Beats Kinks version, for my opinion, so would you rip it again and share it to the rest of the world...

DM said...

Juice is on again ...