Satulinna, composed and written by Jukka Kuoppamäki, is one of the all-time domestic hits.
Jukka Kuoppamäki turns 80 on the first day of September. Markku Veijalainen
Jari Sillanpään the song Satulinna performed is one of the Finnish hits of all time.
The song is an evergreen, one that everyone knows these days.
The song is both written and composed Jukka Kuoppamäki. Kuoppamäki recounts the creation stages of the song in a recent biography Jukka Kuoppamäki – Lifelong song.
Kuoppamäki, who will turn 80 on the first of September, tells how he intended to turn the song into a tango. Kuoppamäki usually marked the genre of the song at the top of the sheet music, but now it was forgotten.
The sheet music was faxed to Sillanpää, who eagerly got to know the song. Sillanpää thinks that he would have thrown the notes in the trash if the genre had read tango.
– The record company had instructed me to not make tangos but hits, because tango doesn’t sell, Sillanpää says.
Sillanpää says that he took the sheet music and started singing the song without knowing that it was actually a tango.
Sillanpää, who is at the beginning of his career, had originally contacted Kuoppamäki to ask if he had any songs for him. Kuoppamäki’s spouse answered the phone Sirpa Kuoppamäkito whom Sillanpää presented his case.
– Jukka doesn’t work like that! The songs are made to be sung and not to be left in a desk drawer. If Jukka gets excited about it, he starts making a song on his own. We did like her performance when we watched the Tango market on TV, Sillanpää says Sirpa Kuoppamäki said.
Sillanpää recorded the song, but the arranger Kassu Halonen didn’t want Satulinna on the record but assured that he would make a much better song. Sillanpää didn’t give up, because he had seen at his concerts how much the audience loves Satulinna.
Satulinna was the first hit in the career of Jari Sillanpää, who was elected tango king in 1995. Eero Liesimaa
Halonen relented and made an arrangement for the song. From Satulinna, you became a beat slayer.
The Satulinna song started the Sillanpää craze and over the years it has become an evergreen hit.
– I felt proud because it was the first song made for me. It meant a lot to the newcomer, Sillanpää recalls in the book.
Ari Mennander and Kaisa Rautanen’s Jukka Kuoppamäki – Lifetime song is published (Docendo) 31.8.