Kirill "Kirka" Babitzin (22 September 1950 – 31 January 2007) was one of the most commercially successful
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
musicians. His career spanned from the late 1960s until his death in 2007.
Previously associated with
Ilkka Lipsanen
Ilkka Johannes Lipsanen (born 24 September 1942), commonly known by his stage name Danny, is a Finnish singer and guitarist.
Still active, Danny's singing career is one of the longest in Finland, spanning over more than 50 years. He has recorde ...
's The Islanders band, Kirka went on to record a wide array of rock and pop music. Some of his most famous songs include Hetki Lyö (Beat the Clock), Leijat (Kites) and Varrella virran (Down by the River). His 1988 album Surun Pyyhit Silmistäni (The Sadness in Your Eyes) went on to be one of the best sold records in Finnish history. He also represented Finland in the
1984 Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest 1984, the 29th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the with the song "Si la vie est cadeau" by Corinne Hermes. Organised by t ...
.
Early life
Kirill Babitzin was born in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
in 1950 to a Russian family. His father, Leon Babitzin was from
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and fled to Finland in the aftermath of
the October Revolution. His mother, Elizaveta Babitzin (née Zarubina) was partially of
German-Russian descent and was born in
Lappeenranta
Lappeenranta (; sv, Villmanstrand) is a city and municipality in the region of South Karelia, about from the Russian border and from the town of Vyborg (''Viipuri''). It is situated on the shore of the Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland, and ...
. He first got into music at the age of five when his grandmother gave him an
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
. He won an accordion competition at the age of ten.
Musical career
His first band was ''The Creatures'', which he joined in 1964 assuming stage name Kirka.
Kirka began attaining fame when he joined the band ''The Islanders'' in 1967. Originally led by
Ilkka "Danny" Lipsanen, the band became hugely popular. Kirka also recorded with
Blues Section
Blues Section are a Finnish rock music group. They started in 1967, formed around the vocalist Jim Pembroke, a British expatriate songwriter now living in Finland. The other members of the band were Eero Koivistoinen (saxophone), Ronnie Österbe ...
. Kirka used his fame to launch into a solo career soon-after. Kirka cited his 1960's breakthrough ''Hetki lyö'' (orig. ''Beat The Clock'' composed by
Gottehrer-Stroll, a 1968 ''Elfstone'' B side) with The Islanders as his greatest achievement. Despite his initial success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Kirka suffered from money-troubles through the late 1970s.
Kirka represented Finland in
Eurovision Song Contest 1984
The Eurovision Song Contest 1984, the 29th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the with the song "Si la vie est cadeau" by Corinne Hermes. Organised by t ...
, finishing a strong ninth with the song ''Hengaillaan''. Four years later, he got his greatest chart success with ''Surun pyyhit silmistäin'', a melancholic
pop-schlager. True to his rock'n'roll roots, however, he never fully appreciated this success, repeatedly
Babitzin was awarded the
Emma award for best male singer twice, first in 1984 and then in 2000. He died suddenly on 31 January 2007 at his home of undisclosed acute illness. His widow Paula Nummela is a jewellery designer.
Family
Several Babitzin siblings are established musicians in their own right. In 1978, Kirka released a duet album with sister
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 12 ...
; the next year, another sister Marija ("
Muska
Marija "Muska" Babitzin (born 28 June 1952 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish singer. She became famous in 1971 with "Kirjoita postikorttiin" ('Write on the postcard'), a cover version of Send Me a Postcard by Shocking Blue. Her first, eponymous ...
") joined in.
Kirka's brother was popular rock musician
Sammy Babitzin
Aleksandr "Sammy" Babitzin (11 July 1948 – 29 April 1973) was a Finnish popular music singer, the brother of Kirka and Muska.
Babitzin was born in Helsinki. He started his professional career in a band called The Stealers. Its line-up also in ...
, who was killed in a car crash in 1973. Sammy's signature hit ''Daada daada'' tells a story of high-speed automotive cruising.
Discography
Kirka Babitzin released 78 singles and almost 60 albums, including 15 collections. Kirka's album ''Surun pyyhit silmistäni'' (1988) became the biggest selling album in Finnish history; it has now been relegated to all-time third place.
Albums
* ''Kirka keikalla'' (1969)
* ''Kirka'' (1969)
* ''Saat kaiken'' (1971)
* ''Nykyaikaa'' (1972)
* ''Rautaa ja kettinkiä'' (1973)
* ''Kirkan parhaita'' (1974)
* ''Tiukka linja'' (1975)
* ''Babitzinit konsertissa'' (1975)
* ''Lauantaiyö'' (1976)
* ''Kaksi puolta'' (1977)
* ''Anna & Kirka'' (1978)
* ''Kirkan parhaat'' (1979)
* ''Kirka'' (1981)
* ''Täytyy uskaltaa'' (1983)
* ''Hengaillaan'' (gold, 1984)
* ''Älä sano ei'' (1985)
* ''Isot hitit'' (1985)
* ''
R.O.C.K.'' (gold, 1986)
* ''
The Spell'' (gold, 1987)
* ''Surun pyyhit silmistäni'' (quadruple platinum, 1988)
* ''Anna käsi'' (double platinum, 1989)
* ''Iskelmäkansio'' (1989)
* ''Parhaat, uudet versiot'' (1990)
* ''Ota lähellesi'' (double platinum, 1990)
* ''Kasvot peilissä'' (platinum, 1991)
* ''Babitzin'' (1991)
* ''Pyydä vain'' (gold, 1992)
* ''Kirka'' (gold, 1994)
* ''Sadness in your Eyes'' (1995)
* ''Tie huomiseen'' (gold, 1996)
* ''Hetki lyö: 1967–1997'' (platinum, 1997)
* ''Mestarit Areenalla'' (triple platinum, 1999)
* ''Suuri hetki'' (2000)
* ''Sinut siinä nään'' (2002)
* ''Elämääni eksynyt'' (2005)
* ''40 unohtumatonta laulua'' (2006)
* ''The Best of Kirka'' (2007)
See also
*
List of best-selling music artists in Finland
These are the lists of the music artists that have the highest certified record sales in Finland (and/or sales explicitly confirmed by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland in their database). The lists consist of albums and singles (vinyl, CD, d ...
References
Official WebsiteKirka Babitzin at Populaarimusiikin museo(in Finnish)
(in Finnish)
{{Authority control
1950 births
2007 deaths
Musicians from Helsinki
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Finland
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1984
Russian-speaking Finns
Finnish people of Russian descent
Finnish people of German-Russian descent
Finnish pop singers
20th-century Finnish male singers
Finnish rock musicians
English-language singers from Finland