Aarne Tapani Kansa (born 9 March 1949 in

Hamina Hamina (; sv, Fredrikshamn, , Sweden ) is a List of cities in Finland, town and a Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located approximately east of the country's capital Helsinki, in the Kymenlaakso Regions of Finland, reg ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

) is a Finnish singer.

Career

Tapani Kansa made his first record deal in 1967 and had a breakthrough the next year, with his version of the hit song ''

Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label=Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved b ...

'', translated into

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 ...

. Tapani Kansa had established a career in singing at a very young age. He had started studying singing in the

Kotka Kotka (; ; la, Aquilopolis) is a city in the southern part of the Kymenlaakso province on the Gulf of Finland. Kotka is a major port and industrial city and also a diverse school and cultural city, which was formerly part of the old Kymi parish. ...

music academy in the middle 1960s. His colourful performance style brought him much work on television. His early hit songs include ''Kuljen taas kotiinpäin'' ("I am walking home again"), ''Eloise'' and ''Käymme yhdessä ain'' ("We will always go together"). In 1976, Tapani Kansa achieved great success with his songs ''R-A-K-A-S'' ("D-E-A-R"), ''Hafanana'' and ''Melina''. The next year he released the album ''Mistä rakkaus alkoi'' ("Where did the love start"), which presented a more

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

style Tapani Kansa: The album contains a Finnish version of

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

's song ''Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word'' - in Finnish ''Anteeksi on vaikea pyytää'' ("It is hard to apologise"). The 1970s brought

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

and show music to Kansa's concerts. Hits of the time included ''Rokkivaari Hotanen'' ("Hotanen, the rocking grandpa", translated from '' Daddy Cool'' by Darts) and ''Kalajoen hiekat'' ("The sands of

Kalajoki Kalajoki (; literally translated the "fish river") is a coastal town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the Gulf of Bothnia in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The town has ...

", translated from ''

California Dreamin' "California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 1 ...

'' by

The Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of Am ...

). ''Veikko Nieminen'' brought a more sociological aspect to the lyrics in connection with the new age. Tapani Kansa also studied singing at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It als ...

from 1974 to 1978, and in the late 1970s, he enlarged his repertoire: The album ''Moment Musical'' (1978) was made in co-operation with

Heikki Sarmanto Heikki Veli Uolevi Sarmanto (born 22 June 1939) is a Finnish jazz pianist and composer. Sarmanto was born in Helsinki, Finland, and began to play jazz during the 1960s. He studied first at the Sibelius Academy and later at the Berklee College ...

, who arranged a musical version of

Eino Leino Eino Leino (born Armas Einar Leopold Lönnbohm; 6 July 1878 – 10 January 1926) was a Finnish poet and journalist who is considered one of the pioneers of Finnish poetry and a national poet of Finland. His poems combine modern and Finnish fol ...

's lyrics into the album. Another artist on the album was Maija Hapuoja. In 1987, Kansa recorded the classic ''Hopeinen Kuu'' ("Silver Moon") and the album ''Betonimylläri'', containing poetry by

Lauri Viita Lauri Arvi Viita (17 December 1916 – 22 December 1965) was a poet hailing from the Pispala district of Tampere, Finland. Viita was a verbally talented son of a carpenter who became a self-taught writer. He only published four poetry collections, ...

. 1988 brought '' Oskari Merikannon kauneimmat laulut''. The album ''Kultaniityt'' (1994 introduced, among some translated songs, also Tapani Kansa as a songwriter. On the album ''Päivä jolloin rakastat'' ("The day you love", 1999), Kansa interpreted

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

s, while ''Valaistu ikkuna'' ("The lit window") included Finnish

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

songs. The album ''Salaisuudessain'' ("In my secret", 2002) was a return to the pop music style, and a new direction came in autumn 2004, when Tapani Kansa interpreted

Tapio Rautavaara Kaj Tapio Rautavaara (8 March 1915 – 25 September 1979) was a Finnish singer (bass-baritone), athlete and film actor. Life Early years Tapio Rautavaara was born in the municipality of Pirkkala (now Nokia), a suburb of the industrial city o ...

's songs on the album ''Tapsa ja Rautavaara''. In 2002, Tapani Kansa appeared in the Pojat group formed by

Danny Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to: People * Danny Altmann, British immunologist *Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer *Danny Baker (born 1957), English journal ...

and

Markku Aro Markku Aro (; born Markku Tuomas Puputti on 3 February 1950 in Mouhijärvi, Finland), is a Finnish singer who represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 in Ireland with the pop-duo . They appeared with the song " Tie uuteen päivä� ...

, performing hit songs by the artists from the 1960s. In 2006, Kansa released the album ''Kulkumies'' ("The traveller"), which he wrote the lyrics to and co-arranged the melodies with Kassu Halonen. In the same year, Kansa was nominated for the Iskelmä-Finlandia prize. Tapani Kansa has written and arranged his own works. He has also appeared on

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and operettas and acted on TV. In 1987, Kansa was awarded the Erikois-Emma prize.

Discography

Albums

Personal life

Kansa is of partial

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

descent.

References

* Latva - Tuunainen: Iskelmän tähtitaivas. 500 suomalaista viihdetaiteilijaa. WSOY, 2004
The Helmet Internet library

Notes

External links

Official site

Tapani Kansa at Pomus.net

YLE / Elävä arkisto: Tapani Kansa Jatkoajassa

Tapani Kansa at Last.fm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kansa, Tapani 1949 births Living people People from Hamina 21st-century Finnish male singers Finnish people of Russian descent 20th-century Finnish male singers