Arto Sotavalta

Arto Sotavalta (his full name was Arto Arvo Juhani Sotavalta, 7 January 1950, Helsinki, Finland – March 6, 1990) was a Finnish pop singer who had a number of hits and was popular in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Arto Sotavalta formed his first band, “The Rattle Sound Five”,  in 1964 when he was 14. He was the band’s solo guitarist and singer and they went on to win a competition in Helsinki and in the Finnish championships came in with the silver. Arto Sotavalta saw his major breakthrough for his band, “The Rogues” over 1966-1969. The band’s members were Jukka Tolonen , Jake Itävaara, Erkki Bertula and Heikki Niemi. Sotavalta and the band’s first recording was in early 1967, a 45 cover of the pop hits “Ei maitoa tänään” (A Finnish-language cover of the Herman and the Hermits hit “No Milk Today”) and a Finnish-language cover of the Rolling Stones hit “Lady Jane”. 

Sotavalta lived in his childhood and youth in Pietari Hannikaisentiellä Helsingin Pohjois-Haagassa (North Haaga). Like many others in the early 1960’s he was inspired by pop music and in particular by The Beatles, learning to play the guitar in the early 1960s. He had some support for this, as Haaga influenced many other big-name musicians, including the Kuoppamäki brothers (Jukka and Mikko), Cisse Häkkinen, Dave Lindholm, Kisu Jernström and Kari Kuuva.

Thanks to the rise of Arto Sotavalta as a Finnish “teen idol” in the late 1960’s, after graduating from the North Haaga secondary school in 1969 he began a professional music career. The following summers were spent studying music professionally, touring and playing in winter restaurant orchestras. His band mates at this time were Cisse Häkkinen , Dave Lindholm and Pepa Päivinen. Arto Sotavalta’s first summer tour was organized in 1971 and a further tour took place in 1972. One of the highlights of 1972 was the Deep Purple concert at the arena , where Arto Sotavalta and his band were the opening act.

In August 1973 band members Mantere, Holopainen and Niemelä decided to go their separate ways and set up their own band. The Summer tour of 1973 were the last gigs where they played together with Arto Sotavalta. From 1974 until 1976 Sotavalta played and toured with his new band members and this period also saw what are perhaps his best remembered recordings, “Seilaan” and “Päivät kuin unta” (Days Like A Dream).

 

Arto Sotavalta scored his first major hit with a Finnish-language cover of the Rolling Stones hit “Lady Jane”. 

 

Arto Sotavalta – “Seilaan” – Arto Sotavalta’s Finnish-language cover of “Sailing”

 

Arto Sotavalta – “Päivät kuin unta” (Days Like A Dream) – a cover of Terry Jack’s “Seasons in the Sun”- Arto Sotavalta’s version really is a cover of Terry Jack’s version (which is a far cry from Jacque Brel’s original song which Terry Jacks “adapted”)

 

Jacque Brel & “Le Moribond” – the original on which Terry Jack’s based “Seasons in the Sun.”

 

Another popular Arto Sotavalta hit was “Kapteeni Tom” – a cover of David Bowie’s “Major Tom.”

 

Arto Sotavalta’s cover, “Kaunis sunnuntai” (Beautiful Sunday)

From 1976 to 1978 he participated in entertaining Finnish UN Peacekeeping forces in Cyprus , Sinai and the Golan Heights. Perhaps his last big hit was in 1978 with the song “Sisar Hento Valkoinen”, the Finnish version of “Sister Golden Hair”,  recorded by the band America for their fifth album Hearts (1975). Sotavalta wrote the lyrics for the Finnsh version. From 1978 to 1981, he continued to record and tour with his band, but by this time his popularity was waning. By this time he was also recording and performing more of his own music and less of the “cover recordings” of foreign hits. In 1981, Arto Sotavalta quit music as a professional career and became an editor. He died of pneumonia at just 40 years of age. Arto Sotavalta is buried in Hietaniemi cemetery in Helsinki.

 

Arto Sotavalta – Päivä muuttaa maan – one of his later original songs

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