Unto Mononen
Unto Mononen | |
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Lyricists | |
Years active | 1950-1968 |
Unto Uuno Mononen (23 October 1930 in
Biography
Mononen is often said to come from
In 1950, Mononen first successfully sold his songs to a record company. The first song recorded was "Pieni laulu" ("A small song"), a waltz sung by Pentti Halme. In 1955 Henry Theel recorded the famous "Satumaa" to some success, but the song's status wasn't cemented until seven years later, in 1962, when Reijo Taipale recorded it.
Other famous tangos by Mononen include "Tähdet meren yllä" ("Stars above the Sea"), "Lapin Tango'' ("The Tango of
One of the most well known figures in Finnish popular culture, provocative entertainer M. A. Numminen had played drums in Mononen's band. Later Numminen asked Mononen to compose a humorous tango to his lyrics. Mononen answered that for Numminen, he would write a tango even to the words of a phone book. From this collaboration, the song "Naiseni kanssa eduskuntatalon puistossa" ("With my Woman at the Park of the Parliament House") was born.
During his later years, Mononen suffered from alcoholism and eventually shot himself with a pistol on 28 June 1968. He was 37 years old.