Finnish veteran songwriter and artist Lasse Mårtenson has expressed his anger over a tribute concert in his honour. The artist represented Finland in the 1964 Eurovision Song Contest with his own song Laiskotellen. The tribute concert Mårtenson remix was part of the Helsinki Festival. A CD album with remixes and covers of his best known songs, titled "Kaikki paitsi Mårtenson on turhaa" was released earlier this year.

The artist told Helsingin Sanomat that he first heard of the project on his return from his holidays in July this year. The producer of the CD, Timo Kuoppamäki from EMI Finland maintains, that all needed permissions have been received. Mårtenson says, the new versions don’t do justice to his compositions. Mr. Mårtenson told Iltalehti also, that he thinks the projects is a mocking his identity and his image as an artist. In the same article he admits, however, that it is also a question of money. “I am angry and disappointed, I will not receive a penny until later”.

The Swedish language daily Hufvudstadbladet reports, that Mårtenson does not like to be portrayed as a representative of Finnish schlager. He is blaming cultural and language differences. “I write in my native tongue, Swedish. If this is not observed, the pulse will be wrong”. Mårtenson sold the rights of all his work together with his own publishing company Mårtensongs to F-Kustannus two years ago.

Lasse Mårtenson was recently nominated during an YLE Eurovision gala as the most productive composer in the history of Finnish national finals, with a total of 18 songs participating. He won in 1964, and in 1965 his song Iltaisin won the vote of the national juries. Later, after listening to TV bosses from the other Nordic countries, YLE decided to send another song instead.

Laiskotellen is covered on the disputed album by Pauli Hanhiniemi, and it also includes two of his well-known national final entries.

Finnish Eurovision record collectors were also surprised recently, when an YLE radio station played a previously unknown Italian language version of the 1964 Finnish entry. The song, titled Cara domenica is not available on any recording and is not listed in the otherwise very comprehensive database of Finnish recorded music. Escfinland.eu will provide information of all known Finnish Eurovision recordings in the history section later on.

Famously the 1964 Eurovision final does not seem to have survived in any TV archive on film and the Mårtenson performance in the Tivoli gardens has never been seen since. Many fans of the contest still hope, that a copy of the contest will still turn up.