Kirill "Kirka" Babitzin (; 22 September 1950 in Helsinki, Finland – 31 January 2007 in Helsinki, Finland) was a Finnish vocalist and musician. One of the most commercially successful artists from Finland, his career lasted from the late 1960s until his death in 2007. Sales of Kirka's records have exceeded one million copies. During his career, Kirka was awarded five Emma prizes.
Kirka's career spanned over four decades with hardly any interruptions. He started his career in 1964 in the band The Creatures, which never published any records. Previously associated with Ilkka Lipsanen's band, The Islanders, Kirka went on to record a wide array of rock and pop music. He went on a solo career in 1967 with his song "Hetki Lyö" (Beat the Clock) in the same year becoming his breakthrough. By the middle 1970s, several hits followed such as "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 Eurovision Song Contest 1984 with his song "Hengaillaan" (Hanging Around), with the album of the same name being awarded a gold record. From 1986 to 1987 Kirka published hard rock in English, but soon returned to schlagers in Finnish. In 1988 Kirka won the Syksyn sävel competition with his song "Surun Pyyhit Silmistäni" with the album of the same name being awarded five platinum records. Thus started the most successful part of Kirka's career with numerous gold and platinum records. By the start of the 21st century, Kirka was part of the popular Mestarit ("The Masters") group. His last album was published in 2005.
Kirka's career spanned many different kinds of music. When performing, he sang many rock and soul songs which were his favourite kinds, but his records mostly consisted of softer material. This contradiction sometimes bothered him, and he described himself as a rock singer who performed pop and schlager songs.
Kirka came from a Russo-Finnish background. Of the children in the Babitzin family, Sammy, Muska, Ykä and Anna have also made their careers in the music business. Kirka's daughter Alexandra has also appeared as a singer. Sammy's signature hit Daa-da daa-da tells a story of high-speed automotive cruising.
Biography Childhood and youth (1950 to 1966) Background and family
Kirill Babitzin was born in Helsinki in 1950 to a Russian family. His father, Leo Babitzin was born in 1914 in St. Petersburg and fled to Finland in the aftermath of the October Revolution.
Kirill's mother, Elizaveta (), was partially of German-Russian descent and was born in a part of Karelia that Finland was later forced to cede to the Soviet Union.Arvonen, Margit: Muska Babitzinin suru: Veli hukkui vesitynnyriin, Iltalehti 13 October 2008. Accessed on 28 January 2011.Kinnunen, Raila: Tää on mun juttuni, Apu 2 February 2007. Accessed on 23 May 2008. Elizaveta's father had been a commandant in the Russian Navy and committed suicide when the Bolsheviks came to fetch him. There had also been other officers of the Imperial Russian Army in the families of both of Kirka's parents.
Kirill Babitzin was born on 22 September 1950 in Helsinki as the third son of Leo who worked as a plumber and Elisabeth who was a stay-at-home mother. The family lived on the street Huvilakatu in a cramped room on the ground floor of the building.Tiitto, Veikko: Kirka, Veikkotiitto.fi. Accessed on 6 February 2021.Kinnunen, Raila: 70 vuotta Kirkan syntymästä: "Poismennyttä ihmistä voi ajatella ilolla - Lähtijällä on nyt hyvä olla, hänellä ei ole hätää, ei kipua eikä tuskaa", Apu 29 September 2020. Accessed on 14 February 2021.Marttinen, Vesa: Lenkkeilevä Kirka oli tuttu näky Kruununhaassa, YLE Uutiset 28 January 2017. Accessed on 8 February 2021. As well as Kirka, the Babitzin family included other children who also made a career in music: Aleksandr ("Sammy", 1948 - 1973), Marija ("Muska", born 1952), Georgij ("Ykä", born 1955) and Anna (born 1961Mattlar, Mikko: Anna Babitzin teki ensimmäisen levynsä 13-vuotiaana mutta valitsi myöhemmin perhe-elämän, Helsingin Sanomat 23 April 2021. Accessed on 2 November 2021.) and Leo (1946-1948) who drowned when he was two years old. The family spoke Russian at home.Babitzin, Kirill; Kinnunen, Raila: Enimmäkseen Kirkasta. Helsinki: Loisto, 2007. . The Russian names of the children were difficult to pronounce to their Finnish-speaking playmates, so they first started calling Kirill as Kira and then as Kirka.Miettinen, Sauli: Muska. Helsinki: Like, 2022. . In 1961 the Babitzin family moved to Maunula to one of the new rented apartment buildings built at Pakilantie 20.Lehtikanto, Katariina: Kirka Babitzin olisi täyttänyt 70 vuotta, Iltalehti 26 September 2020. Accessed on 25 February 2021.
Start of musical interest and The Creatures Kirill Babitzin first got into music at the age of five when his grandmother Sofia gave him an accordion, which he played on visits to senior homes.Latva, Tony; Tuunainen, Petri: Iskelmän tähtitaivas. 500 suomalaista viihdetaiteilkijaa. Helsinki: WSOY, 2004. . Leo Babitzin signed Kirka and Muska up for music lessons, but they quit going to them after becoming frustrated at the tight discipline held by the elderly teacher. In 1959 the nine-year-old Kirka started accordion school taught by Lasse Pihlajamaa.Elämäkerta: 1950-luku, Kirka.fi. Accessed on 8 February 2021. In the next year, Kirka took part in a televised accordion competition held at the Kulttuuritalo venue in Helsinki, where he was awarded the second prize in the regional championships for children under 12 years.Elämäkerta: 1960-luku, Kirka.fi. Accessed on 8 February 2021.
Kirka's interest in singing began at the age of eleven or twelve, when his big brother Sammy who worked as an errand boy at the Musiikki-Fazer music company started bringing records home with him. Kirka began listening to records by Elvis Presley and Paul Anka, and later also by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.Hopi, Anna: Tiedätkö, mikä sysäsi Kirkan musiikkuralle? "En osannut aluksi edes laulaa", Iskelma.fi 31 January 2017. Accessed on 15 March 2021. The raspy-voiced Little Richard proved to be the artist that made the biggest impression to Kirka, and this left a permanent effect on his style of singing.Lindfors, Jukka: Kirkan tie teini-idolista aikuisrockariksi, Yle Elävä Arkisto 26 November 2010. Accessed on 21 February 2021. As Kirka started becoming interested in rock music he left his hobby of playing the accordion behind, and started learning to play the guitar instead.
In autumn 1964 Kirka joined the band The Creatures as a singer.Kirka and the Creatures, Kirka Fan Club 2024. The band played straightforward rock and roll as well as rhythm and blues. The band would have wanted Sammy to join as a singer first, but he preferred to stay at his current band The Steelers and recommended his little brother Kirka instead.Lahti, Petri: Kirka - Hetki lyö. Helsinki: Readme.fi, 2022. . Kirka's first appearance with The Creatures was in November 1964 at the Vocational School for Girls in Helsinki. The band played many times on television and in the 1966 films Käpy selän alla and Topralli, but never published any records.
Kirka's father Leo Babitzin thought rock music was a passing phenomenon and insisted Kirka concentrate on his studies so he could get into university and graduate as an engineer, a doctor or a judge. Kirka had started school at a Russian-speaking playschool, from where he went on to the Tabunov school in 1957. The Tabunov school ceased operations in the next year, so Kirka moved to a primary school on the street Tehtaankatu. He just barely passed primary school, after which he started studying in a school on the street Mäkelänkatu. Kirka stopped going to school at seventh grade at Christmas time in 1966. He no longer enjoyed his time in a Finnish school but later said he felt fear towards its authoritativeness and leadership aimed at levelling the students. As well as this, Kirka was left behind in class a couple of times because of excessive absences. He got a grade 4 (failing grade) in singing, because he neglected his studies in singing in favour of playing at gigs. Even the child care authorities visited Kirka's home to remind him of compulsory education in Finland, and he was even threatened with ending up at an approved school.Popp, Outi: Poppologia. Suomi-popin lyhyt oppimäärä. Helsinki: WSOY, 2002. . Under pressure from his father, Kirka applied to secondary school three times and was finally approved, but never actually showed up at the school.
Start of solo career (1967 to 1974)
First recordings and breakthrough The band The Creatures had already started to wane, but Kirka's talent was recognised and he became popular. He visited a recording studio for the first time in summer 1967 when he recorded the songs "Anna suukko vain" ("Just give me a kiss") and "Silloin ihminen kaunis on" ("That's when you're beautiful") for Love Records. The songs, written and arranged by Otto Donner, combined jazz, blues and even elements of progressive rock, and the band Blues Section backed Kirka up. Love Records published the songs as a single later in the year after Kirka had already published his first hit "Hetki lyö" ("Beat the Clock", composed by Gottehrer-Stroll, a 1968 Elfstone B side), and the single attracted little attention. Kirka cited this song as his greatest achievement.
The Creatures performed for the last time in September 1967, after which Kirka spent a week or two as the singer of the band Mosaic. Danny was looking for another singer to his band The Islanders. Kari Åkerberg, who worked at the entertainment company D-tuotanto that Danny had founded, had seen Kirka performing with The Creatures and had become impressed by his voice. Kirka joined The Islanders and performed together with them for the first time in October 1967. At the same time, he joined the company D-tuotanto, where his raggare image was replaced with that of a clean pop singer. His wardrobe was well arranged and took influence of the British mod subculture. According to Kirka, the company sometimes went too far in arranging a style for him, which annoyed him. Kirka recorded what the record company recommended, toured Finland along with the others, dressed as he was told to and kept his personal romantic relationships secret as he was recommended to.
In October 1967 Kirka and The Islanders recorded the song "Hetki lyö" for the recording company Scandia-Musiikki, which was a cover of the song "Beat the Clock" by the American band The McCoys, translated to Finnish by Pertti Reponen. On the record, Kirka served as the singer of The Islanders, but the single was still published under the name The Islanders instead of Kirka. According to Danny, the reason was that he wanted to make a name for The Islanders so it could perform without a star singer if needed. The song "Hetki lyö" soon reached the top spot at the Kahdeksan kärjessä list on radio. After the single had been published, Kirka went on his first tour with The Islanders to Finnish Lapland.