We all know Monica Aspelund and Lapponia. But not much of her is heard since early 1980's when she moved to Florida with her son after divorce. She did return for the musical Cats in Helsinki in 1986, and 1997 she performed with her sister Ami. She's been singing on Caribian cruise ships and doing jazz and evergreen gigs in Florida. But guess what? She has moved back to Finland and is slowly starting her career here again. She has already some projects - again with Ami - and is looking at her options. She also rethinks about her past: "If I had stayed in Finland after Cats I may have gotten other musical roles. Also I should have maybe invest more on the Swedish market when I was younger. But my music is more jazz-oriented than pop. But it's in the past, can't think about it now. In a way I feel like I'm in the starting point again, it's very exciting! Luckily my voice is still good, actually better than ever"
And you may not know that we have had only one hijacked aeroplane in Finland. In 1978 a Finnair plane from Oulu to Helsinki was hijacked with Monica onboard. She was terrified to fly in the first place, especially the landing part. Over the next 11 hours the plane landed three times. "It was so unreal I just didn't feel any fear anymore. Once it was over I took a plane to Italy. I was in a bubble that burst only days after in a hotel's breakfast table."
Monica has released 20 singles and 7 albums between 1960-1979. She recorded and released Lapponia in Finnish, Swedish, English, French and German and has performed it even in Japan and in Africa. Here is her debut single, children's song Katso kenguru loikkaa (1960).
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