Leevi and the Leavings
Leevi and the Leavings was a Finnish musical group that existed from 1978 to 2003. Members were bandleader Gösta Sundqvist (vocals, guitar), Risto Paananen (bass), Juha Karastie (guitar) and Niklas Nylund (drums).
background
The band broke up after Gösta Sundqvist's death from a heart attack . Sundqvist, who wrote all of the songs for the band, was considered an extraordinary personality in Finland as he avoided the public eye and rarely gave interviews. TV appearances and concerts by him and thus also by the band were a rarity. He wrote a radio program for the radio station Radiomafia von Yleisradio (YLE) and with his band he enjoyed great popularity in Finland. The songs, sung exclusively in Finnish, often contained tragic-comic elements and, for many Finns, are among the best Finnish songs. In the karaoke bars they are often sung even after the group has broken up. In addition to the often sad singing Sundqvists (the song “Elina mitä mä teen” was voted third among the saddest Finnish songs in a readers' poll by Helsingin Sanomat in 2006), there was a female background singing group (such as “En tahdo sinua enää”) and the special mixture of folk, pop, rock, rarely also hard rock rhythms (such as in “Tuntematon ystävä” or “Lihaksikas nainen”) and reggae (“Ihmeiden kaupunki”), as well as distinct melodies stylistically.
Discography
The band released 16 albums between 1980 and 2003:
- 1980: Suuteleminen kielletty
- 1981: Bad joka toi rock'n 'rollin Suomeen
- 1982: Kadonnut laakso
- 1985: Raha yes rakkaus
- 1986: Perjantai 14. päivä
- 1988: Häntä koipien välissä (FI:
platinum) - 1989: Musiikkiluokka (FI:
gold) - 1990: Varasteleva joulupukki
- 1990: Unelmia ja toiveita (FI:gold)
- 1991: Raparperitaivas
- 1993: Turkmenialainen tyttöystävä
- 1995: Rakkauden planeetta (FI:platinum)
- 1995: Menestyksen salaisuus (FI:gold)
- 1996: Käärmenäyttely (FI:gold)
- 1997: Keskiviikko - 40 ensimmäistä hittiä (FI:× 3Triple platinum )
- 1998: Kerran elämässä (FI:platinum)
- 1999: 20 suosikkia (FI:gold)
- 2000: Bulebule
- 2001: Torstai - 40 seuraavaa hittiä (FI:platinum)
- 2002: Onnen avaimet
- 2003: Hopeahääpäivä
There are also eleven compilations (status: 2010), including Torstai ... 40 seuraavaa hittiä . This album reached number 3 in the Finnish charts in 1997 and stayed there for 134 weeks.