Wigwam (band)

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Rechardt, Pembroke, Österberg, Pohjola and Gustavson (April 1974)

Wigwam is a Finnish art rock and progressive rock band founded in 1968 .

history

The band's history can be divided into three clearly separated phases, which in fanzines are also referred to as the three editions of Wigwam . The first phase (1968 to 1974) is characterized above all by artistic ambitions, while the second (1974/75 to 1978/80) is characterized by the attempt to establish itself internationally. The third edition is the surprising resurrection of the band since 1991, after the seemingly final dissolution due to the death of the founder Ronnie Österberg in 1980. The first edition still enjoys cult status in Finland even in the 21st century.

Wigwam - 1st edition

Wigwam was founded in 1968 as the successor to the Sami band Blues Section , an early Finnish jazz rock band , founded by their drummer Ronnie Österberg as a classic rock trio with Mats Hulden on bass and Nikke Nikamo on guitar. Soon after the founding, the group was completed with the British-Finnish singer-songwriter Jim Pembroke , who had also been a member of the Blues Section , and the organist Jukka Gustavson , who both wrote the first album, published in 1969, side by side in both song and composition Hard 'N' Horny coined. While the A-side is entirely dedicated to both English and Finnish songs by Gustavson, the B-side, designed exclusively by Pembroke, became a lyrical concept album .

The production of the album turned out to be tedious and reached the limit of the financial possibilities of the young label Love Records . Hard 'N' Horny was well received by domestic music reviews, but not a hit. The single Luulosairas , released outside the LP at the same time, was a much better sales success. Meanwhile, Wigwam built up an excellent reputation as a live band, although their record releases had little in common with their appearances.

In 1970 the multi-instrumentalist Pekka Pohjola joined them and two more LPs were produced in quick succession. Then almost three years passed before the release of the album Being , which is often regarded as their masterpiece of progressive rock and at the same time heralded the first major turning point in the band's history in 1974/75.

Wigwam - 2nd edition

After the artistic success with Being , there was a fundamental change that was initially reflected in the cast. Both on bass and guitar, new musicians came with Pekka Rechardt and Måns Groundstroem, the style of the band became more commercial. The album Nuclear Nightclub , released in 1975 , thus became their most successful and is said to have been praised by local music journalists as the best Finnish album of all time, just like Wigwam as the best band in the world overall.

In the following period, the group received international attention for the first time, especially in the United Kingdom, it was able to attract positive attention and, similar to Tasavallan Presidentti with Jukka Tolonen , who later also played with Wigwam , seemed to be about to break through. After the international success did not succeed, the band was on the verge of breaking up in the fall of 1977, but eventually continued under the old name and released their Dark Album before the end of the year , which, although appreciated by fans, was appreciated by the mainstream music press was largely ignored. Their jubilee concert in June 1978 at the Punkarock Festival in Punkaharju was rather a failure, and wigwam was increasingly falling apart . The band members devoted themselves to other projects or bread-making; Even an extensive, highly positive article, including about the current album in the New Musical Express , could not reverse the course this time. The band splits.

Pekka Rechardt 1974

In late 1978, Jim Pembroke and Ronnie Österberg formed the short-lived Jim Pembroke Band , but after Österberg, who was burdened with health problems, perished by suicide on December 6, 1980, Finnish Independence Day, the second turning point finally took place. With the drummer Österberg, the only remaining founding member was dead.

Wigwam - 3rd edition

In the summer of 1991, however, the line-up of Pembroke-Rechardt-Groundstroem had a reunion, which is considered the third edition of Wigwam by those interested in Finnish rock music . Since then, there have been regular concerts as well as old and new releases, some of which made it into the Finnish charts. They achieved the best results in 2002 with the new album Titans Wheel and in 2015 with the new edition of their debut album Hard N 'Horny , which made it into the Finnish top ten.

Band members

Current occupation

  • Jim Pembroke - vocals , keyboard (1969-)
  • Pekka "Rekku" Rechardt - guitar (1974-)
  • Esa Kotilainen - keyboard (1974-1975, 1977, 2001-)
  • Mats Huldén - bass (1968-1970, 2004-)
  • Jari "Kepa" Kettunen - drums (1993-)

Founding formation

  • Vladimir "Nikke" Nikamo - guitar (1968–1970)
  • Mats Huldén - bass (1968-1970, 2004-)
  • Ronald "Ronnie" Österberg - drums (1968– † 1980)

Other members

  • Jukka "Gutsi" Gustavson - vocals (1969–1974)
  • Pekka Pohjola - bass (1970-1974)
  • Måns "Måsse" Groundstroem - Bass (1974-2003)
  • Jussi Kinnunen - bass (2003-2004)
  • Jan Noponen - drums (1991-1993)
  • Pekka Pohjola - violin (1970–1974)
  • Jukka "Gutsi" Gustavson - keyboard (1969–1974)
  • Heikki "Hessu / Pedro" Hietanen - keyboard (1975–1977, 1991–1992, 1999–2000)
  • Mikko Rintanen - keyboard (1992-1993)

Guest musicians with Wigwam played numerous partly internationally active, mostly Finnish musicians like Jukka Tolonen , Eero Koivistoinen , Erkki Kurenniemi and Juhani Aaltonen .

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
FI FITemplate: chart table / maintenance / charts non-existent
1969 Hard 'n' Horny FI8 (1 week)
FI
Chart entry in FI only in 2015
1970 Tombstone Valentine FI42 (2 weeks)
FI
Chart entry in FI only in 2014
1971 Fairyport FI40 (1 week)
FI
Chart entry in FI only in 2014
1974 Being FI30 (1 week)
FI
Chart entry in FI only in 2014
1975 Nuclear nightclub FI12
gold
gold

(8 weeks)FI
Chart entry in FI only in 2011
2002 Titans Wheel FI7 (3 weeks)
FI
2005 Some several months FI28 (2 weeks)
FI
2016 Pop Liisa 3 FI20 (1 week)
FI

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More albums

  • The Lucky Golden Stripes and Starpose (1976)
  • Dark Album (1977)
  • Light Ages (1993)
  • Nuclear Nightclub - Expanded (2018)

Live albums

  • Live Music from the Twilight Zone (1975)
  • Wigwam Plays Wigwam (2001)

Compilations

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
FI FI
2000 Fresh Garbage - Rarities 1969-1977 FI34 (1 week)
FI

More compilations

  • Wigwam (1972)
  • Rumors on the Rebound (1979)
  • Classics - The Rarest (1990)
  • Highlights (1996)
  • Parhaat (2009)
  • 28 Songs from the Twilight Zone (2014)

Wigwam and many of its members were extremely productive artists: In addition to the original, live and compilation albums listed here , a large number of singles were also published and articles on samplers by various artists. Some of the musicians involved have also published some extensive solo works. In addition to Pekka Pohjola, Jim Pembroke deserves special mention:

Solo albums by Jim Pembroke

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
FI FI
2014 If The Rain Comes FI21 (4 weeks)
FI

More albums

  • Wicked Ivory (1972)
  • Pigworm (1974)
  • Corporal Cauliflowers Mental Function (1977)
  • Flat Broke (1980)
  • Party Upstairs (1981)
  • Bee tai pop (with Kojo) (1985)

Web links

Commons : Wigwam  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Pertti Hakala: Wigwam 1968–1974 . In: Rare , 2/1992; on wigwam.fi, unofficial band site
  2. ↑ Wigwam 1975-1978 . Wigwam - Nuclear Netclub (wigwam.fi), history in english
  3. ↑ Pertti Hakala: Wigwam 1975-1978 . Wigwam - Nuclear Netclub (wigwam.fi), history in english
  4. ↑ Wigwam (FI) . finnishcharts.com - Overview of publications and chart placements since 2000
  5. ↑ a b c Chart sources: FI (Wigwam) FI (Jim Pembroke)
  6. ↑ Music Sales Awards: FI
  7. ↑ Wigwam Singles . wigwam.fi
  8. ↑ Albums by Various Artists with Tracks by Wigwam . wigwam.fi
  9. ↑ Wigwam Discography . wigwam.fi