Hassisen Kone

Hassisen Kone was a Finnish rock band, founded in 1979 in Joensuu. The young musicians rose to popularity in 1980 after winning the Finnish rock championship in the new wave category. They recorded three highly successful albums before disbanding in 1982. The singer-songwriter Ismo Alanko has led several bands since then and continues to be an influential name in Finnish rock music.

Hassisen Kone
OriginJoensuu, Finland
GenresNew wave, punk rock
Years active1979–1982, 2001
LabelsPoko Records
Associated actsIsmo Alanko, Sielun Veljet
Websitepoko.fi/hassisenkone/
Past membersIsmo Alanko
Reijo Heiskanen
Jussi Kinnunen
Harri Kinnunen
Jukka Orma
Safka Pekkonen
Hannu Porkka
Antti Seppo

History

The idea of forming Hassisen Kone came to Ismo Alanko in 1979, when he heard the Eppu Normaali album Maximum Jee&Jee while working in Stockholm. Alanko returned to Finland and started the band with guitarist Reijo Heiskanen and drummer Harri Kinnunen. The band's name was based on a local home appliance store of the same name. The three men had earlier played together in a progressive rock group called Sight. Kinnunen's little brother Jussi was hired to play the bass.[1]

In March 1980, the newly formed Hassisen Kone won the Finnish rock championship, an annual competition for young musicians held since 1970.[2] The victory raised public interest for the band, and when their debut album Täältä tullaan Venäjä was released in June, it was an instant hit. The ironic lyrics of the song "Rappiolla" caused some reporters to start complaining about indecency in rock songs.[3][4]

The band's follow-up album Rumat sävelet (1981) was considered a more serious and mature record than its predecessor. The album's harsh and sometimes personal lyrics reflected how the sudden rise to stardom had effected the then 20-year-old Alanko.[1] The same year Hassisen Kone took part on the Tuuliajolla tour on Saimaa, with Juice Leskinen and Eppu Normaali. Material of the tour was included in the Kaurismäki brothers film The Saimaa Gesture.[5]

For Harsoinen teräs (1982), Jukka Orma replaced Reijo Heiskanen on guitar and some additional members were hired to work on the more rhythmic and progressive album featuring saxophone, xylophone and keyboards. The classical and prog background of Alanko was more and more evident in the songwriting.[1] Harsoinen teräs was also translated into English and released as a promo album called High Tension Wire in 1982.[6]

Hassisen Kone disbanded in August 1982. Alanko and Orma went on to form Sielun Veljet shortly afterwards. Jussi Kinnunen had a six-month break from music, after which he has played in several bands, including Tiina Tiikeri, Pertti Neumann's band and Ismo Alanko Säätiö.[7] Harri Kinnunen has played, among others, for Sleepy Sleepers and Lapinlahden Linnut.[8][9]

Hassisen Kone has played several nostalgic reunion concerts after they disbanded. In 2000, they reunited for a concert on midsummer at the Joensuu Laulurinne. The concert was filmed and released as a DVD titled 20 vuotta myöhemmin (20 years later).[7]

Discography

Studio albums
ReleasedTitleChart PeakCertification[10]Label
1980Täältä tullaan Venäjä-Platinum (1997)Poko
1981Rumat sävelet-Platinum (2005)
1982Harsoinen teräs-Gold (1982)
High Tension Wire (English language promo LP)-–

Compilations
ReleasedTitleChart PeakCertificationLabel
1982Historia 1980–1982-–Poko
1987Poko-klassikko-–
2000Tarjolla tänään1Gold (2000)
2009Jurot nuorisojulkkikset-–

DVDs
ReleasedTitleLabel
200120 vuotta myöhemminPoko

Singles
ReleasedTitleLabel
1980"Hassisen Kone"Hilse
"Muoviruusuja omenapuissa"Poko
"Rappiolla"
"Kolumpia orkesteri"
1981"Jurot nuorisojulkkikset"
"On jouluyö, nyt laulaa saa"
"Pelkurit"
"Rajat"
1982"Levottomat jalat"
"Hiljaa virtaa veri"
gollark: I'm sure it's theoretically possible to do physics and nonphysics things simultaneously.
gollark: That would be mean.
gollark: It probably won't try and take over all global transport networks to optimise some bizarre efficiency metric regardless of actual human desires, or anything like that.
gollark: Of course.
gollark: I wonder if they've caught on to the idea of automatically randomly tweaking traffic light configuration and monitoring to see if it improves traffic.

See also

Notes
  1. Tero Valkonen on Pomus – Populaarimusiikin museo – Retrieved on 6 March 2008
  2. yle.fi – Elävä arkisto – Retrieved on 6 March 2008
  3. Suomipopin 99 suurinta, City magazine 21/1999
  4. yle.fi – Poppia kyydissä – Retrieved on 6 March 2008
  5. Saimaa-ilmiö on nyt.hs.fi – Retrieved on 6 March 2008
  6. Tero Alanko: Tarjolla tänään: Hassisen Kone – Soundi magazine 04/2000
  7. Pale Saarinen: Jussi Kinnunen – moni-ilmeinen muusikkopersoona – SELVIS 2/2002
  8. Matti Komulainen: Sleepy Sleepers vilautti snadisti anarkiaa – Turun Sanomat 5 July 2003
  9. Lapinlahden Linnut hekotuttaa uusintanakin – Turun Sanomat 21 July 1998
  10. ifpi.fi – Retrieved 5 March 2008
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.