M.A. Numminen

M.A. NUMMINEN

Taisteluni - In Memoriam (1970 / 1967)

Suomen Talvisota 1939-1940: Underground Rock (1970)

M.A. Numminen: Swingin kutsu (1970)

Various Artists: Iso mies ja keijukainen (1970)

M.A. Numminen: Perkele! Lauluja Suomesta (1971)

Various Artists: Niemisen pojat ja naapurin äijä - Suutari Joonaksen iltapäivä, osa II (1971)

Suojele luontoa - ihmistäkin (1971)

Kissa vieköön! - Uusrahvaanomaisia ralleja (1971)

Joulupukin juhannusyö (1971)

M.A. Numminen: M.A. Numminen på svenska (1972)

Various Artists: Olen nähnyt Helga-neidin kylvyssä (1972)

M.A. Numminen & Turid: Haren satt i gropen i Finland (1973)

M.A. Numminen: Aarteeni, juokaamme likööri! (1973)

Various Artists: Jestapa jepulis - Herra Huun ihmeelliset seikkailut (1973)

M.A. Numminen: In English (1974)

Jag har sett fröken Ellen i badet (1974)

Auf Deutsch (1976)

M.A. Numminen & Kullervo Linnan orkesteri: Kumipallona luokses pompin ain' (1976)

M.A. Numminen och hans nyfolkliga allmogeorkester: Som en gummiboll kommer jag tillbaks till dej (1977)

M.A. Numminen, Sinikka Sokka, Seppo Hovi: Jänikset maailmankartalle (1977)

M.A. Numminen & Turid: Fårskallevisor (1978)

M.A. Numminen: Itsy Bitsy ja muita taidenautintoja / Itsy Bitsy och andra konstupplevelser (1979)

Kuu mies kookospähkinä / Månen mannen kokosnöten (1980)

Silmälasiapina (1983)

Helena est libertas (1983)

Koomikon kahdet kasvot (1984)

Kiusankappaleita 1 (2000)

Kiusankappaleita 2 (2000)

FinnArctic-esittely:

Even globally, Mauri Antero Numminen is a unique personality in the music field. He was born March 12th 1940 in Somero. His career as musician started with occasional drumming assignments for schlager singer Unto Mononen in 1958-1960. Soon after Mononen moved to Helsinki, Numminen formed The Orgiastic Nalle Puh (=Winnie the Pooh) Big Band with his friends Pekka Gronow and Jyrki Parkkinen. Realising they needed a vocalist, Numminen decided to handle the job. Since he wasn't keen on singing with his own voice, he invented a parodic singing style, which he has kept to this day.

Numminen began attracting notoriety as an avantgarde / underground artist performing controversial songs with lyrics taken straight from sex guides, law books, philosophical books, army horse tendance guides and other such opuses. His first record, the EP "M.A. Numminen laulaa" came out in 1966. Numminen had shown some of his songs to Toivo Kärki, songwriter and production manager for Fazer Music. He didn't deem the songs commercial enough, but agreed to release a record if one was made. Without money for a recording session, four songs were taped on a tape machine in May 1966, with backing musicians like guitarists Pekka Gronow and Reijo Perko, bassist Teppo Hauta-Aho, drummer Harri Airaksinen and saxophonists Pekka Pöyry and Stanley Lindroos playing without reimbursements.

In 1966 the art school Taideteollinen oppilaitos performed a "Visual Cabaret" at the summer festival in the town of Jyväskylä. Numminen wrote music for this cabaret which caused an uproar. The police was called in to stop the show and Numminen nearly got thrown in jail. Three of these songs written were the love-educational "Nuoren aviomiehen on syytä muistaa" ("What the Young Husband Must Remember") and "Rakastuneessa ihmisessä" ("In a Person in Love"), and the sweet'n'moving "Naiseni kanssa eduskuntatalon puistossa" ("I Sat With My Woman Outside the High House of Ministry").

A must to mention is a group named Sähkökvartetti (Electric Quartet), a completely improvisational unit consisting of Numminen, Tommi Parko, Arto "Mamba" Koskinen and percussionist Peter Widén. "Instruments" included a potentiometer with a range of 50-20 000, with Parko playing the middle range that's within reach of human ears, a melody machine and a percussion instrument with seven keys. Sähkökvartetti's concerts only included one composition, or rather, theme, titled "Kaukana väijyy ystäviä" (Far Away Lurk Some Friends), and the concerts could last up to one and a half hours unless interrupted by the police or the walk-out of the entire audience, who wanted to escape the dreadful electronic noise produced. The culmination of this group was the concert at the Amos Anderson's art museum. That could easily have been made into an excellent double LP had it been taped. Numminen has later regretted that they didn't make any other recordings than the short excerpt on the second LP "Taisteluni" (1970).

Sähkökvartetti also performed in 1968 in Bulgaria. Numminen first performed Franz Schubert's lieds, during which the audience tried to drive him off the stage by whistling loudly. When it didn't work, the people took on a different method and started clapping loudly (or maybe they started enjoying the show?). After a while Sähkökvartetti made an entrance, and when the noise began, people abandoned the spot in masses, and finally the whole performance was stopped by authorities. One of the group's great artistic victories, Numminen has later said.

Numminen's deliberate attempts to infuriate people culminated in the legendary LP "Underground-Rock" made by a group named Suomen Talvisota 1939-1940, "Finland's Winter War 1939-1940". Not just a rock group, but a whole art collective. Novelist Jarkko Laine, poet Markku Into and painter Harro Koskinen were joined by Numminen and his friends, singer Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki, photographer Peter Widén and artist Timo Aarniala. These people started publishing an underground magazine named Aamurusko (Aurora), which soon was changed into Talvisota and ultimately Suomen Talvisota. This magazine aimed to attack the paralysed society and had an edition of 600 copies at best.

The group's most important projects were theatrical happenings where all kinds of controversial and shocking things could happen. Into and Laine voiced out anti-social declarations, Koskinen gutted a fish and threw the guts at the audience, Somerjoki and Numminen sang. A guy named Kari Kesäläinen occasionally took part in these happenings, playing the part of the paralysed society leaning against crutches, then sitting in a wheelchair and ultimately appearing inside a coffin the more he heard these anti-social speeches and underground rock music.

"Underground-Rock", released in 1970, is a major staple in Finnish rock history. The lyrics still pack a punch and sound refreshingly over-the-top especially compared to all the ultra-polished music that's being made these days.

Slowly but surely the Finnish people started getting used to Numminen's singing voice, and they allowed him his first real hit in 1970 with the old standard "Jeepers Creepers", translated by Kauko Käyhkö and Numminen into "Kissa vieköön". The titular album was compiled in a hurry when the man himself didn't have time to cut an entire LP. Six songs by Numminen were sandwiched in between similar "neo-rustic" songs by Vesa-Matti Loiri, Arja Saijonmaa, Pertti Lumirae, Otto Donner, Reijo Frank and Jani Uhlenius. One album that still awaits a full CD release.

Numminen's long run as singer of children's songs began with the LP "Iso mies ja keijukainen - Lastenlauluja", where he performed six of a total of 21 songs.

Before the end of 1970, an LP titled "Suojele luontoa - ihmistäkin" (Protect the Nature - and Humans Too) pioneered the environmental thinking in a world that was still much more concerned about war and problems in the Third World than preservation of nature. In fact, the album had to tackle all subjects partly because there weren't enough environmental songs yet to fill out more than one side of the record. BTW, the CD version, released in 2008, is decorated with a sticker that announces a small share of the price of the record will go to Amnesty International, so I suggest everyone buy your own copy.

In 1971 Numminen contributed to the soundtrack album for Jörn Donner's shock documentary "Perkele! Kuvia Suomesta" (Finland's answer to Sweden's excellent "Jag är nyfiken - gul / blå", perhaps?). Twelve songs attacked various social ills and is a good companion piece to Suomen Talvisota's effort. Christmas also got its share of the mockery with "Joulupukin juhannusyö" (Santa Claus' Midsummer Night). Great cover painting by Harro Koskinen, who caused scandals in the 1960's by his reworkings of Jesus on the cross ("Sikamessias") and Finland's coat of arms ("Sikavaakuna"), replacing Jesus and Finland's lion symbol with pigs.

Numminen kept his busy recording schedule by releasing albums in Swedish ("På svenska" (1972), "Haren satt i gropen i Finland" (1972), "Jag har sett fröken Ellen i badet" (1974), "Som en gummiboll kommer jag tillbaks till dej" (1977), "Fårskallevisor" (1977)), English ("In English" (1974)), and German ("Auf Deutsch" (1976)). Later LP's like "Itsy Bitsy ja muita taidenautintoja" (1979) and "Kuu, mies, kookospähkinä" (1980) were also made in Swedish and released simultaneously.

"Haren satt i gropen i Finland" is possibly the most interesting of these, and as it hasn't become available on CD, it's quite a collector's item. It's an experimental children's record obviously aimed at the Swedish markets, as it includes vocals by Swedish songstress Turid Lundqvist, and Kent Nyman, a gypsy boy of Finnish origin but living in Sweden. Finnish names like gypsy group Hortto Kaalo, rocker Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki, and Hungarian-born cello player Karoly Garam also took part.

In 1973 Numminen performed the title role in the children's movie "Herra Huu - Jestapa jepulis, penikat sipuliks", as a mysterious phantomlike figure dressed in black, who does spells, hates children, lives as a recluse and generally tries to be scary. Eventually he meets a group of children, learns to accept them and even like them a bit. The accompanying soundtrack album "Jestapa jepulis - Herra Huun ihmeelliset seikkailut" is one of my Numminen favourites.

Two more records deserve a mention. "Kumipallona luokses pompin ain" (1976) included the song "Kumipallo", originally Bobby Vee's "Rubber Ball". Numminen also recorded this song in Swedish, and this version became such a big hit in Sweden that it has practically become a nuisance for Numminen, who would gladly perform other songs on his Swedish concerts as well.

"Helena est Libertas" (1983) is a highly avantgardistic, progressive LP containing music written for painter Helena Vapaa's (Vapaa = Free = Libertas, get it?) art exhibition. Lyrics were poems by Numminen translated into Latin and sung by a female choir. Vapaa is also Numminen's spouse. "Helena est Libertas" was the first part of the so-called "Libertas" trilogy followed by poem collection "Passio Libertatis" (1983) and b-side of the 1984 LP "Koomikon kahdet kasvot".

Two longtime collaborators have dominated Numminen's career. In the 70's it was accordionist-keyboardist-conductor-arranger Jani Uhlenius, from 1977 onwards it has been Heikki "Pedro" Hietanen, who has often been seen dressed as Pommi the Cat while Numminen plays Gommi the Rabbit. Gommi and Pommi are very popular characters created for children's entertainment purposes, and they have appeared in several of Numminen's later children's records as well as toured regularly.

Numminen's story doesn't end here, you can be sure he still has a lot to give to enrich the world of music.

Oma mielipiteeni Nummisesta lienee aika tyypillinen: joskus hän on viihdyttävä ja nerokas, joskus yhdentekevä, joskus sietämätön. Pidän vähiten Nummisesta silloin, kun hän laulaa jollain muulla kielellä kuin suomeksi. Ruotsi ja englanti sujuvat häneltä kömpelösti, saksankieli kuulostaa minun korvissani vain käsittämättömältä ja siksi epäkiinnostavalta.

Suomen Talvisodan Underground Rock on viihdyttävin levy ja yhä rajua kamaa. CD:n lainaaminen kirjastosta ensimmäistä kertaa joskus takavuosina oli henkisesti helppo askel, koska olin jo kuullut melkein kaikki kappaleet radiosta.

Useat lastenlevyt ovat myös parasta. Iso mies ja keijukainen, Niemisen pojat ja naapurin äijä, Herra Huu ja Jänikset maailmankartalle ovat levyjä joita aikuinenkin jaksaa kuunnella. Silmälasiapinassa haittaa ylipitkä Pulla kasvaa, muuten sekin on hyvä. Haren satt i gropen i Finland taas on paikoitellen liian hapokas ja kummallinen. Kuinkahan moni lapsi on jaksanut siitä nauttia? Outoudessaan kuitenkin kiehtova levy.

Olen nähnyt Helga-neidin kylvyssä -LP:stä melkein pitäisi löytää parempikuntoinen kappale, ykköspuolella rahina lähes peittää musiikin. Kakkospuoli on sentään paremmassa kunnossa.

Fårskallevisor-levystä minulla oli liiankin pitkään vain CD-R-kopio, mutta viime helmikuussa se löytyi lopultakin AH Recordsista. Sateenkaarilipun alla -LP:stä on kaksi näköhavaintoa, mutta hintapyynnöt ovat niin astronomiset, että haaveeksi jää sen hankkiminen. On minulla sekin digitaalikopiona Pasin, sen Ruotsissa asuvan Harrin tuttavan ansiosta.


Artikkeliskannaukset:

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