sleepy sleepers

When you become stupid enough, you become a genius

Sleepy Sleepers Sakke Järvenpää and Mato Valtonen were the main men in the legendary Finnish comedy/semi-punk band Sleepy Sleepers, true harbingers of bad taste and anarchic attitude, who offended Finland of the late 70s and early 80s with their scatological humour and kicking in the shins of that Finnish sacred cow of the era, Finnish Soviet-friendly foreign policy.

Hailing from Lahti, the "Finnish Chicago" and also the original hometown of Jimi Tenor, the main subjects of Sleepy Sleepers songs were mopeds, cheap "keskiolut" beer, laughs at the expense of domestic politicians (like President Kekkonen) and rural hicks, "caca pranks" and sex in all its variations. Sleepy Sleepers had in their several incarnations playing such people as Albert Järvinen (best known from The Hurriganes [sic]), Dave Lindholm, Silu Seppälä, Sakari Kuosmanen and Markus Heikkerö, better known as a visual artist. They have had also such female vocalists as Tiina Tiikeri and Heinäsirkka. Sleepy Sleepers released 19 albums between 1975 and 1989.

During the final years of Sleepy Sleepers, Valtonen and Järvenpää founded Leningrad Cowboys, a much lamer show band variation of Sleepers, which continues to tour Central European clubs and festivals, though both main men have now left the band, and continue these days in more bourgeois-friendly restaurant and mobile phone businesses.

Links:

Sleepy Sleepers @ Wikipedia (in Finnish)

  • sleepysleepers.com
  • Sleepy Sleepers
  • Sleepy Sleepers - Suomen huonoin bändi
  • Diskografia
  • Dave Lindholm & Mopott Show
  • Poleemi

    See also:

  • FinnSleaze


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