David Uosikkinen
Encyclopedia
David Uosikkinen is an American drummer
and Internet
content manager, best known for being a founding member of rock band The Hooters
.
and at eight years old, he took up the trumpet
. His father regularly took him to see jazz bands at the Lambertville
Music Circus
and after he saw The Beatles
perform on The Ed Sullivan Show
on February 9, 1964, Uosikkinen realized that music and being in a band was what he wanted to pursue with his life. He eventually turned to the drums when a neighbor let him play on his new set.
He graduated from Woodrow Wilson (now Harry S. Truman) High School in 1974, where he participated in gymnastics. After high school, Uosikkinen played in a number of Philadelphia area bands, including The Kooks, The Torpedoes, Hot Property and Youth Camp.
Uosikkinen's parents are both immigrants from Finland
.
and Eric Bazilian
when they decided to try something new by combining reggae
, ska
, and rock'n'roll to create The Hooters
.
Nervous Night
, The Hooters
' 1985 debut on Columbia Records
, sold in excess of 2 million copies and included Billboard Top 40 hits "Day By Day" (#18), "And We Danced" (#21) and "Where Do The Children Go" (#38).
After releasing six albums, The Hooters
obtained a large global following throughout the 1980s and 1990s. As a result, they were asked to open three major musical events of the late 20th century: Live Aid
in Philadelphia in 1985, Amnesty International
Concert at Giants Stadium
in 1986, and Roger Waters
' The Wall Concert in Berlin
in 1990. In 1995, The Hooters went on hiatus.
Uosikkinen reunited with The Hooters on successful headlining European summer tours in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
2007 saw the release of Time Stand Still
, their first album of new material since 1993.
, Cyndi Lauper
, Rod Stewart
, Alice Cooper
, Largo (Taj Mahal
, Joan Osborne
, David Forman, Garth Hudson
, Bill Wittman), The Soul Kitchen, Tahir Wilson, Pretty Poison
, Damian Hagger, Happy Hatters and 7A3.
In 1994, Uosikkinen and entrepreneur, Dave Macrae, launched an independent record label called Moskeeto Records.
In 2010 David began his project, In The Pocket: Essential Songs of Philadelphia creating a fund raising campaign for the Settlement Music School. To date, In The Pocket is recording the Essential Songs Of Philadelphia. The first two songs are "All My Mondays" originally recorded by Youth Camp and "Open My Eyes," a Todd Rundgren/Nazz classic. Documentary music videos are being created for the project by Steve Acito of Bluewire Media. Songs can be downloaded at songsinthepocket.org and on iTunes. More info on the project can be found at songsinthepocket.org. Others working on the project include: Eric Bazilian - The Hooters, Richard Bush - The A's/The Peace Creeps, Greg Davis - Beru Revue, Rick DiFonzo - Roger Waters/Patty Smythe/ The A's, Jeffrey Gaines - singer/songwriter, Rob Hyman - The Hooters, William Wittman - Too Much Joy/Cyndi Lauper.
, which subsequently changed the music industry's distribution and consumer listening habits.
In 2005, Uosikkinen took a position at another technology company, MP3tunes, a Music Service Provider (MSP) and originator of Oboe, a system that allowed unlimited online storage for users. In 2006, he went on to manage content for VMix, a site that featured music videos and other compositions by film makers in various genres.
Currently, when not touring or recording with The Hooters, Uosikkinen works at 6StringMedia, a web development and marketing company.
In January 2009, Uosikkinen launched Dave U Drums, an internet service where musicians send him an outline of a song, pay a recording fee, and Uosikkinen will deliver a finished drum track within 72 hours.
in 1991, initially to Los Angeles
before moving to San Diego. He moved back to Philadelphia in 2009. He has one son, Sam, who was born in 1990.
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
and Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
content manager, best known for being a founding member of rock band The Hooters
The Hooters
The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...
.
Early life
Uosikkinen grew up in Levittown, PennsylvaniaLevittown, Pennsylvania
Levittown is a census-designated place and planned community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population was 52,983 at the 2010 census. It is above sea level...
and at eight years old, he took up the trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
. His father regularly took him to see jazz bands at the Lambertville
Lambertville, New Jersey
Lambertville is a city in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 3,906.Lambertville was originally incorporated as a town by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 1, 1849, from portions of West Amwell Township...
Music Circus
Music circus
Music circus is an American theatrical form begun in Lambertville, New Jersey, by St. John Terrell in 1949. Established as summer stock, the new theatre venues primarily housed light operas and operettas, produced in the round, under a circus-style big top....
and after he saw The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
perform on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
on February 9, 1964, Uosikkinen realized that music and being in a band was what he wanted to pursue with his life. He eventually turned to the drums when a neighbor let him play on his new set.
He graduated from Woodrow Wilson (now Harry S. Truman) High School in 1974, where he participated in gymnastics. After high school, Uosikkinen played in a number of Philadelphia area bands, including The Kooks, The Torpedoes, Hot Property and Youth Camp.
Uosikkinen's parents are both immigrants from Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
Tenure with The Hooters
In 1980, Uosikkinen joined Philadelphia musicians Rob HymanRob Hyman
Robert Andrew "Rob" Hyman is an American singer, songwriter, keyboard player, accordion player, producer, arranger and recording studio owner, best known for being a founding member of the rock band The Hooters.-Early life:Hyman started taking piano lessons at the age of four and grew up playing...
and Eric Bazilian
Eric Bazilian
Eric M. Bazilian , is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer, best known for being a founding member of the rock band The Hooters.-Early life:...
when they decided to try something new by combining reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, and rock'n'roll to create The Hooters
The Hooters
The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...
.
Nervous Night
Nervous Night (album)
Nervous Night is the second studio album by the American rock band The Hooters, released in 1985 by Columbia Records and on CBS Records in Europe.-Background:...
, The Hooters
The Hooters
The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...
' 1985 debut on Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, sold in excess of 2 million copies and included Billboard Top 40 hits "Day By Day" (#18), "And We Danced" (#21) and "Where Do The Children Go" (#38).
After releasing six albums, The Hooters
The Hooters
The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...
obtained a large global following throughout the 1980s and 1990s. As a result, they were asked to open three major musical events of the late 20th century: Live Aid
Live Aid
Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
in Philadelphia in 1985, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
Concert at Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...
in 1986, and Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
' The Wall Concert in Berlin
The Wall Concert in Berlin
The Wall – Live in Berlin was a live concert performance by Roger Waters and numerous guest artists, of the Pink Floyd studio album, The Wall, itself largely written by Waters during his time with the band. The show was held in Berlin, Germany, on 21 July 1990, to commemorate the fall of the Berlin...
in 1990. In 1995, The Hooters went on hiatus.
Uosikkinen reunited with The Hooters on successful headlining European summer tours in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
2007 saw the release of Time Stand Still
Time Stand Still
Time Stand Still is the sixth studio album by American rock band The Hooters, released in 2007.-Background:The Hooters gathered in October 2006 at keyboard player Rob Hyman's Elmstreet Studios, in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the recording of basic tracks, followed by additional...
, their first album of new material since 1993.
Other musical projects
When Uosikkinen has not worked with The Hooters, he as performed in music videos, recordings and live shows with numerous artists, including Patty SmythPatty Smyth
Patty Smyth is an American rock and roll musician. She first enjoyed mainstream success in 1982 as lead singer of the band Scandal and later scored a solo #2 hit with her song "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough"...
, Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
, Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, Largo (Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal (musician)
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music...
, Joan Osborne
Joan Osborne
Joan Elizabeth Osborne is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her song "One of Us". She has toured with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers and was featured in the documentary film about them, Standing in the Shadows of Motown.-Biography:Originally from Anchorage, Kentucky, a suburb...
, David Forman, Garth Hudson
Garth Hudson
Eric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound...
, Bill Wittman), The Soul Kitchen, Tahir Wilson, Pretty Poison
Pretty Poison
Pretty Poison is a Dance group based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Group members are Jade Starling ; Whey Cooler ; and Kaya Pryor .-History:...
, Damian Hagger, Happy Hatters and 7A3.
In 1994, Uosikkinen and entrepreneur, Dave Macrae, launched an independent record label called Moskeeto Records.
In 2010 David began his project, In The Pocket: Essential Songs of Philadelphia creating a fund raising campaign for the Settlement Music School. To date, In The Pocket is recording the Essential Songs Of Philadelphia. The first two songs are "All My Mondays" originally recorded by Youth Camp and "Open My Eyes," a Todd Rundgren/Nazz classic. Documentary music videos are being created for the project by Steve Acito of Bluewire Media. Songs can be downloaded at songsinthepocket.org and on iTunes. More info on the project can be found at songsinthepocket.org. Others working on the project include: Eric Bazilian - The Hooters, Richard Bush - The A's/The Peace Creeps, Greg Davis - Beru Revue, Rick DiFonzo - Roger Waters/Patty Smythe/ The A's, Jeffrey Gaines - singer/songwriter, Rob Hyman - The Hooters, William Wittman - Too Much Joy/Cyndi Lauper.
Career in technology
In 1999, Uosikkinen was asked to join a group of technology experts and music aficionados who created an online music portal, MP3.comMP3.com
MP3.com is a web site operated by CNET Networks providing information about digital music and artists, songs, services, community, and technologies. It is probably better known for its original incarnation, as a legal, free music-sharing service, popular with independent musicians for promoting...
, which subsequently changed the music industry's distribution and consumer listening habits.
In 2005, Uosikkinen took a position at another technology company, MP3tunes, a Music Service Provider (MSP) and originator of Oboe, a system that allowed unlimited online storage for users. In 2006, he went on to manage content for VMix, a site that featured music videos and other compositions by film makers in various genres.
Currently, when not touring or recording with The Hooters, Uosikkinen works at 6StringMedia, a web development and marketing company.
In January 2009, Uosikkinen launched Dave U Drums, an internet service where musicians send him an outline of a song, pay a recording fee, and Uosikkinen will deliver a finished drum track within 72 hours.
Personal life
Uosikkinen moved to CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1991, initially to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
before moving to San Diego. He moved back to Philadelphia in 2009. He has one son, Sam, who was born in 1990.
External links
- David Uosikkinen official website
- Dave U Drums
- Songs In The Pocket