Kauko Röyhkä, is Finnish rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

. Since early 1980s he has been one of the most foremost rock artists in 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...

 known especially as a strong lyricist.

Röyhkä lived his youth in Oulu

Oulu

Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....

 and has later lived in Turku

Turku

Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...

 and Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

. His recording career began in 1980 with the debut album Steppaillen. Today he has recorded 23 full length albums. His most famous backing band has been Narttu that was together in various line-ups throughout the years 1980–1990. There has been many side projects including a band called 500 kg lihaa. In 2007 Röyhkä performed his songs with Mikkeli

Mikkeli

Mikkeli is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...

 town string orchestra.

Röyhkä has studied literature and has got praise of his profound lyrics especially during late 1980s. Röyhkä is singer and guitarist. He has told that after he realized that he cannot learn to play similarly as his idols, he wanted to create his own style of playing. In public Röyhkä has been a slightly provocative figure. He managed to raise some fuss in the early 1990s by claiming to be satanist (later he explained that the statement was just an experiment with publicity). Some of the most well known songs by Röyhkä include "Lauralle", "Talo Meren Rannalla", "Paska Kaupunki" and "Paha Maa". Albums Maa on voimaa and Pikku enkeli found their way to Soundi magazine's list of alltime 50 greatest Finnish popular music albums.

Röyhkä began publishing books in the same year as his debut album appeared in 1980. Originally he wanted to be an author rather than musician. So far Röyhkä has written ten novels or short story collections and some other works including the biography of Finnish porn star Henry Saari

Henry Saari

Henry Saari , also known as Henry the Great is a Finnish actor, director and porn star. In 1993, Saari won the title of Mr. Finland and placed 3rd in the Mr. Europe contest....

 and a book about Velvet Underground. He has also written columns for newspaper Kaleva

Kaleva

Kaleva may refer to:*Kalevi , the great king of Kainuu in Finnish, Karelian and Estonian mythology*Kaleva , a portion of the city of Tampere, Finland*Kaleva , registered as OH-ALL, airliner shot down by Soviet bombers in 1940...

 and record reviews for Rytmi magazine.

Albums

• Steppaillen (EMI, 1980)
• Uusia tansseja (EMI/Parlophone, 1981)
• Mikki Hiiren myöhemmät vaiheet (Kerberos, 1982)
• Onnenpäivä (Euros, 1983)
• Lauralle (Euros, 1984)
• Maa on voimaa (Euros, 1985)
• Pikku enkeli (Euros, 1986)
• Mielummin vanha kuin aikuinen (Euros, 1987)
• Ihmelapsi (Euros, 1988)
• Joko-tai (Euros, 1990)
• Kaksi koiraa (Euros, 1990)
• Tyttöjen ystävä (Herodes, 1991)
• Olennainen välittyy (Euros, 1992) (live)
• Jumalan lahja (EMI/Herodes, 1993)
• Kaunis eläin (EMI/Herodes, 1994)
• Akti (EMI/Herodes, 1995)
• Sinä olet tähti (Ranka, 1997)
• Puiden alle (Ranka, 1998)
• Rock'n'roll-klisee (Ranka, 1999)
• Miss Farkku-Suomi (Ranka, 2001)
• Etsijät (Ranka, 2002)
• Elämä ja Kuolema (Ranka, 2005)
• Kauko Röyhkä & Riku Mattila (Ranka, 2008)
• Zaia (with Mikkeli City Orchestra) (Ranka, 2008)
• Hiekkarantaa (with krautrock-duo Rättö ja Lehtisalo
  Rättö ja Lehtisalo
  Rättö ja Lehtisalo is an experimental rock-music band, featuring two members of the Finnish group Circle, Jussi Lehtisalo and Mika Rättö. Their output is clearly influenced by krautrock acts such as Cluster, Neu! and Harmonia...
  
  ) (Ektro Records
  Ektro Records
  Ektro Records is an independent label based in Pori, Finland. It is operated by Jussi Lehtisalo who also plays on many of the label's releases. Ektro also operate three smaller imprints, Super Metsä and Full Contact and casette-only Ruton music.Releases:...
  
  , 2009)

Collections

• Bossanova 80 – 82 (1982)
• Kulta-aika (1986)
• Extra (1988)
• Lauluja rakastamisen vaikeudesta (1989)
• Olen Messias (1992)
• Talo meren rannalla (1996)
• Pohjoinen taivas (1997)
• 20 suosikkia – Lauralle (1998)
• Räyhähenki muistelee – Kokoelma 1980-2000 (2000)
• Pohjoinen taivas Osa 2 (2000)
• 20 suosikkia – Talo meren rannalla (2002)
• Selkäranka 1996-2004 (2004)
• Lauluntekijä (2006)

Singles

• Yhdeltä viimeistään pois go-go / Dora (1980)
• Steppaillen / Ihmisen paras ystävä (1980)
• Uusia tansseja / Astraalitasolla (1981)
• Preerian kuu / Miljoonapulu (1982)
• Herra presidentti / Viiltäjä / Kun olin kuollut (1983)
• Onnellinen laiva / Majuri Thompson (1983)
• Lauralle / Annina (1984)
• Maa on voimaa / Me (1985)
• Paska kaupunki / Kovat pojat / Tuhlausta (1986)
• Pikku enkeli / Laulujen nainen (1986)
• Ennen olin kokonaan toinen / Kolme asetelmaa (1987)
• Matkustaa / Mainostaulujen taakse (1987)
• Majavalakki / Paha maa (1988)
• Tuntemattomalle / Crescendo (1988)
• Tulit vastaan mua / Eno ja hänen omatuntonsa (1989)
• Soita se taas, Rainer / Humalassa (1990)
• Kevät / Hän toiselta puolelta (1991)
• 80-luvun absurdismi / Kuuntele mua / Näin on käynyt monta kertaa (1992)
• Kultainen aasi / Noita (1993)
• Pohjoinen taivas / Oikea asenne (1993)
• Helena / Nuo keskellä olevat / Rauno rokkaa (1994)
• Pyhä kaupunki / Mies jolla on maine (1994)
• Tuon sulle Alfredo Garcian pään / Virheet (1997)
• Sinä teit sen taas, Marjaana (1998)
• Hipit vanhemmat (1998)
• Kauniit pelastetaan (1999)
• Rock'n'roll-klisee (1999)
• Disko-Datsun / Pitkätukkainen poika / Mimio (2001)
• Pauliina, rantatyttö / Melankolia (2002)

Fiction

• Tien laidalla Waterloo (Weilin+Göös, 1980)
• Aave joka maalasi taulun (Weilin+Göös, 1982)
• Oskar Koposen seikkailut (Weilin+Göös, 1985)
• Magneetti (Weilin+Göös, 1987)
• Kaksi aurinkoa (Like, 1996)
• Silvia (Like, 1997)
• Ocean City (Like, 1999)
• Faust ja muita kertomuksia (Like, 2001) (novellikokoelma)
• Miss Farkku-Suomi (Like, 2003)
• Henry ja minä (Like, 2004)
• Avec (Like, 2006)
• Job (Like, 2007)

Others

• Get On – 101 rocklyriikan parasta (toim. Röyhkä) (Tammi (kirjankustantamo)|Tammi, 2000)
• Kauko Röyhkä & Timo Vikkula: Nuottikirja (Like, 2004)
• The Velvet Underground ja Lou Reed (Like, 2007)

External links