 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Heikki Silvennoinen" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Finnish.Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Heikki Silvennoinen | |
|---|---|
 Silvennoinen performing in 2007 | |
| Born | Heikki Johannes Silvennoinen (1954-04-27)27 April 1954 |
| Died | 18 December 2024(2024-12-18) (aged 70) Pälkäne, Finland |
| Website | www |
Heikki Johannes Silvennoinen (27 April 1954 – 18 December 2024) was a Finnish musician and an actor. He was a guitarist and a songwriter in several notable Finnish bands of the 1970s and 1980s, and also recorded solo albums. He was best known in Finland as a member of the comedy troupeKummeli, whose eponymous television show debuted in 1991.[1]
Silvennoinen ran a production company calledPirkka-Hämeen Apina & Gorilla Oy ("Ape and Gorilla of Pirkka-Häme Inc."). With his fellow comedian,Timo Kahilainen, he ownedPorkkana Ryhmä Oy ("Carrot Group Inc."), responsible for Kummeli's output.
Silvennoinen was born inKiviapaja,Sääminki on 27 April 1954. As a young boy he admired the music ofEric Clapton,B.B. King,Cream andJimi Hendrix. He learned to play the guitar and formed a rock band calledTabula Rasa,[2] one of the most important 1970sprogressive rock bands in Finland. When the group released their debut album, Silvennoinen started to realize that music was likely to be his primary occupation. His later career has not been associated with progressive rock, but during the Tabula Rasa years he composed almost all the songs that the group recorded. After Tabula Rasa came to an end, Silvennoinen joinedMikko Alatalo's band.
In the 1980s, Silvennoinen became a professionalproducer and collaborated with many significant bands. He played guitar in bands calledFrendz andCatwalk, and in 1987 he formed a group calledQ.Stone[2] with singerMikko Kuustonen. This band was English singing blues-rock group that released four relatively well-received albums. Kuustonen decided to leave the group and concentrate on his solo career. Silvennoinen continued to play the guitar on his albums.
In the beginning of the 1990s Silvennoinen released his first solo album,Mature And Cool. It included his own songs and a cover of Blind Willie Reynolds song "Outside Woman Blues" (popularized by Cream). His second solo album,Bobcat, was released in 1997. It includes Silvennoinen's own song "Sun Don't You Shine" and a cover of "Fire" byJimi Hendrix. On the sleeve notes of the album he thanks his idols, not just Hendrix and Clapton, but alsoPeter Green andStevie Ray Vaughan (he has personally met Vaughan and Clapton). His next album,Sweet Surrender, was released two years later. In 2000 Silvennoinen founded his own label and released the albumBlues Blue Sky, which contains mostly old blues songs. The albumMiehet kaatuu was released in 2003, and is his only album containing lyrics in Finnish.
In the beginning of the 1990s Silvennoinen became more popular in Finland due to the television show Kummeli. Of the four-member group, Silvennoinen had the largest number of different roles (including reporter Mauno Ahonen, summercottage neighbour Martti Mielikäinen, Matti Näsä who complains about everything, and officer Jaakko Parantainen who is concerned about environmental questions). The show and group had phenomenal success in Finland in 1994, when they also made their first stage appearances and toured all of Finland. After that Kummeli has continued its existence in various forms. Silvennoinen has stated that their best gag was the one aboutLada summit, since it gave an inspiration for the real Lada summit event that still takes place yearly in Finland. The most lucrative song – from the point of view of royalties – Silvennoinen ever wrote was "Jumankauta juu nääs päivää" that he claims to have done in 20 minutes. It features the Kummeli character Matti Näsä singing about his car, aToyota Mark II. Despite the popularity of Kummeli, Silvennoinen also worked as ajanitor in the late 1990s.
In 2002 Silvennoinen formed the groupSF-Blues with well-known Finnish musiciansPepe Ahlqvist (harp, vocal) andDave Lindholm (guitar, vocal), with all members sharing songwriting duties on their first album. In the following year, singerErja Lyytinen replaced Lindholm for next album. In 2005 guitaristJukka Tolonen and singer Mikko Kuustonen joined the group in order to make their second album,Joutomailla. Other musicians that have been involved with the band include singerEero Raittinen and keyboardistJukka Gustavson. In the 2000s Silvennoinen did voice acting work for some children movie characters needing Finnish overdubs.
Silvennoinen died in his sleep after a long illness at his home inPälkäne, Finland, on the morning of 18 December 2024. He was 70 years old.[3]
As writer, actor or voice actor:
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |