Leevi and the Leavings

Leevi and the Leavings was a Finnish rock band that operated from 1978 to 2003.

The band consisted of Gösta Sundqvist, Risto Paananen, Juha Karastie and Niklas Nylund. Sundqvist was the leader of the band, he composed and wrote all the band's songs as well as being the vocalist. Sundqvist was also an interesting character, he rarely gave interviews or appeared on television, although he hosted a radio program for YLE.

The band's music had a distinguishable sound of smooth multilayered synth-pop arrangements with an occasional lead guitar. It was based around Sundqvist's tragicomic lyrics and catchy choruses. A good example of the band's style is the song "Teuvo, maanteiden kuningas" ("Teuvo, king of the highways"). The song tells the story of a reckless driver with dreams of becoming a rally driver. Other famous songs are "Rin Tin Tin", a bittersweet reminiscence of a long lost romance, "Unelmia ja toimistohommia" ("Dreams and office work"), "Pohjois-Karjala" ("North Karelia"), "Mitä kuuluu Marja-Leena" (What up Marja-Leena?), "Poika nimeltä Päivi" (Boy called Päivi), "Vasara ja nauloja" (Hammer and Nails) and "Itkisitkö onnesta" ("Would you cry of happiness"). Many people rate Sundqvist's lyrics the best rock lyrics in Finland, and a television play based on the characters in his songs was produced and broadcast by Finnish TV.

The band was extremely popular, and many of their songs are sung by Finns in karaoke bars. Leevi was also famous for never performing live. On August 15, 2003, Sundqvist died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 46, and the band decided to quit.

Source: Wikipedia