Juice Leskinen

Juice Leskinen (b. Pauli Matti Juhani "Juice" Leskinen) -- February 19, 1950-November 24, 2006) was a Finnish national treasure. He was one of the most prominent and popular songwriters in his native country, but he was also a singer, poet, author, translator, columnist and reporter, among many other things. If you ask any Finn his favorite song by Juice (pronounced "YU-e-ce"), the selections are as varied as his career. He recorded nearly 30 albums between 1973 and 2005; 16 of these went gold, and two reached platinum level. He recorded one of the few modern Christmas songs that nearly every Finn knows, "Sika" ("Pig"), a deadpan and hilarious take on holiday excesses. Leskinen began his recording career in the early '70s with Mikko Alatalo and Harri Rinne in the band Coitus Int. His early music was funny, rowdy rock & roll, recorded on Juice Leskinen & Coitus Int (1973) and Per Vers, Runoilija ("Per Vers, the Poet," 1974). After these two albums Coitus Int folded, though Juice recorded a joint album with Mikko Alatalo titled Juice ja Mikko ("Juice and Mikko," 1975). His future recordings would be recorded with various bands and lineups, often called either Juice Leskinen Slam or Juice Leskinen Grand Slam, a name he retired in 1991. He initially had some difficulty finding acceptance for his thematically serious music after his early recordings, but songs like "Syksyn Sävel" ("Autumn Melody"), "Viidestoista Yö" ("The Fifteenth Night") and "Musta Aurinko Nousee" ("Black Sun Rises") found their way into the hearts and thoughts of nearly every Finn. A series of exceptionally popular recordings followed on albums like Keskitysleirin Ruokavalio ("Concentration Camp Diet," 1976) and XV Yö -- Tauko III ("XV Night -- Pause III," 1980). In the late '70s, Juice was adopted into...