Rauli Somerjoki (born Rauli Aarre Tapani Somerjoki; 30 August 1947-14 January 1987), known professionally as "Badding", was a

Finnish rock Finnish rock (Finnish: ''suomirock'' or ''suomirokki''—also known as Finnsrock, Finnrock or Finrock) refers to rock music made in Finland. The initial rock and roll boom of the 1950s was preceded by a long tradition of popular culture. ''Suomirock ...

singer born in the town of

Somero Somero () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is part of the Southwest Finland region in the province of Western Finland, located northeast of Salo, east of Turku and northwest of Helsinki. The municipality has a population of () and cov ...

into a family of five children. His records were published on such labels as

Love Records Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

Career

Badding Somerjoki founded his first band, The Five Yes, in 1963 and also played in the group Suomen Talvisota 1939-1940. He and M. A. Numminen caused a major scandal in 1966 with provocative songs like "Mitä nuoren aviomiehen tulee muistaa" ('What Young Husbands Should Remember') and "Jenkka ulkosynnyttimistä" ('Vulva

Jenkka Jenkka () is a fast Finnish partner dance found in Finnish folk dance, the Finnish version of the schottische. It is danced to music in or time signature, with about 140 beats per minute. Men and women do similar steps. The initial dance po ...

'), whose performance resulted in the interruption of the concert by the police although the lyrics were simply texts from factual books on marriage and sexuality available in public libraries.
(in Finnish) Badding's most famous songs include "Fiilaten ja höyläten" (originally

Reelin' and Rockin' "Reelin' and Rockin'" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry. It was originally recorded in 1957 and released as the B-side of "Sweet Little Sixteen". Recording The song was recorded on December 29-30, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois. * Chuck Be ...

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

); "Paratiisi" ('Paradise', a song composed by Badding himself and the lyrics written together with

Arja Tiainen Arja may refer to: *Arja (drama), Balinese dance-opera *Árja, Norwegian Sami political party *''Polyura arja ''Polyura arja'', the pallid nawab, is a butterfly belonging to the rajahs and nawabs group, that is, the Charaxinae subfamily of the ...

); "Bensaa suonissa" ('Gasoline in the veins', composed by Badding himself, with lyrics written by

Jarkko Laine Jarkko Laine (17 March 1947 – 19 August 2006) was a Finnish poet and a writer of prose and plays. He also translated American literature to Finnish. Jarkko Laine was born in Turku, Finland. He became known from the 1960s underground movement, d ...

); "Ikkunaprinsessa" ('Window Princess', originally Glendora); "Tähdet, tähdet" ('Stars, Stars', a song made by Somerjoki himself); and "Laivat" ('Ships', 'Parakhody', originally a Russian popular song). Badding started his solo career in 1970. He competed in the Syksyn sävel song contest with "Ja rokki soi" written by

Matti ja Teppo Matti ja Teppo is a famous Finnish folk duo made up of brothers Matti Tapio Ruohonen 73 (born in Turku, Finland on 8 August 1949) and Teppo Ilmari Ruohonen 74 (born also in Turku on 1 March 1948) who have performed together since childhood. The ...

. During his later career, Badding worked with the Agents. His last gig took place in Seinäjoki on 28 December 1986. During the autumn, he had suffered many bouts of

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

. In January 1987, he died in Helsinki of alcohol-related ailments. He was only 39 years of age.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Synnyin rokkaamaan'' (1971) * ''Näin käy rock & roll'' (1974) * ''Sydän lämpöä täys'' (1975) * ''Rakkaudella – Raulilta'' (1982) / ''Sävel rakkauden'' (1986) / ''Bussi Somerolle'' (2001) * ''Ikkunaprinsessa'' (1982) * ''Tähdet, tähdet'' (1983) * ''Laivat'' (1985) Several compilation albums and a tribute album have been also released.

Works about

Book

Aki Kaurismäki has used Somerjoki's music in his films and published a biography of Somerjoki titled ''Badding: Rauli Somerjoen elämä ja laulut'' (1996) written by Heikki Metsämäki and Juha Miettinen. Somerjoki also appeared in the film ''The Worthless'' ( fi, Arvottomat) by

Mika Kaurismäki Mika Juhani Kaurismäki (; born 21 September 1955) is a Finnish film director. Biography Mika Kaurismäki is the elder brother of Aki Kaurismäki, and the father of Maria Kaurismäki, who graduated from Tampere School of Art and Media in 200 ...

in 1982.

Docudrama film

In 2000 Markku Pölönen directed the film '' Badding'', starring Janne Reinikainen about Somerjoki's life. (It is available on DVD, bundled with Pölönen's '' Onnen maa'', a comedy drama about a Finnish farm family, featuring Finnish tango.)

Notes

References

* Tony Latva and Petri Tuunainen, Iskelmän tähtitaivas, WSOY 2004,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Somerjoki, Rauli 1947 births 1987 deaths People from Somero 20th-century Finnish male singers