Eläkeläiset (

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

for "pensioners") are a

humppa band founded in 1993. They specialise in

humppa Humppa is a type of music from Finland. It is related to jazz and very fast foxtrot, played two beats to a bar ( or ). Typical speed is about 220 to 260 beats per minute. Humppa is also the name of a few social dances danced to humppa music. A ...

and

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 posi ...

music and have been successful in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and elsewhere. Current members of the band are Onni Waris (keyboard, vocals), Petteri Halonen (keyboard, guitar, vocals), Lassi Kinnunen (accordion, vocals), Martti Waris (bass, vocals), and Tapio Santaharju (drums, vocals). Ilmari Koivuluhta (sound technique, logistics) and Pekka Jokinen (graphics, merchandise) complete the "humppa family". According to the band's statements, they play between 80 and 100 concerts per year, of which only 20 in Finland and 40 to 50 in Germany, due to their popularity there. Rarely performing in big venues, they have visited several big international music festivals, and surprisingly to many, even large heavy metal festivals e.g.

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...

and

Tuska Open Air Tuska Open Air Metal Festival, commonly shortened to Tuska ( fi, pain, agony), is a Finnish heavy metal festival taking place annually in Helsinki. The first Tuska took place in 1998 and the festival has since grown larger every year. The loca ...

. They travel mostly on a private lorry and no bus. Eläkeläiset mainly play

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of famous pop and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

hits in a fast humppa or slow

style (both sound somewhat similar to polka music the way

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...

plays it) with Finnish lyrics — the original songs are barely recognizable. They also publish

bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...

s of their own concerts. Eläkeläiset are very popular among some

OpenBSD OpenBSD is a security-focused, free and open-source, Unix-like operating system based on the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). Theo de Raadt created OpenBSD in 1995 by forking NetBSD 1.0. According to the website, the OpenBSD project em ...

developers and frequently played at their

hackathon A hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest, datathon or codefest; a portmanteau of hacking and marathon) is an event where people engage in rapid and collaborative engineering over a relatively short period of time such as 24 or 48 hours. Th ...

s, where they claim they are "thwarting evil with humppa and math."OpenBSD 3.4 lyrics
/ref> Eläkeläiset was one of the nominees to represent Finland in

Eurovision Song Contest 2010 The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song "Fairytale (Alexander Rybak song), Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organise ...

.Amadeus ja Eläkeläiset pyrkivät euroviisuedustajiksi
Pirkko Kotirinta.

Discography

* Joulumanteli (1994, published only as a tape) * Humppakäräjät (1994, album) * Humppalöyly (1995, EP) * Pyjamahumppa (1995, single) * Humpan Kuninkaan Hovissa (1995, album) * In Humppa We Trust (1996, live album) * Dementikon Keppihumppa / Take Me To The City (1997, single) * Humppamaratooni (1997, album) - its title track is a humppa arrangement of ''

Whiskey in the Jar "Whiskey in the Jar" ( Roud 533) is an Irish traditional song set in the southern mountains of Ireland, often with specific mention of counties Cork and Kerry. The song, about a rapparee ( highwayman) who is betrayed by his wife or lover, is ...

''. * Sensational Monsters Of Humppa (1998, single) * Humppaorgiat (1999, EP with censored songs) * Werbung, Baby! (1999, album) * Huipputähtien Ykköshitit (1999, single) * Humpan Kuninkaan Hovissa (2000, album, re-release incl. additional songs) * Ja Humppa Soi (2000, single) * Humppa-Akatemia (2000, double album) * Humppa Till We Die (2000, CD) * Humppa! (2001, compilation) * Jenkkapolkkahumppa (2001, EP) * Joulutorttu (2002, EP) * Pahvische (2002, album) * Katkolla Humppa (2003, EP) * Keväthumppa (2003, EP) * Humppaelämää (2003, album) * Jukolan Humppa (2005, single) * Humppasirkus (2006, album) * Das Humppawerk (2006, EP) * Humppakonsertto (2007, live album) * Humppa United (2008, album) * Humppabingo (2009, 2CD, compilation) * Humpan Kuninkaan Hovissa (2010, album, re-release incl. bonus tracks) * Humppasheikkailu (2012, album) * Humppakalmisto (2013, album) * Humppa of Finland (2017, album) * Humppainfarkt (2018, EP)

References

External links

Official HomepageRussian Eläkeläiset fanclub
a list of which band and song each track on the album parodies.
Eläkeläiset covers
a list of the albums by Eläkeläiset, each album page shows the covers and the originals. {{DEFAULTSORT:Elakelaiset Finnish musical groups Finnish comedy musicians Finnish parodists Parody musicians Musical groups established in 1993 1993 establishments in Finland