Heikki Veikko Harma (born 20 April 1947 in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

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 ...

) is a Finnish singer-songwriter who has also distinguished himself as a translator of song lyrics, but has written popular lyrics of his own too. To the public he is better known by the name Hector, which he has used since the release of his 1965 debut single "Palkkasoturi", a Finnish translation of

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...

's " Universal Soldier". His 1974 album ''Hectorock I'' became the fastest-selling record in Finnish history, selling 50,000 units within a few months. Hector was at the height of his popularity in the first half of the 1970s, but his steady string of recordings provided occasional hits well into the 1990s. In the 2000s he made a strong return to popularity with ''Ei selityksiä'', which became one of his most successful albums. In 2007 he made a farewell tour on big arenas, but has performed occasionally after that too. In 2011 he made a massive comeback tour and released a new album ''Hauras'' (Fragile) in 2014, ten years after his previous album. Hector's work is very diverse in its musical styles. He is mainly known for his

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

songs, but he has also made

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

and heavy metal songs. He has translated into Finnish works by

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have List of best-selling singles, sold over ...

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and several other artists. Today he is considered, due to his extremely long (51 years) and distinguished career, as first a pioneer and later a mainstay of

Suomirock 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 ...

. His lyrics have often a political and/or social component. Some of Hector's songs are considered classics of Finnish popular music, such as "Lumi teki enkelin eteiseen" (''Snow made an angel in the lobby''), "Mandoliinimies" (''Mandolin man'') and "Olen hautausmaa" (''I am a graveyard''), and he can be considered a primary contributor to Finnish rock music of the 1970s. He has also written song lyrics for other Finnish singers. His song "Juodaan Viinaa" (''Let's drink spirits'') was covered by Finnish folk metal band

Korpiklaani Korpiklaani (Finnish: ) is a Finnish folk metal band from Lahti who was formerly known as Shamaani Duo and Shaman. History Shamaani Duo While other folk metal bands began with metal before adding folk music, Korpiklaani started with folk music ...

on their 2009 album ''Karkelo''. Hector is the Finnish voice actor of The Muskrat in the Finnish-British animated television family drama ''

Moominvalley Moominvalley ( sv, Mumindalen, fi, Muumilaakso) is a fictional place, where the Moomins live in the tales by Finnish author Tove Jansson. Especially in the early books Moominvalley is depicted as a beautiful place with green slopes, rivers, f ...

'' (2019–). In addition to his music career, Heikki Harma has also worked as a

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

on radio.

Discography

* 1972 ''Nostalgia'' * 1973 ''Herra Mirandos'' * 1974 ''Hectorock I'' * 1975 ''Liisa pien * 1976 ''Hotelli Hannikainen'' * 1977 ''H.E.C.'' * 1978 ''Kadonneet lapset'' * 1979 ''Ruusuportti'' * 1980 ''Linnut, linnut'' * 1981 ''Eurooppa'' * 1982 ''Hyvää yötä, Bambi'' * 1985 ''Hectorock II'' * 1987 ''Nuku idiootti'' * 1988 ''Varjot ja lakanat'' * 1990 ''Yhtenä iltana'' * 1992 ''In concert 1966–91'' * 1992 ''Ensilumi tulee kuudelta'' * 1994 ''Salaisuuksien talo'' * 1995 ''Kultaiset lehdet'' * 1999 ''Hidas'' * 2001 ''Helismaan pikajuna'' (album of songs by

Reino Helismaa Reino Vihtori "Repe" Helismaa (12 July 1913, Helsinki – 21 January 1965) was a Finnish singer-songwriter, musician and scriptwriter, mainly known for his humorous, yet homely songs. One of his best-known interpreters was Tapio Rautavaara. He a ...

) * 2003 ''Total Live!'' * 2004 ''Ei selityksiä'' * 2014 ''Hauras''

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hector 1947 births Living people Singers from Helsinki 20th-century Finnish male singers Finnish songwriters

Discography

See also

References

External links