Leningrad Cowboys
| Leningrad Cowboys | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Finland |
| Genres |
Comedy rock Rock and roll Hard rock Heavy metal Glam metal Alternative metal Industrial metal Folk metal |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Labels | Megamania Plutonium Johanna Kustannus Roadrunner Records Sony BMG SPV Recordings |
| Associated acts | Sleepy Sleepers |
| Website | http://www.leningradcowboys.fi |
| Members |
Ville Tuomi Sakke Järvenpää Tume Uusitalo Varre Vartiainen Pauli Hauta-Aho Sami Järvinen Timo Tolonen Okke Komulainen Pemo Ojala Pope Puolitaival Jay Kortehisto Anna Sainila Hanna Moisala |
| Past members | See below |
The Leningrad Cowboys are a Finnish rock band who frequently perform rock and roll covers of other songs. They have exaggerated pompadour hairstyles and wear long, pointy shoes. They often work with Russian military band the Alexandrov Ensemble.
The band was an invention of the Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki, Sakke Järvenpää and Mato Valtonen, members of the Finnish comedy rock band Sleepy Sleepers. The band was conceived in a bar in 1986 as a joke on the waning power of the Soviet Union. Jarvenpää and Valtonen expressed their wishes that Kaurismäki would direct their first music video, which resulted in the short film "Rocky VI" (1986). After two further short films, "Thru the Wire" (1987) and "L.A. Woman" (1988), Kaurismäki decided to direct a feature film about them, Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989). In these films they are joined by Nicky Tesco, founding member of the UK punk rock band The Members.
After the film, the band took on a life of its own, recording music, making videos and giving concerts. The band appeared in two other Aki Kaurismäki films, the Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses (1994) and the Total Balalaika Show (1994), which is a film of a concert performed by the band and the full 160-member Alexandrov ensemble in Helsinki, Finland in June 1993. Kaurismäki also wrote and directed two videos featuring the band: their cover of the 60's folk standard "Those Were The Days" (1992) and "These Boots" (1993).
In 1994, the band appeared together with 70 members of the Alexandrov ensemble at the 11th annual MTV Music Awards, at the Radio City Music Hall in New York, where they sang the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic "Sweet Home Alabama." The show was seen by an estimated 250 million people worldwide. That same year, the band and ensemble again joined forces for the "Nokia Balalaika Show", a concert held in Berlin. In 1998 they featured in the film L.A. Without a Map.
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