Biography
The Leningrad Cowboys originated as Finland's cinematic counterpart to the Monkees, assembled expressly for the screen yet later sustaining an independent creative trajectory. Aki Kaurismäki wrote and directed the 1989 feature Leningrad Cowboys Go America, a deadpan, surreally comic road picture that follows a Siberian polka ensemble as it transforms into an outsider-art approximation of a 1950s rock-and-roll group distinguished by outlandish sculptural pompadours tapering to needle-like points a foot ahead of their foreheads. The band embarks on a calamitous trek across the American South, and the film gained traction on the early indie circuit. Cameo appearances include American director Jim Jarmusch, who later shot a portion of Night on Earth in Helsinki with several of the same performers, and Nicky Tesco, one-time frontman of the British post-punk band the Members.
Sakke Jarvenpaa and Mato Valtonen, principals of the long-running Finnish art-rock outfit the Sleepy Sleepers, supplied the movie's music; the group had remained active on the Scandinavian scene since the mid-1980s. The Sleepy Sleepers' lineup at the time portrayed the fictional band onscreen, comprising Jarvenpaa and Valtonen together with Saku Kuosmanen on vocals, Puka Oinonen and Pekka Virtanen on guitars, Mauri Sumen on keyboards and accordion, Silu Seppala on bass, and Pimme Korhonen on drums. Strong sales of the soundtrack prompted the musicians to retain both the adopted name and the signature hairstyles, thereafter continuing under the Leningrad Cowboys banner.
The collapse of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. briefly popularized Russian-themed aesthetics around the turn of the 1990s, momentarily placing the Leningrad Cowboys and their flamboyant, humorous live presentation, in which traditional balalaikas were brandished like Stratocasters, before mainstream outlets including MTV. Their second album, We Cum from Brooklyn, appeared in 1992, followed by two additional Kaurismäki collaborations: the 1993 concert documentary Total Balalaika Show, which featured the Red Army Choir as special guests, and the 1994 sequel Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses. Subsequent releases encompassed the 1993 live set Live in Prowinzz, the studio albums Happy Together (1994), Go Space (1996), Mongolian Barbecue (1997), Terzo Mondo (2000), Go Wild (2001), and Zombie's Paradise (2006), the 1999 compilation Thank You Very Many: Greatest Hits and Rarities, and a 2003 live recording documenting the tenth-anniversary restaging of Total Balalaika Show, again with the Red Army Choir.
Sakke Jarvenpaa and Mato Valtonen, principals of the long-running Finnish art-rock outfit the Sleepy Sleepers, supplied the movie's music; the group had remained active on the Scandinavian scene since the mid-1980s. The Sleepy Sleepers' lineup at the time portrayed the fictional band onscreen, comprising Jarvenpaa and Valtonen together with Saku Kuosmanen on vocals, Puka Oinonen and Pekka Virtanen on guitars, Mauri Sumen on keyboards and accordion, Silu Seppala on bass, and Pimme Korhonen on drums. Strong sales of the soundtrack prompted the musicians to retain both the adopted name and the signature hairstyles, thereafter continuing under the Leningrad Cowboys banner.
The collapse of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. briefly popularized Russian-themed aesthetics around the turn of the 1990s, momentarily placing the Leningrad Cowboys and their flamboyant, humorous live presentation, in which traditional balalaikas were brandished like Stratocasters, before mainstream outlets including MTV. Their second album, We Cum from Brooklyn, appeared in 1992, followed by two additional Kaurismäki collaborations: the 1993 concert documentary Total Balalaika Show, which featured the Red Army Choir as special guests, and the 1994 sequel Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses. Subsequent releases encompassed the 1993 live set Live in Prowinzz, the studio albums Happy Together (1994), Go Space (1996), Mongolian Barbecue (1997), Terzo Mondo (2000), Go Wild (2001), and Zombie's Paradise (2006), the 1999 compilation Thank You Very Many: Greatest Hits and Rarities, and a 2003 live recording documenting the tenth-anniversary restaging of Total Balalaika Show, again with the Red Army Choir.
Albums
