Rauli Somerjoki

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Rauli Badding Somerjoki

Name at birth	Rauli Aarre Tapani Somerjoki
Place of residence	Somero, then Helsinki
Date and place of birth	August 30, 1947 in Helsinki
Date and place of death	January 14, 1987 in Helsinki
Genre	Finnish rock, Schlager
Active years	1966–1987
Record companies	Love Records, Johanna Kustannus, Minimusic, Dojo AAB-Tuotanto

Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki (born as Rauli Aarre Tapani Somerjoki) (August 30, 1947, Somero - January 14, 1987, Helsinki) was a Finnish rock singer. His records were published on such labels as Love Records. His nickname Badding is derived from Paddington Bear.

Badding's most famous songs include "Fiilaten ja höyläten", "Paratiisi", "Bensaa suonissa", "Ikkunaprinsessa", "Tähdet, tähdet" and "Laivat".

Badding was born in Somero into a family of five children. He founded his first band, The Five Yes in 1963 and also worked in the group Suomen Talvisota 1939-1940. Together with M. A. Numminen, he caused some scandal with provocative songs like "Mitä nuoren aviomiehen tulee muistaa" and "Jenkka ulkosynnyttimistä".

Badding started his solo career in 1970. He competed in the Syksyn sävel song contest with "Ja rokki soi" written by Matti ja Teppo.

During his later career, Somerjoki worked with Agents. His last gig took place in Seinäjoki on December 28, 1986. During the fall, he had suffered many bouts of bronchitis, and in January 1987 he died in Helsinki of alcohol-related ailments. He was only 39 years of age.

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 romantic comedy about Finnish tango.

Finnish language source:

Tony Latva and Petri Tuunainen, Iskelmän tähtitaivas, WSOY 2004, ISBN 951-0-27817-3