Wigwam (Finnish band)

Wigwam is a Finnish progressive rock band formed in 1968.

Wigwam was founded after the split of the seminal Blues Section, with whom drummer Ronnie Österberg had played before. He formed the band as a trio, but soon brought in British expatriate singer/songwriter Jim Pembroke (also in Blues Section) and organist Jukka Gustavson. A year later, Pekka Pohjola joined on bass. Kim Fowley produced Wigwam's second album Tombstone Valentine (1970). This album also featured an excerpt of Erkki Kurenniemi's electronic composition 'Dance of the Anthropoids'. The 1974 album Being is often called Wigwam's masterpiece. After its release, though, Pohjola and Gustavson quit the band. Commercially the most successful Wigwam album must be the more pop-oriented Nuclear Nightclub that followed in 1975, with new members Pekka Rechardt on guitar and Måns Groundstroem on bass.

For a time in the 1970s Wigwam seemed poised to break through in Europe, along with bands like Tasavallan Presidentti, but even though they were highly praised by the UK press large-scale international fame eluded them, and by 1978 they had disbanded. Jim Pembroke and Ronnie Österberg formed the Jim Pembroke Band in late 1979, but following health problems with diabetes, Österberg committed suicide on December 6, 1980.

Wigwam reformed in the 1990s with the Pembroke-Rechardt-Groundstroem core intact, and has been active to the present. In Finland they have a lasting (although limited) following, and their influence on Finnish rock music is widely recognised.

In 2010's former members of Wigwam have made concerts billed as Wigwam Unplugged or Wigwam Revisited. The latest line-up consists Mikko Rintanen, Jan Noponen, Måns Groundstroem and Jukka Gustavson with Pekka Nylund playing guitar.

Band members

Current lineup

• Jim Pembroke – vocals, keyboards (1969-)
• Pekka "Rekku" Rechardt – guitar (1974-)
• Esa Kotilainen – keyboards (1974–75, 1977, 2001-)
• Mats Huldén – bass guitar (1968–70, 2004-)
• Jari "Kepa" Kettunen – drums (1993-)

Drums

• Ronald "Ronnie" Österberg (1968–1980)
• Jan Noponen (1991–1993)

Guitar

• Vladimir "Nikke" Nikamo (1968–1970)

Bass guitar

• Pekka Pohjola (1970–1974)
• Måns "Måsse" Groundstroem (1974–2003)
• Jussi Kinnunen (2003–2004)

Violin

• Pekka Pohjola (1970–1974)

Vocals

• Jukka "Gutsi" Gustavson (1969–1974)

Keyboards

• Jukka "Gutsi" Gustavson (1969–1974)
• Heikki "Hessu/Pedro" Hietanen (1975–1977, 1991–1992, 1999–2000)
• Mikko Rintanen (1992–1993)

Guest musicians

• Jukka Tolonen, guitar (1970–1974)
• Esa Kotilainen, keyboards (1974–1975, 1977)
• Ilmari Varila, oboe
• Tapio Louhensalo, bassoon
• Hannu Saxelin, clarinet
• Risto Pensola, clarinet
• Unto Haapa-aho, bass clarinet
• Eero Koivistoinen, soprano saxophone
• Pekka Pöyry, soprano saxophone
• Pentti Lasanen, clarinet, flute
• Paavo Honkanen, clarinet
• Aale Lindgren, oboe
• Juhani Tapaninen, bassoon
• Juhani Aaltonen, flute
• Seppo Paakkunainen, flute
• Erik Dannholm, flute
• Pentti Lahti, flute
• Kari Veisterä, flute
• Taisto Wesslin, acoustic guitar
• Erkki Kurenniemi, VCS3 synthesizer
• Jukka Ruohomäki, VCS3 programming assistant
• Heikki Laurila, guitar, banjo
• Kalevi Nyqvist, accordion

Discography

Albums

• Hard 'n' Horny (1969)
• Tombstone Valentine (1970)
• Fairyport (1971)
• Being (1974)
• Nuclear Nightclub (1975)
• The Lucky Golden Stripes and Starpose (1976)
• Dark Album (1977)
• Light Ages (1993)
• Titans Wheel (2002)
• Some Several Moons (2005)

Compilations & live albums

• Wigwam (1972)
• Live Music from the Twilight Zone (1975)
• Rumours on the Rebound (1979)
• Classics - The Rarest (1990)
• Highlights (1996)

Jim Pembroke (& Wigwam)

These are Jim Pembroke's solo albums, which are played by Wigwam

• Hot Thumbs O'Riley: Wicked Ivory (1972)
• Jim Pembroke & Wigwam: Pigworm (1974)
• Jim Pembroke: Corporal Cauliflowers Mental Function (1977)

References

External links

• Wigwam - Nuclear Netclub