* 22-Pistepirkko *

In the summer of 2015 the band 22-Pistepirkko, formed in 1980 in Utajärvi Finland, decided the three of them, brothers P-K and Asko Keränen plus drummer Espe Haverinen, needed a break after 35 years together. Announcement from keyboardplayer Asko on their homepage:

"22-p will be 35 years young this year. We tried to make an album to celebrate with you all: Made a bunch of tunes, some of them are really pretty ! Brothers fell in a fight ring, stopped rocking, this time it ended ugly. After several bow wow wows = 22-p needs a pause. Now we are back in peace/calm. 
We´ll play these summer gigs and quit for a while. Last gig will naturally be in Helsinki, our hometown, 22.08. at Tavastia Club."

While P-K (vocals and guitar) is doing solo-gigs in Finland right now, it remains to be seen if the band will ever play together again. So let's look back and cherish memories. Please start with the videos of 'Frankenstein', 'Birdy' and 'Boardroom Walk', and see how this band developed from wild and weird to wonderful. Live they could switch from surf to tundra-blues to delicate pop to electronic beats, all in one set. Our pick of 22 songs:

1986 - 1. 'Ou Wee' / 2. 'Hiss Hiss'
1987 - 3. 'Hong Kong King'
1988 - 4. 'Bone Bone Baby' / 5. 'Frankenstein' / 6. 'Don't Go Home Joe' (singleversion with alto sax)
1990 - 7. 'Don't Play Cello'
1992 - 8. 'Bubblegum Couple' / 9. 'Don't Say I'm So Evil' / 10. 'Tired of Being Drunk' / 11. 'Birdy'
1994 - 12. 'Wild Billy' / 13. 'Oo My Head' / 14. '(Just A) Little Bit More' / 15. 'Hey Mona' (live)
         - 16. 'Snowy Dave' / 17. 'Gimme Some Water' / 18. 'Coffee Girl'
1996 - 19. 'Roundabout'
1998 - 20. 'Boardroom Walk' / 21. 'Onion Soup' / 22. 'Frustration'

Track 3 from their album 'The Kings of Hong Kong'
Track 4, 5 and 7 from album 'Bare Bone Nest'
Tracks 8-11 from album 'Big Lupu'
Tracks 12-14 & 16-18 from album 'Rumble City, Lala Land'
Tracks 20-22 from album 'Eleven'
Tracks 1-7, 15, 19-21 can be found on 'The Singles' (5-cd-set + 1 dvd with the official music videos).

15. 'Hey Mona' is a Bo Diddley-cover // 22. based upon 'Frustration' by The Painted Ship (1966).