Pelle Miljoona

Pelle Miljoona (English:“Clown Million”), real name Petri Samuli Tiili (born 10 February 1955 in Hamina, Finland) is a Finnish musician, author and punk rock legend.^[1] He is known as "The Godfather of Finnish Punk." He was part of the first wave of Finnish punk rock in the late 1970's and has remained both active and popular in the decades that followed.

Pelle's music has been strongly influenced by bands like The Clash, Sex Pistols, Stooges and MC5. Pelle has also said that Bob Dylan and Bob Marley have always been among his greatest inspirations. He has also recorded reggae and folk music. Pelle Miljoona has had several band line ups, including: Pelle Miljoona & N.U.S, Pelle Miljoona & 1978, Pelle Miljoona & 1980, Pelle Miljoona Oy, Pelle Miljoona & Avoimet Ovet, Miljoonaliiga, Pelle Miljoona & Linnunlaulu, Pelle Miljoona & Rockers, Pelle Miljoona Unabomber! and Pelle Miljoona United.

He assembled his first band Pelle Miljoona & N.U.S in 1977. The first single Olen työtön (English: I am unemployed) was released the same year and the first album Pelle Miljoona & N.U.S was released in 1978. Releasing records with lyrics that ridiculed the Finnish army and the politics of the day, was unprecedented in Finland, so Pelle Miljoona immediately received a lot of attention when the record came out.

Pelle Miljoona &1980 recorded albums at a fast pace, releasing two studio albums Pelko ja viha (1979) and Viimeinen Syksy (1979) which includes the punk rock classic "Tahdon rakastella sinua" and live album Näyttämökuvia (1980) By 1980, punk had already become a mainstream phenomenon even in Finland, and Pelle Miljoona was becoming one of Finland's biggest artists. Miljoona experienced exceptional success with the Pelle Miljoona Oy's album Moottoritie On Kuuma (1980), whose title track was a big hit for him, perhaps the greatest of his career. It is considered to be one of Finland's greatest rock albums of all time. The band lineup playing on that album, included future Hanoi Rocks members Andy McCoy and Sami Yaffa.

The album Matkalla Tuntemattomaan (1981) was recorded in Germany's Hansa Tonstudio, which had been used by artists such as Nina Hagen, Iggy Pop and David Bowie.

In the 90s, Miljoona focused mainly on travel and writing; he traveled to places like Goa, USA, and Senegal. However, he continued to release albums regularly. He has written several novels and poetry collections. He received the Juha Vainio Award [fi], which is awarded to Finnish lyricists, at Kotkan meripäivät [fi] festival in July 2015.^[2]

References

^ "Elämäni tärkein biisi". MTV3 (in Finnish). 3 August 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
^ "Pelle Miljoona sai Juha Vainio -palkinnon". Yle (in Finnish). 24 July 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.