BIRTH OF THE WARRIORS
Havana
Blacks started out as a band in 1985
in Helsinki, Finland. The first
line-up included: Hannu "Guts"
Leiden on vocals and guitar, Risto
"Rehti" Hankala on bass, Jyrki
"Muta" Manninen on guitar and Sande
Vettenranta on drums. The band got a
lot of criticism for their so called
"superstar" line-up. This was due to
the fact that the guys had played as
session musicians in bands by other
well known Finnish artists. Risto
and Jyrki had been members of the
Mistakes line-up that had a huge hit
in Finland with the song "Pidä
Huolta" in 1981. Hannu's past
included Chapter One and Sarcofagus,
the latter was a progressive metal
project put together by Kimmo
Kuusniemi. Sande had earned his
street credibility when drumming for
the Problems. According to Hannu the
band decided their name late one
summer night when sitting at an
outdoor restaurant downing a few
pints. They made a decision not to
leave the place before they had a
name that satisfied all the band
members. In the end they picked
Havana Blacks, after the world
famous Cuban cigars.
Towards
the end of 1985 the band released
their first single "Is It Fun / I'm
Beggin Your Pardon". The tracks were
"classic" rock from a band that was
still searching for their own sound.
"Is It Fun" is a good rocker which
has the "Muta"-guitar sound stamped
all over it. On the flip-side we
have the obligatory ballad in the
form of "I'm Beggin' Your Pardon".
PARDON US, COULD WE
PLAY PLEASE?
To begin
with, the band had a hard time
finding gigs in Finland. Therefore
they only played one gig in Finland
during 1985, promoted by Lido
Salonen. However, things were better
in Sweden where the band performed a
couple of times during the year. The
first line-up split up when Muta
Manninen joined the touring band of
Pave Maijanen. Hannu claims that the
true reason was a fist fight between
Sande and Muta. Later, Muta would
become a member of another Finnish
rock group called Gringos Locos. In
an interview with this band Muta
claims that the reason for the
split, in his opinion, was the
"chemistry" of the band. Simply the
wrong guys playing together in the
wrong band, so he decided to throw
in the towel. Sande continued his
career as a drummer with the Balls.
The split of the first line-up laid
down the seeds for the forthcoming
second line-up. This was the line-up
that would set the ball a rollin'
for sure.
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CHAPTER II: DOWN AND OUT IN
TRASHTOWN (1986-1987)
THE SECOND COMING
Enter
January 1986 and the second Havana
Blacks line-up starts to take shape.
Hannu meets a fellow named Kari
"Paku" Pakkanen in a club called
Metropol in Helsinki. Hannu is
seriously looking for a new drummer
and talks about this with Paku. As
it turns out, Pakkanen himself
becomes the new drummer of the band
and brings with him a wild lead
guitarist named Markku Heiskanen.
Both of the new guys hailed from
Lappeenranta, Finland. This was all
the new blood the band needed for a
fresh start. They started writing
and rehearsing new material and soon
EMI/Parlophone would provide the
possibility to record a new single.
The band records all four new songs
they had at the time and the result
is the 12' Maxi-Single "Dead At Cafe
Interpol".
The four new tracks were:"Lone
Wolf", "Lauder's Scotch", "I Walk
This Road" and "Cockroaches".
Although the playing is sometimes a
bit lacklustre and thin on this EP,
one can hear the potential this
line-up has. Even in its early
stages "Lone Wolf" stands out, being
the best track on this EP. "Lauder's
Scotch" is nothing but a soundtrack
for messed up vocals. "Cockroaches"
features a great chorus even though
the lyrics seem to be quite
unpolished and downright cheap. "I
Walk This Road" is quite good. The
mean slide guitar and pumping rhythm
makes this track enjoyable. This
recording was enough to secure the
band a promise for a full length
album from the record company.
THE RHYTHMS OF A
DEBUT
As 1987
dawns, the band is in full writing
and recording mode. In the spring
the first single, "Guts / Oh Well",
from the forthcoming album was
released. The song "Guts" is a good
rocker but surprisingly the b-side,
"Oh Well", steals the show. The band
had re-arranged this old Fleetwood
Mac song to fit their style. Critics
seemed to like this cover version
and it was perfect to raise the
appetite for the forthcoming first
album. Then in the summer of 1987
the first studio album, called
"Faceless Days" is released. The
result is an album that contains
rock songs which are very much
influenced by such bands as Free,
Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones and Bad
Company just to mention a few. The
sound of the album is quite raw, and
this seemed to be the way the band
wanted it. They refused to use an
outside producer. Instead the
production is credited to the
"Dynamic Duo". Behind this pseudonym
we find Hannu and Risto, sharing the
production responsibility. "Faceless
Days" is not an extra ordinary rock
album, but it was a good debut and a
foundation for the band to build on.
It features nine own compositions
alongside the Fleetwood Mac cover.
The album opens with the less than
two minute instrumental "Cafe
Interpol", a track which the band
used to play at soundchecks. Other
tracks that stand out are: "Love Is
A Lie", "Night-Time", "Faceless
Days" and "Sheila". "Sheila" became
the second single from the album,
backed with "Trashtown" , another
straight forward rocker. The band
promotes the album by playing gigs
around Finland and soon becomes a
well known live act around the
capital area of Helsinki. In August
they played one of the biggest gigs
of their career, so far, when
supporting Helloween and Dio at the
"Giants Of Rock" festival in
Hämeenlinna, Finland.
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CHAPTER III: CARE FOR THE INDIANS
(1988-1989)
THE RECORDING OF A
CLASSIC ALBUM
All the
hard work the band had put down
during the past few years really
started to pay off during 1988. The
many hours of rehearsal, playing
gigs and being on the road seemed to
weld the unit even more together.
The band had reached a point where
they could work very fast and make
instant decisions. This was nothing
but true in May 1988, when they
entered Soundvision Studios in
Helsinki to record the "classic"
follow up to "Faceless Days". The
legend has it that the album was
recorded in two and a half weeks and
all the mixing and mastering was
ready in May. Production was once
again handled by the Dynamic Duo.
The album was dubbed "Indian
Warrior" and is one of the best rock
albums ever recorded by a Finnish
band.
The first single release from the
album was the double A-side single
"Hoo Myself / Shoot Ya Down". This
is easy to see, because both tracks
are really outstanding. "Hoo Myself"
is a great groovy number and "Shoot
Ya Down" strikes like a thousand
points of light. The band shot their
first promotional music video for
"Shoot Ya Down". The second single
was the title track "Indian
Warriors" backed with "Sense Of
Love". As is often the case with
great rock albums, the title track
tends to be special in some way.
This is certainly the case with the
song "Indian Warriors". It is a
semi-rock ballad with the rhythm
being 3/4 waltz. Lyrically this has
to be the finest moment of the band.
The mood is superb and the
performance sends shivers down the
spine. The message of the song also
makes one stop and look back with a
very melancholy feeling.
It must
have been very hard to choose the
single tracks from the album because
there are so many great rockers on
it. However, "Lone Wolf" was chosen
as the third single from the album.
As noted earlier, the track first
surfaced on the "Dead At Cafe
Interpol" EP. Already then it was a
good song, but the band polished it
and made it even better by adding
more rhythm guitars and by
sharpening the wah-wah effects. A
moody rocker and a very good choice
for a single because the song builds
from an easy beginning to a rock
frenzy. The flip-side is "Run With
Me", another great song. Other
notable rockers on the album are
"Speed Up The Time" and "Needs
Must". Some compact disc versions of
this album has "Oh Well" as the last
song. This is the same version that
featured on the "Faceless Days"
album. Havana Blacks had found their
sound and mission as a band with the
arrival of "Indian Warrior".
BIRTH OF AN IMAGE
The
album introduced the listener to an
image the band would use for years
to come. They were really influenced
by the American Indians and their
philosophy and way of life. The
album cover features a picture of an
Indian warrior, which was taken way
back in 1907. The back cover has the
note: "On the front cover a young
Indian brave offers the Holy Smoke
to the Great Spirit in the Sky" as
an explanation to the picture used
on the cover. Furthermore, the new
Havana Blacks "feathers and pipes"
logo was introduced. Also the names
John Lame Deer and Rolling Thunder
are often mentioned as inspiration
sources to the band.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
After
the release of the album, in the
summer, the band once again tours
heavily. Major gigs in Finland are
played including Ruisrock in Turku.
The Nordic countries get their fair
share of the raindance when the band
plays such places as Roskilde in
Denmark, Tallinn in Estonia, Gotland
in Sweden and some special gigs in
the Soviet Union. The live
reputation of the band grows and
towards the end of the year the band
tours Germany for two weeks as the
support act to the girl band Vixen.
INTERNATIONAL
AMBITIONS
During
these years only one change in the
band line-up happened, when Paku had
to leave the band due to severe
personal problems. It was a case of
classic "good and bad days", however
the bad days seemed to take hold and
the band had no other choice than
let him go. A situation where Paku
failed to get a work permit for gigs
abroad was the final nail in the
coffin. Paku was replaced by Jussi
Tegelman on the drums. Jussi had
been working as a soundman for the
band so the switch was easy because
he already knew the material and how
the band worked. Havana Blacks
entered 1989 with big international
ambitions. They felt that they had
seen enough of the native scene and
wanted to try their wings on a more
global level. Their Finnish record
company EMI didn't have the
resources to promote the band
outside of Scandinavia so they
forwarded a request for help to the
EMI-Electrola headquarters in
Germany. Here the people who worked
with promotion knew the band to be a
good package and hence promised to
help out. From Germany
the "Indian Warrior" promos were
sent over to the USA. One copy
landed on the office desk of manager
Alan Niven. Mr Niven represented the
Stravinski Brothers management which
had its base of operations in
Redondo Beach, California. At this
point in time Mr Niven was
considered the hottest manager on
the market due to his success with
Guns N' Roses. Other bands that
belonged to this management where
Great White and MSG. Nevertheless,
things didn't happen overnight. Alan
listened to the album for about six
months before he decided to contact
the band and offer a management
deal. The band saw this as their big
chance and accepted the offer.
Together
with Alan the band started to work
towards a world wide release for the
"Indian Warrior" album. A new
recording contract was signed with
Capitol Records in the USA. This
label took care of most of the
artists that EMI handled in Europe.
A great deal of business decisions
had to be made before the band would
be ready to enter the American and
other international markets. It was
decided that the band would change
their name to Havana Black. This was
done in order to avoid copyright
problems with the Cuban cigar
manufacturers. Also the "Blacks"
part in the name pointed to the
negro population in America and the
management didn't want the band to
be labeled as a "black" band only.
Plans for the band to re-locate to
Los Angeles, USA were made.
THE MAGIC OF THE
REMIX
The
master tapes of the "Indian Warrior"
album were sent from Finland over to
the Total Access Studios, Redondo
Beach, USA. There Alan Niven and Wyn
Davies remixed the album in August,
in order for it to be ready for an
end of the year release. George
Marino was hired to do the mastering
at Sterling Sound, New York. The
band felt that the result was
fantastic, adding more color and
shade to the sound of the album. The
runnig order of the album was
changed and some of the song titles
were polished a bit for the
forthcoming release.
Even though
nothing was re-recorded some
alternate takes were used, at least
for the vocals. New artwork was made
for the album and the lyrics were
added to the CD booklet. The new
cover was mainly black and featured
and old Indian warrior on the left
side wearing blue shades. The
remixed version of "Lone Wolf" was
chosen as the first single. The band
made a big budget video of the
track, playing in front of a
backdrop which was set up as an old
western style town. The video
features a real wolf, which Hannu
had the pleasure of being bitten by
during the video shoot. The video
was frequently seen on MTV,
especially when the band started
touring the USA. After it was
released "Lone Wolf" climbed to
position 17 on the Billboard chart
for rock tracks. On the radio
playlist chart it was number 4 on
its highest. Before the release of
the remixed album the band returned
to Finland to play some shows in
November and December. Two of these
shows (Tavastia Club, Helsinki,
30.11 & 1.12) were taped for a TV
documentary. This 40 minute
production featured live
performances and interviews with the
band produced by Profilmi for the
Finnish national broadcasting
company YLE. "Shoot Ya Down" was
taken from the Tavastia shows but
was sadly overdubbed in the TV
production.
The remixed "Indian
Warrior" album was released in the
USA in December and after the native
shows the band made the final
re-location to Los Angeles. The idea
was that from there the band could
focus one hundred percent on the
American market.
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CHAPTER IV: FACELESS DAYS IN THE
U.S.A. (1990-1992)
PROWLIN' THROUGH
THE STATES
The band
started their stay in the new
country by embarking on a lenghty US
tour with Great White and MSG. The
tour was planned to run for three
months with approx five gigs a week.
The first gig of the tour was played
on the 18th of February 1990, at the
Boise State University Pavilion in
Idaho. On the tour the band played
as the first band of the evening,
hence having some 30-40 minutes for
their show. The locations ranged
from places that could only fit 1000
persons to bigger halls that would
fit almost 10.000 people. They were
rock clubs, university pavilions,
icehalls and in true American
fashion even some rodeo grounds were
played. The band got a very good
reception and even the native
Indians hailed the band. They where
very aware of the connection between
Indians and the Same people which
helped our native boys bond with
them. All kinds of promotion was
made for the "Indian Warrior" album
along the road. Record store signing
sessions, radio and TV interviews,
foto sessions and interviews for the
numerous rock magazines around the
globe.
Unfortunately the tour was
cut short just after one month on
the road when the singer of Great
White, Jack Russell falls ill. He
had to undergo nose surgery and
wasn't able to sing for a good
while. The rest of the tour was
cancelled and Havana Black had to
try and find a replacing tour in a
very short period of time. At one
point it looked like the band would
get the support slot on the Asian
tour of Guns N' Roses but this also
became a no show when W.Axl Rose
failed to get permission to leave
the country after a fight with his
neighbours. Troubled times had
arrived, even though the band didn't
realize it at this point in time.
THE ILLUSION OF AN
AMERICAN DREAM
When no
suitable and big enough tour was
found for the band the decision to
start work on the next album was
taken. The promotional work for the
"Indian Warrior" album had been
worthwhile because sales were
nearing 60.000 copies sold. This
paved the way for big hopes and huge
expectations for the new album. From
the outside things looked very
promising. A big management deal,
big record company support and
endless studio time in the best
studios in the Los Angeles and San
Fransisco area. However, things got
a very slow start due to a lot of
interference from the management.
The band was preparing the release
of the second single "Hoo Myself"
from the "Indian Warrior" album when
the president of Capitol Records
changed. Alan Niven had huge
disagreements with the new president
about Great White and their music.
This makes Alan so angry that he
decides to move Havana Black away
from the label. His hands were tied
in the case of Great White because
they still had a three album deal
with Capitol which they had to
fulfil. The guys in Havana Black
were perfectly happy with Capitol
and the work they had done for the
band.
The bad
business decisions of Mr Niven
seemed to grow day by day. In the
meantime, a lot of dinner parties
and social festivities were attended
together with other bands that
shared the same management. The band
had jam sessions with a number of
well known people from bands in the
Los Angeles area, among others, Guns
N' Roses. At some point Jussi
Tegelman was helping GN'R out on
drums, after Steven Adler was forced
to leave the band. One can find the
name Jussi Tegelman on the thanks
list of the "Use Your Illusion I &
II" albums. This didn't go down well
with the other band members and the
replacement of Jussi seemed
unavoidable. If the GN'R connection
was the only reason for his
departure, God only knows. So, once
again a new drummer was flown in.
The new kid on the block was none
other than "the mother of all
Finnish drummers" Anssi Nykänen.
Anssi was a seasoned session drummer
in Finland and such is the respect
for this man in this country that
his timing has often been compared
to Swiss clockworks. Anssi had been
previously playing in such Finnish
blues orientated bands as Pepe
Ahlqvist and H.A.R.P. and on the
solo album of Albert Järvinen. So,
when the drum stool was filled the
next step was to find a new
recording contract for the band.
LOST IN HOLLYWOOD
Hollywood Records became the new
recording company for the band. This
was a completely new venture for the
huge Disney organization. The
company had signed some fifteen
bands to the new label, among them
Queen. The strategy of the new label
was to offer the bands a long term
relationship with the label.
Overnight success was not a
necessity. At the signing of the
contract the band was introduced in
big "Hollywood" style to the Disney
mothership and they received "Mickey
Mouse"-watches as memorabilia of the
day. Around this time the Stravinsky
Brothers management took another
blow when GN'R jumped ship. Also the
main responsibility of the Havana
Black management was changed from Mr
Niven to one Michael Stotter. The
band started their own publishing
company called "Hoo Music
Publishing" in order to secure their
royalties. Completely new songs had
been written for the next album, but
once again, the management strikes.
The record company had bought the
rights to the first studio album
"Faceless Days" and wanted the band
to re-record songs from it. The
pressure was put on the band
together with the management. This
didn't please the band at all and
the general direction of the band
was lost in the flood of too many
creative ideas and stupid business
decisions.
The band
plunged on and towards the end of
the year they enter the studio with
"legendary" sound engineer Eddie
Kramer. The man had a huge back
catalogue of work which such artists
as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin,
Rolling Stones, Whitesnake and David
Bowie. The three main studios that
were used for the recording of the
album were Oceanway, Music Grinder
and Track Recording in Los Angeles.
Other big names recording at
Oceanway around this time were Ry
Cooder, Stray Cats and Elvis
Costello. This made the band
somewhat uneasy, and might have been
one of the reasons why they chose
"Exiles In Mainstream" as the album
title. The title is of course a
word-play of the Rolling Stones
album "Exile On Main Street". The
cover art was made to fit the title
and here the band is dressed up as
Russian immigrants lost on Sunset
Boulevard. The recording of the
album went well, but when the band
and Eddie Kramer where entering the
mixing stage the trouble started.
Eddie was convinced that the trendy
"Los Angeles"-sound would fit the
band. The band wouldn't take this at
all and Mr Kramer was relieved from
his duties. Hannu and Tom Fletcher
took care of the mixing in order to
achieve the sound the band was
looking for.
NO EXPERTS OF
MAINSTREAM
The
completed album "Exiles In
Mainstream" is a messed up affair.
Even though the sound quality is
good the final product lacks so much
direction that it is nothing more
than a jigsaw puzzle of sound, where
many pieces seem to be lost. The
first single "Love, Understanding &
A Helping Hand", written by Hannu,
didn't promise much. A piano driven
track that has a mood which is
reminiscent of The Rolling Stones
number "Honky Tonk Women". The album
contains five re-recordings of songs
from the first studio album
"Faceless Days". These are "Cafe
Interpol", "Trashtown", "Faceless
Days", "Love Is A Lie" and the
medley "Oh Well, A Young Man". "Cafe
Interpol", which is an instrumental
on the first album has here got
lyrics. The album opens with
"Faceless Days". A brave move but
not that good for the mood of the
album. The new version of the
acoustic track is very good, but is
rather misplaced as the opener.
Among the six new songs only
"Freedom Child" stands out. This is
actually one of the few times the
band comes even close to the mood of
the "Indian Warrior" album. The
tracks "Ain't No Love" and "Kill
City Blues" are weird tribute
numbers to the band's past. "Ain't
No Love" has strong references to
the old ballad "Ain't No Love In The
Heart Of The City" written by
Price/Walsh and recorded by among
others Bobby Bland, Whitesnake and
Walter Wolfman Washington. "Kill
City" used to be a hangout for
rockers in the part of Helsinki that
is called Kallio. A part of town
which is favoured by many artists
and pubcrawlers of the fair city.
Even Hanoi Rocks drew inspiration
from this place in their song "Kill
City Kills".
THE U.S.A. IS A LIE
On the
30th of January 1991 Havana Black
left Los Angeles. It was the
intention of the band and management
that the band would come back to
Finland and rehearse and wait for
the release of the new album. The
management had made promises of a
big tour in the USA towards the end
of the year. Risto had at this stage
had enough of the rock'n'roll circus
and decided to leave the band. He
continued his career as a sound
engineer and producer. Risto was
replaced by Masa Maijanen. Masa was
a veteran of such bands as Broadcast
and Boycott and a good friend of
drummer Anssi Nykänen. With the new
line-up the band undertakes a small
club tour of Finland playing
acoustic songs. The set included
material from such artists as Phil
Lynott, Little Feat and Bad Company
and of course their own material
rearranged to fit the acoustic mood.
Then finally when "Exiles In
Mainstream" hit the streets in the
spring the reaction to the album was
not what the band had hoped for. It
was advertised as the big return of
the band but was totally ripped
apart by the critics. The domestic
fans were disapointed in the album
because it had so few new songs.
The
musical climate had also changed a
lot in just a few years time and
grunge was the trend of the times.
This made the situation for the band
even harder. The summer tour in
support of the album included such
big festivals as Giants Of Rock and
Kuusrock in Finland. The band roamed
forward with their vision and played
very long versions of the songs on
this tour. There was much jamming
and revival of the 70's long live
shows, very much a reaction towards
the grunge movement. A promotional
video was shot for the track
"Freedom Child". The tour of the USA
that was promised never happened.
The album didn't reach its sales
targets and Hollywood Records where
in a general state of disarray.
Finally they went bankrupt and
Havana Black and the other bands
where suddenly homeless. Also the
Stravinski Brothers Management
started to disintegrate. Alan Niven
and Michael Stotter couldn't be
reached and even the Hoo Music
Publishing company vanished out of
the band's control. The fatal
mistake was that the managers had
access to the publishing companys
accounts and when the hard times
came knocking, money started to
dissappear. All this confusion led
to the fact that Havana Black would
never again return to the promised
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CHAPTER V: THE TESTAMENT FOR THE
RIGHT PEOPLE (1993-2001)
GROWING WINGS AGAIN
If 1992
had been a blow in the face for the
band, 1993 shined once again some
light on the band's career. Anssi
Nykänen had left the band during the
worst time of their career and had
been replaced by Atte Sarkima on the
drums. The new line-up was full of
hope for the new resurrection and
was working really hard on material
for a new album.The problems with
the record companies in America had
never affected the band's domestic
connections. In Finland they where
still signed to EMI. The band was
working on new international
connections with the EMI head office
in London. There was still a big
interest in the band in Europe. A
new album was the calling card the
band needed in order to prove that
they still had what it takes. Work
on the new album started in the
Music Maker's Studio in Helsinki
with Hannu at the production helm.
Financial support came from ESEK but
as this was not enough Hannu paid
for the studio time with his work.
The
fourth Havana Black album "Growing
Wings" was released in September
1993. The public was introduced to
nine new Havana Black originals and
two cover versions. "Growing Wings"
is a hard rocking album that tried
to hit back at the trend of the
times. The covers the band chose
where "Evil" by Howlin' Wolf and
"Reap What I've Sowed" originally
written by the Climax Chicago Blues
Band. "King Of The Beggars" became
the first single from the album. A
rockin' tour de force based on a
riff that was written by Masa
Maijanen. The album is varied and
contains some fine moments
especially on "Goodbye", a song
dedicated to the memory of the times
in Los Angeles. We have also the
stomping "Magic" which could have
been a nice little hit overseas had
it been written earlier. "Thunder
People" and "Groovelands" continue
the Indian theme which was started
on the "Indian Warrior" album. The
closing track "East Is Red" is one
of the few political statements the
band has made. In a very symbolic
way, it propably deals with the
happenings in Russia during that
period of time. It is a bit of a
mystery why this album didn't do
more for the band that it did. Many
promotional videos for this album
were planned. Scripts for
"Sunflower", "Evil", "Goodbye",
"King Of The Beggars" and "East Is
Red" were made. It is not quite
clear which others than "East Is
Red" were finalized. The band
continued playing gigs and touring
but as the success failed to knock
on the door the motivation was
slowly slipping away.
A DEATH IN THE
TRIBE
Former
Havana Black drummer Paku Pakkanen
sadly passed away in October 1994.
When the band released the CD-EP
"Leftovers For The Right People" at
the end of the year they decided to
dedicate it to the memory of Paku.
This release was a limited edition
of 500 copies only, out on Also
Records. It included two songs,
"Long Gone Boy" and "Medicine Man",
which were leftovers from the
"Growing Wings" sessions and two
songs, "Magic Carpetride" and
"Hassan-I-Sahba", recorded at YLE
Music Studios in 1994. "Long Gone
Boy" is one of the best Havana Black
songs ever put to tape. One can't
understand why the band didn't use
it on a proper studio album. The
other songs are cover versions and
"Magic Carpetride" is probably the
best known of them. It was
originally recorded by Steppenwolf.
"Hassan-I-Sahba" is an obscure
Hawkwind song.
FADING AWAY
During
the mid nineties the members of the
band moved their priorites towards
other projects. Heiskanen was
touring and recording with Pelle
Miljoona & The Rockers. Hannu was
more and more into producing. Hannu
had also put together the Havana
Black Mandolin Band with Hombre
Lampinen of Boycott fame. The duo
could be seen playin' acoustic songs
in various pubs and clubs around
Finland. The other members where
doing occasional session work for
other Finnish artists. In the words
of Hannu: "Havana Black never split
up, it just sort of started to fade
away..."
ROOTS AND COVERS
In 1995
the band made a final studio
recording when covering the
Motörhead track "(We Are) The Road
Crew" for a Swedish Motörhead
tribute album put together by Pink
Honey Records. The line-up included
members of such Finnish bands as
Smack and Roadcrew. The performing
artists where Hannu "Guts" Leiden on
vocals, Markku "Crazy" Heiskanen on
guitar, Karza on slide guitar, Antti
"Pajis" Pajamäki on bass and Kai
"Hiili" Hiilesmaa on drums. The
Avanti! Chamber Orchestra released
an album in 1995 called "Rockover"
where they covered classic rock
tracks. Hannu provided vocals for
the songs "Stepping Stone", "Simple
Man" and "Mississippi Queen". Former
Havana Black drummer Anssi Nykänen
played drums on all of the songs on
the album.
IS THIS THE END?
In 1988 EMI Finland released a
compilation (best of) album called
"Legend Of The Indian Warriors". It
included tracks from all of the
studio albums and also "Long Gone
Boy" from "Leftovers..." and
"Lauder's Scotch" from the "Dead At
Cafe Interpol" EP. To celebrate this
release the band returned to the
live scene after an absence of five
years. The Havana Black grande
finale was played at the Tavastia
Club, Helsinki, Finland on the 19th
of December 1998. The band line-up
at this historic gig was the
following: Hannu Leiden on vocals
and guitar, Markku Heisknen on lead
guitar, Masa Maijanen on bass, Atte
Sarkima on drums, Keijo Tikkanen on
keyboards and Maria Hänninen and
Miss May on backing vocals.
Wierd
are the ways of the cosmic waves,
because in October of 2001 EMI
Finland released re-mastered
versions of the first two Havana
Blacks studio albums in a two CD
package. This is the final release
for the band to date.
The
former members of Havana Black are
quite active in the Finnish rock
scene even today. Hannu Leiden is
one of the owners of the Seawolf
Studios in Helsinki and works there
as a producer and sound engineer.
Atte Sarkima drums nowadays for Five
Fifteen. Masa Maijanen does sessions
work with various artists. Markku
Heiskanen has taken some time out
from playing, eventhough there were
some rumors flying around of a
forthcoming solo album. Many rock
journalists have been toying with
the idea of a Havana Black comeback
album in the new millenium, however
this seems very unlikely. What could
be more likely and even possible to
make happen would be the assemblance
of a live album from the tapes that
are hidden in various archives.
Let's hope that such a project would
sometime in the future see the light
of day.
WHAT TOMORROW MAY
BRING
The
career of the band may have come to
an end but the legend is alive and
has made its unremovable stamp on
the pages of Finnish rock history.
With record sales somewhere around
the 200.000 copies sold landmark,
Havana Black can easily be counted
into the Finnish rock'n'roll hall of
fame. We let the final word go out
to the band by taking and excerpt
from the lyrics to "Long Gone Boy":
"Once I had it all,
Threw it all away,
Now it's see -
What tomorrow brings.
No matter what you do Ma,
It's too late,
Your candle in the window,
Will flicker in vain.
I'm a long gone boy -
A memory.
Yes a long gone boy,
Oh yeah, yeah,
But don't you worry no more.
This time I'm gone for sure."
AFTERWORD
As is
often the case with biographies,
they tend to look very much like
their authors. What we have tried to
achieve with this bio is a close as
possible re-creation of the Havana
Black legend. But as we all know the
human memory tends to fade away and
remember things somewhat different
as they happen. This bio was
researched in detail during the
years 2000 and 2001. We have tried
to confirm the details and facts
from various sources in order to
achieve a somewhat correct
chronology. We have relied on our
own memories and record collections
and also on the professional music
medias. There are no doubts in our
minds that these medias have tried
to tell the stories as honest as
possible, so all the possible
mistakes found here within are ours.
But remember this is our playground,
this is how we told the story, not
how you would have wanted us to tell
it!
Written In Tribute
To Havana Black, In Helsinki,
November 2001.
Mika Saarikangas & Kriba Gottberg
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