Henry Olavi "Remu" Aaltonen (born 10 January 1948) is a Finnish drummer and singer. He is the lead musician of the band

Hurriganes Hurriganes was a Finnish rock band that was formed in the early 1970s. They were very popular in Finland, Sweden and Estonia in the 1970s and early 1980s, as well as a popular live act in Sweden during this time. Their classic line-up cons ...

, but has also pursued a solo singing career.

Early life

Aaltonen was born in Helsinki. He was the oldest child in a family of seven siblings and one foster child. He is of

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

descent. For a while the family lived in an abandoned train car in

Ruskeasanta Ruskeasanta (; ) is a city district in Vantaa, Finland. It is part of the Tikkurila major region, located about east of the Helsinki Airport. The district is known mainly as a residential area preferred by families with children. There are approx ...

Vantaa Vantaa (; , ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the north of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population of Vantaa is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland. Vantaa is part of the Helsinki Metropoli ...

near the construction of the

Helsinki Airport Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (, ) , or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport serving Helsinki, the capital of Finland, as well as its surrounding Helsinki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region in Finland. ...

. The living conditions of Romani people in Finland only started improving in the 1970s. The family's father Otto Aaltonen was an

alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

who was not always around, and the mother Eeva sold

moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...

to support them. Aaltonen got his nickname "Remu" in his youth. The nickname most likely comes from the Finnish verb ''remuta'', meaning to make a lot of noise. "The big boys gave me the name when we were playing football. But I was never such a big noisemaker", says Aaltonen.Miettinen, Emilia: ''Rakkaudella, Remu''. '' Voima'' issue #4/2024, pp. 19–21. Aaltonen was 16 years old and already playing in various bands when he received his first prison sentence for burglaries and other property crimes in 1964. He has also received convictions for drug possession.

Musical career

Aaltonen was inspired by

blues music Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

already in his youth. Although his formal musical training was limited to music lessons at school, by the early 1970s he had already been playing with various other artists, such as the brothers

Kirka Kirill "Kirka" Babitzin (Russian '' Кирилл Бабицын'', 22 September 1950 – 31 January 2007) was a Finnish vocalist and musician. One of the most commercially successful artists from Finland, his career lasted from the late 1960s u ...

and

Sammy Babitzin Aleksandr "Sammy" Babitzin (11 July 1948 – 29 April 1973) was a Finnish popular music singer, the brother of Kirka and Muska. Babitzin was born into a Russian family in Helsinki, and he was of partial German-Russian descent through his mot ...

. After Aaltonen had been fired from his band Kalevala because of a prison sentence, he founded a new band called Hurriganes together with bass player

Cisse Häkkinen Cisse may refer to: * Cisse (river), a river flowing into the Loire at Vouvray, France * Cisse, Poland, a Polish village * Cisse Cameron, American actress (''Space Mutiny'') * ''Cisse'', a snout moth genus nowadays considered a junior synonym of ...

and guitarist

Albert Järvinen Pekka "Albert" Johannes Järvinen (25 October 1950 – 24 March 1991) was a Finnish guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guit ...

. Aaltonen is the only remaining original member of the band. In 1974, Hurriganes had to pause their tour for a few months while Aaltonen was in prison. Aaltonen has said that his music career saved him from a life of crime.

Recognition and awards

In 2018, Aaltonen was awarded the Suomi-palkinto (Finland Award) by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture as a recognition of an impactful career in the field of arts.

Discography

Solo albums

* ' (1978) * ' (1981) * ' (1982)) * ' (1983)) * ' (1985, EP) * ' (1985, live) * ' (1987) * : ' (1994) * ' (1995) * ' (1999) * ' (2004) * ' (2013)

Other albums

* ' (2007) * ' (2008) * Remu and His All Stars: ''Live at Tullikamari'' (2018)

Collections

* ''Parhaat'' (1987) * ''Collection'' (1990) * ''Mad About You'' (1992) * ''Suomen Parhaat – Remu'' (1994) * ' (1995) * Remu & Hurriganes: ' (1997) * ' (2008) * ' (2008)

Singles

* "" (1986) * "" (2009)

Bibliography

* * * * *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aaltonen, Remu 1948 births Living people Finnish male musicians Finnish people of Romani descent Musicians from Helsinki Romani singers