Lazybonez Mk I
And so, in the middle of 1988 Southern Backyard became Lazybonez, no line-up changes, just the name. Well, at some point a little later, Mika added a WLM drawbar organ to his keyboard arsenal.
Lazybonez Mk I
Janne Komi – guitar and lead vocals
Mika Herhi – Rhodes, organ, DX7
Jari Riitala – bass and vocals
Vesa Koskelainen – drums
We wrote a few more songs, had a few lower profile gigs in Turku University student association parties, and in November 1988 did the first really public performance of Lazybonez in the TYY Free Rock Soiree at Kåren, which created some very positive publicity in the Turku papers and even a shared mention as the gig of the year in Turkulainen (thanks Sundholm, clearly a fan) .
We delivered the demo for review to the main Finnish rock magazines Soundi and Rumba, with quite spectacular results: both ranked us to the top of the crop. Encouraged by this, we sent the demo also to a few record companies; one bothered to respond, along the lines of “world is full of this kind of stuff made better”. Oh well, that was never a huge deal anyway. Keep your jack lift (yes, this will be incomprehensible to non-Finnish folks).
At some point we also emigrated the homely cellar for good to a paid rehearsal space where we did not bother anyone. Probably long overdue, if you ask my parents, but they never issued a request to leave. Unbelievable support!
In 1989 some of the gigs gradually became a little higher profile: besides more student association parties, we played in the legendary Hupilupi Grande in March and in the Ruisrock clubs (Ruisrööri) in in July.
In the summer, a side project together with (Soulin) Suurlähettiläät emerged. Alternatively called Soulbonez or, later, Soulcover Show featuring Lazybonez and Soulin Suurlähettiläät, we joined forces and basically brought to the stage two complete bands all playing at the same time, doing the old greatest hits of soul. Performing in Down By The Laituri, Hupilupi Grande, the Ruisrock Hupilupi and Casablanca Carnival, both bands got a bunch of publicity –including another gig of the year mention in Turkulainen – and we had a lot of fun. Because two basses can be a little problematic, instead of playing the same notes, we tried to stay out of each other’s way and in some songs I played the guitar instead – and on the last gig when Mika was not available, I ditched the bass completely for organ. The drummers mostly switched roles between drums and percussion to avoid two kits. The project continued sporadically until 1993, altogether ten gigs, with some variation in the line-up depending on who was available.
Year 1990 brought more gigs, including a rare stint to Helsinki in the School of Arts party, together with (Soulin) Suurlähettiläät again and complete with the Soulcover show. We also played in Down By The Laituri and, a pinnacle of the career, on the second stage of Ruisrock, assisted by Tane Kannisto on sax on both gigs. I did not hear this myself nor it is likely to be on record anywhere, but a reliable source tells – probably paraphrased and twisted – that when asked on the radio about what the Ruisrock promotor Rainer Koski was especially proud of in the coming festival, he said getting Lazybonez there. There was a little mishap on the way to the festival: the rear end of Mika’s car got hit by another car, causing also a minor hand injury. Luckily nothing worse and that was not really evident in his playing in the gig.
This Ruisrock, with a record-breaking audience headcount of over 14,000 in a lovely weather, also stimulated a Turun Sanomat reporter to deliver a a glowing review of the event, which especially mentioned us:
…The second act on the [side] stage, Lazybonez from Turku, washed, dried and even ironed all of its foreign counterparts. On the face of Janne Komi, their singer with extreme credibility, one could see the general feeling of the whole event: look and listen, this is fun!
Mika Hannula, Turun Sanomat 2-Jul-1990 (free translation)
In 1990 we also returned to the Riverside Studio to record two more songs , again under the eagle eye and golden ears of Jorma Tikka. May Say and (I Never Broke My) Promise became another pair of songs that could have been released as a single but was not.
However, after the successes of 1990, Mika temporarily moved to the periphery for his law school auscultation, far enough to make it pretty impossible to continue the operation of the band. We made some, perhaps half-hearted attempts to find a replacement during that period but they did not really light a fire, so we settled for waiting for his return and practically went on a hiatus for 1991 and early 1992, returning to gigs only in the summer.
The 1992 gigs were pretty good regardless of our absence during the previous year. Among others, we played in Down By The Laituri, even two nights in a row, in different places; in School’s In, a big festival in the Arena hall, and the Riverside Gladiators end-of-season party in Bar 1957. School’s In was a memorable event because there, the only time ever, we got so confused in the structure of a song that we actually had to stop and restart. Somewhat humbling. Bar 1957, on the other hand, was memorable in another way: we were the house band, first playing our own set and then in the second set were soon joined by various luminaries of the Turku music scene – all brilliant until the time came for the salary. All artists got paid the same… and we were considered one single artist even though there were four of us and we played everything whereas the others appeared on a few songs at most. Way to go, Sedu! Still sore after all these years!
[WIP… to be continued… and pics added]
Lazybonez Mk II
Janne Komi – guitar and lead vocals
Jaro Julkunen – keyboards and vocals
Jari Riitala – bass and vocals
Vesa Koskelainen – drums
Lazybonez Mk III
Janne Komi – guitar and lead vocals
Jaro Julkunen – keyboards and vocals
Jari Riitala – bass and vocals
Vesa Koskelainen – drums
with
Wellu Tuominen – sax
Pekka Vaaherkumpu – trumpet
Links
Discography
Semiquavers á la Magnifico (2015)
Spotify, Deezer, iTunes
Flowers In Your Precious Mind / Come To Me / (You Can’t Dance In Those) Shoes / Waiting / Mr. Major Groove / Who Do You Think You Are / Nobody Could Be Better / Party Jacket / Peace Of Mind / Remedy Call
Demo Tapes
Collected studio and home demos, containing
VÄS demos
Baptism Of Fire / You Can’t Dance In Those Shoes / (Ain’t Such A) Good Thing / Swing It Up / Never Talk / Speak / Say / Who Said
<TBA>
Home demos
Funky Genes / Sister Got No Yellow Hair / Funky Piece Of… / I Believe / Get Down / What Is It? (Deep Water)
<TBA>
Riverside Studio demos (1988, 1990)
I Want Ya / Who Said / May Say / Decision / (Never Broke My) Promise