The Crash (band)
Encyclopedia
The Crash was a pop-rock band from Turku
, Finland
, originally influenced by Britpop
but later taking its lead from a diverse range of genres including Motown, Disco
, New Wave
and 80's rock. The band formed after Teemu Brunila and Samuli Haataja met in 1991, with both Erkki Kaila and Dani Aavinen joining to complete the line up. Originally, the band was called Ladies & Gentlemen, but later changed its name to New Deal, then again changed it to The Crush. In 1998, the name was changed to The Crash and Dani Aavinen was replaced by keyboard player, Toni Ahola.
Their debut album, "Comfort Deluxe", was released on Warner Music Finland in 1999, and was followed by a tour of Europe including Sweden, Germany, and Austria, as well as a successful performance at the In The City festival in Manchester, England. This caught the attention of Melody Maker
and MTV Nordic. By this time Toni Ahola had left the band to further his studies and Jussi Lehtinen stepped in. A second Warner Music album, "Wildlife", was released in 2001, with the single from that album, "Lauren Caught My Eye", (later, re-recorded and released on the album "Pony Ride" as just "Lauren") becoming the first video by a Finnish artist to be powerplayed on MTV
. This, along with the music video for follow-up single "Star" (later, re-recorded and released on the album "Pony Ride" as "Solitudinarian") earned the band a nomination for Best Nordic Artist at the MTV Europe Awards held in Barcelona in 2002. Other nominated artists were Röyksopp, Saybia, The Hives and, eventual winners, Kent. It was at this time that Jussi Lehtinen left the band to be replaced by Tomi Mäkilä. The band's third album, "Melodrama" - also on Warner Finland - showed a marked departure from their earlier melancholic sound, with lead single "Still Alive" particularly helping to find a whole new audience for the band. The album entered the Finnish charts at #2 and stayed on the list for 11 weeks. It was at this time that "Star" was picked to be used on an eBay
commercial on German TV, proving to be one of the most successful German TV campaigns to date. The Crash toured Germany intensively as a headline act as well as opening on large tours with local bands Reamonn
and Sportfreunde Stiller
. "Star" eventually reached #21 in the German sales chart. Despite the efforts of Warner Music Germany to market the "Melodrama" album by including "Star" as a bonus track on the German version, the album failed to make any impact in the German charts upon release.
Following reasonable success in Scandinavia and Central Europe, the band turned its attention to the USA where interest was being shown by several major record companies including Capitol Records
, Maverick Records
, Warner/Atlantic and Hollywood Records
. A short trip to the US followed in March 2005, where the band performed a packed show at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas leading to Billboard Magazine picking The Crash as one of the ten acts to catch that year, along with Bloc Party
and M.I.A.
. The Crash also appeared at the legendary Viper Room
in LA and the equally famous CBGB's in New York City. During this period the band was busy recording the "Pony Ride" album and decided to leave Warner Finland after 3 very successful domestic-selling albums. Instead the group financed the new recordings itself and licensed the finished album to several labels around the world. "Pony Ride" was released in Finland in September 2006 on Suomen Musiikki and entered the Finnish album chart at #2. In January 2007 the band signed deals with Rubber Records to release "Pony Ride" in Australia and New Zealand, and with Rykodisc
to release the album in USA and Canada. The Crash returned to SXSW in March 2007 to perform at the Rykodisc showcase.
"Reasons To Sing" from the "Pony Ride" album was featured in the 17th November, 2008 edition of The CW TV's Gossip Girl
, reaching an audience, according to the U.S. Nielsen rating
, of 2.88 million viewers.
On April 2, 2009 a press release was sent out by the band's Finnish booking agency, Live Nation, announcing that The Crash had decided to split up and would be performing a farewell tour of Finland in May 2009.. The last performance by The Crash took place at the band's hometown festival, Ruisrock in Turku, on July 5, 2009.
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, originally influenced by Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
but later taking its lead from a diverse range of genres including Motown, Disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
and 80's rock. The band formed after Teemu Brunila and Samuli Haataja met in 1991, with both Erkki Kaila and Dani Aavinen joining to complete the line up. Originally, the band was called Ladies & Gentlemen, but later changed its name to New Deal, then again changed it to The Crush. In 1998, the name was changed to The Crash and Dani Aavinen was replaced by keyboard player, Toni Ahola.
Their debut album, "Comfort Deluxe", was released on Warner Music Finland in 1999, and was followed by a tour of Europe including Sweden, Germany, and Austria, as well as a successful performance at the In The City festival in Manchester, England. This caught the attention of Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
and MTV Nordic. By this time Toni Ahola had left the band to further his studies and Jussi Lehtinen stepped in. A second Warner Music album, "Wildlife", was released in 2001, with the single from that album, "Lauren Caught My Eye", (later, re-recorded and released on the album "Pony Ride" as just "Lauren") becoming the first video by a Finnish artist to be powerplayed on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. This, along with the music video for follow-up single "Star" (later, re-recorded and released on the album "Pony Ride" as "Solitudinarian") earned the band a nomination for Best Nordic Artist at the MTV Europe Awards held in Barcelona in 2002. Other nominated artists were Röyksopp, Saybia, The Hives and, eventual winners, Kent. It was at this time that Jussi Lehtinen left the band to be replaced by Tomi Mäkilä. The band's third album, "Melodrama" - also on Warner Finland - showed a marked departure from their earlier melancholic sound, with lead single "Still Alive" particularly helping to find a whole new audience for the band. The album entered the Finnish charts at #2 and stayed on the list for 11 weeks. It was at this time that "Star" was picked to be used on an eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
commercial on German TV, proving to be one of the most successful German TV campaigns to date. The Crash toured Germany intensively as a headline act as well as opening on large tours with local bands Reamonn
Reamonn
Reamonn is a German rock and pop band. They have recorded six albums.-History:In 1997, Rea Garvey left his band The Reckless Pedestrians and home town of Tralee, Ireland to go to Germany with not a lot of money and a demo CD in his pocket...
and Sportfreunde Stiller
Sportfreunde Stiller
Sportfreunde Stiller is a German antifascist rock band from Germering, near Munich, in Bavaria.The band was founded in 1996 by Peter "Balboa" Brugger , Florian "Rakete" Weber , and Rüdiger "Rüde" Linhof . They took their original name, Stiller, from their former football manager, Hans Stiller, at...
. "Star" eventually reached #21 in the German sales chart. Despite the efforts of Warner Music Germany to market the "Melodrama" album by including "Star" as a bonus track on the German version, the album failed to make any impact in the German charts upon release.
Following reasonable success in Scandinavia and Central Europe, the band turned its attention to the USA where interest was being shown by several major record companies including Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, Maverick Records
Maverick Records
Maverick Recording Company is an American record label owned and operated by Warner Music Group, and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:...
, Warner/Atlantic and Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by Disney Music Group, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company.-History:Hollywood Records was founded in 1989 by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner with the idea of expanding the music operations of the company and to develop and promote...
. A short trip to the US followed in March 2005, where the band performed a packed show at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas leading to Billboard Magazine picking The Crash as one of the ten acts to catch that year, along with Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...
and M.I.A.
M.I.A. (artist)
Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A...
. The Crash also appeared at the legendary Viper Room
Viper Room
The Viper Room is a nightclub located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. It was opened in 1993 and was partly owned by actor Johnny Depp until 2004. The club became known for being a hangout of Hollywood elite, and was the site where actor River Phoenix died of a drug overdose on...
in LA and the equally famous CBGB's in New York City. During this period the band was busy recording the "Pony Ride" album and decided to leave Warner Finland after 3 very successful domestic-selling albums. Instead the group financed the new recordings itself and licensed the finished album to several labels around the world. "Pony Ride" was released in Finland in September 2006 on Suomen Musiikki and entered the Finnish album chart at #2. In January 2007 the band signed deals with Rubber Records to release "Pony Ride" in Australia and New Zealand, and with Rykodisc
Rykodisc
Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.-Company history:...
to release the album in USA and Canada. The Crash returned to SXSW in March 2007 to perform at the Rykodisc showcase.
"Reasons To Sing" from the "Pony Ride" album was featured in the 17th November, 2008 edition of The CW TV's Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
, reaching an audience, according to the U.S. Nielsen rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, of 2.88 million viewers.
On April 2, 2009 a press release was sent out by the band's Finnish booking agency, Live Nation, announcing that The Crash had decided to split up and would be performing a farewell tour of Finland in May 2009.. The last performance by The Crash took place at the band's hometown festival, Ruisrock in Turku, on July 5, 2009.
Members
- Teemu Brunila – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker... - Samuli Haataja – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals - Erkki Kaila – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Samuli "JJ" Jokinen – keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
Albums
- Comfort DeluxeComfort DeluxeComfort Deluxe is the debut studio album by Finnish Britpop band The Crash, released in 1999.-Track listing:-Band members:*Teemu Brunila – vocals, guitar*Samuli Haataja – bass guitar*Erkki Kaila – drums*Toni Ahola – keyboard...
– 1999 - WildlifeWildlife (The Crash album)Wildlife is the second studio album by Finnish Britpop band The Crash, released in 2001.-Track listing:-Band members:*Teemu Brunila – vocals, guitar*Samuli Haataja – bass guitar*Erkki Kaila – drums*Tomi Mäkilä – keyboard...
– 2001 - MelodramaMelodrama (The Crash album)Melodrama is the third studio album by Finnish Britpop band The Crash, released in 2003.-Track listing:*All songs have been written by Teemu Brunila-Band members:*Teemu Brunila – vocals, guitar, keyboard*Samuli Haataja – bass guitar...
– 2003 - Selected Songs 1999–2005Selected Songs 1999–2005Selected Songs 1999–2005 is a compilation album by the Crash, released in October 2005. The album includes the most important and meaningful songs composed during 1999-2005, but also three brand new songs: "Johnny Ran Away with You", "Big Ass Love", "Thorn in My Side".There are two versions made of...
– 2005 - Pony RidePony RidePony Ride is the fourth and the last studio album by Finnish Britpop band The Crash, released on September 27, 2003.-Track listing:-Band nembers:*Teemu Brunila – vocals, guitar, keyboard*Samuli Haataja – bass guitar*Erkki Kaila – drums...
– 2006
Singles
- Crash (The Black EP) – 1997
- Take My Time – 1998
- World Of My Own – 1999
- Sugared / Loveless – 1999
- Coming Home – 1999
- Lauren Caught My Eye – 2001, 2002
- Star – 2001, 2002, 2004
- New York – 2002
- Still Alive – 2003
- Gigolo – 2003
- Big Ass Love – 2005
- Thorn in My Side – 2005
- Pony Ride – 2006
- Grace – 2006