Horsepower

Horsepower from Tampere

Horsepower was formed by young aspiring musicians from Tampere, Finland in 1986. The band soaked up influences from classic hard rock band’s like AC/DC, Aerosmith and Judas Priest.

The band’s first line-up was finalized when trio Ari Toikka (drums), Juha Junttu (guitar and vocals) and Hessu Sillanpää (guitar) were joined by Mikko Leinonen (guitar) ja Lone Hännikäinen (bass).

Their first single with songs “Weekend Wizard” and “Motor of Love” was self-published in 1988 and was noticed by the record publisher Epe Helenius who signed the band to his label Poko Rekords. First single for Poko had songs “Bad Hearted Woman” and “Rosalie”.

First LP “Virginity” was recorded in summer 1989 and was produced by T.T. Oksala. The sound could be described with a line “Hanoi Rocks goes AC/DC”.

The band’s energetic stage work lead to a growing fanbase. During 1989 and 1990 Horsepower played as many gigs in small bars and big festivals alike as possible and even in a music festival in Tallinn, Estonia.

In summer 1990 Horsepower recorded a maxisingle with a song “A New Rose Every Day”. It was produced by Mikko Karmila and it gained a position on the Finnish top 10 chart.

Second album “Second Albummah” was released in early 1991. The album “Gloria” peaked at number four on the single chart and gained rotation in the radio. 

Final breakthrough was imminent but heavy touring started to take toll on the young band. Friction amongst band members began to emerge. In late 1991 the single cover for AC/DC’s “T.N.T” was the last one with Lone Hännikäinen on the bass.

New bassist was found through family connections and soon Jykä Sirainen joined in. He played his first gig in January 1992 just in time for couple of club tours in Sweden.

The third album was taped in April 1992 again with Mikko Karmila. “Tall, Terrific and Trouble” was made in a relaxed atmosphere. Songs were even better and more versatile than before. Influences are heard from Thin Lizzy and Ted Nugent. A single “Keep It in the Family” was cut. The album was later released also in Germany.

In 1994 a live album “Loud And Proud” was released. Recorded in late 1993 the album documents the band at the top of their game now as a four-piece as Mikko Leinonen had left the band earlier. With songs from earlier albums the live album contains covers for AC/DC and Whitesnake.

Because of other interests the band started to play less gigs and within time had almost no activity at all. Through the following years they still joined together to do few gigs now and then.

In 2007 Poko Rekords released a compilation “Best Offah” containing remastered songs from all three albums.

It took until 2018 for Horsepower to decide to make a comeback even though they never really had broken up at all. They released singles “Bullet Train” in July and “Ride with the Devil” in September 2018 through label called Bundesrockstar.

Albums

  • Virginity (1989 Poko Rekords)
  • Second Albummah (1990 Poko Rekords)
  • Tall, Terrific and Trouble (1992 Poko Rekords)
  • Loud and Proud (live) (1993 Poko Rekords)
  • Best Offah! (compilation) (2007 Poko Rekords)

Singles

  • Weekend Wizard / Motor of Love (1988 Blues Brothers Oy)
  • Bad Hearted Woman / Rosalie (1989 Poko Rekords)
  • Big Fat Mama / My Oh My (1989 Poko Rekords)
  • Gloria / Forgotten Roads (1990 Poko Rekords)
  • A New Rose Every Day / Crawling on the Floor (horny version) / Dreamflight – maxisingle (1990 Poko Rekords)
  • T.N.T – CDS (1991 Poko Rekords)
  • Keep It in the Family / Missing You / Rock Wife (fat Horsepower in Las Vegas) – CDS (1992 Poko Rekords)
  • Bullet Train (2018 Bundesrockstar) Horsepower – Bullet Train
  • Ride with the Devil (2018 Bundesrockstar) Ride with the Devil – Horsepower