Biography
Riff Raff was founded in 1979 by four root, rock and rhythm and blues oriented guys, eager to try a heavier approach to their music, using influences from the tougher rock bands of the era, with a serious bias towards AC/DC.
Riff Raff eventually came in third at the national "ROCK Finnish Masters" contest back in 1980, impressing their audience as well as Poko Rekords. Becoming the first Oulu heavy metal band to be printed in vinyl, the songs "I'll Be Gone" and Rock'n Roll Star" were used on the Poko Records compilation "Heavy Metal & Live", recorded in Tampere, 1981.
On the first album "No Law 'n Order" Riff Raff were probably closer to pure rock and roll, with a major focus on their live performances. Due the usual studio issues of the time, the attitude of that era did not translate very well on this album. It was however a bunch of simple rock 'n roll songs featuring the unique vocal stylings of drummer Eski Palosaari. On one song, "Gonna Make it Roll", the vocals were performed by Immu Ilmarinen, and this also marked the first step towards their heavier approach on the next albums. "No Law 'n Order" was unleashed in 1981 by Poko Rekords on vinyl and cassette; it is yet to be reissued on CD to this day.
In 1982 Riff Raff signed a deal with the small label Mirror Records, and they recorded their second album together with engineer Hannu Karjalainen and producer/label manager Antti Porkka. The album, entitled "Robot Stud", was released in 1982, manifesting the heavier musical approach, with the vocal duties falling solely to Immu Ilmarinen. The songs on this album are best described as primeval metal songs, with tight, rocking guitar riffs. There were many rocking songs, including the title track "Robot Stud" and "Back of the Blue Dove", both of which received some airplay around the globe. "Robot Stud" has survived well in time; it is still a pretty impressive slab of the early eighties' rocking heavy metal.
In 1983 Mirror Records licensed the release of a single to Polarvox Records. The band soon recorded their third effort, "Give the Dead Man Some Water" together with producer T.T. Oksala, releasing it under the Amulet Records banner. The lyrics of the album centered around various absurdities, reinforced by its - then - "shocking" cover art, causing Finnish rockzine SOUNDI to write a review centered only on the cover, without a single word about the music. Arguably however, the album did pack a serious punch. This time around, Riff Raff showed themselves at their most metallic, though still leaving room for a cover version of The Who's "Baba O' Riley". Rookie bass player Kessler Raatikainen also served as one of the songwriters on the album, adding a bit of party attitude, as apparent on "Shout Out n'Loud" and "Saloon Fighters".
Soon after vocalist Immu Ilmarinen left the band, being replaced for a short while by Esa Eloranta (later experienced in Garbo) but the magic was gone, and the band soon faded into obscurity.
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