Any Way The Wind Blows
June 30, 2011 2:58 PM   Subscribe

"Bohemian Rhapsody" covered the the Porkka Playboys. Finnish polka group covers Queen's classic.

The Porkka Playboys also cover "Ace of Spades," "Boys of Summer," "Lump" and "Cotton Eye Joe".

They also have some great tunes in Finnish including Ikkunaprinsessa, Myrskyluodon Maija and the supremely dancable Meksikon Pikajuna.

This brief excerpt of their Rasputin is pretty awesome, too.

Previously in Metafilter's "Bohemian Rhapsody" history: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7
posted by Joey Michaels (20 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
The rocking (literally) Volks at 4:19 totally makes it.
posted by katillathehun at 3:16 PM on June 30, 2011 [2 favorites]


The best ever, thank you!
posted by toodleydoodley at 3:19 PM on June 30, 2011


Polka is popular.
posted by stbalbach at 3:25 PM on June 30, 2011


Loved this. Especially 3 minutes in when the car starts shaking bad. Thanks.
posted by elmaddog at 3:28 PM on June 30, 2011


Ah! Mods, please help. Spelled "Finnish" with one "n." My apologies to citizens of Finland!
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:36 PM on June 30, 2011


1) English with a Finnish accent is adorable.
2) That guitar solo on the soprano sax works surprisingly well.
3) I love the look of absolute alarm and astonishment on the one singer's face as he hits the high note right before the headbanging.
posted by nebulawindphone at 3:43 PM on June 30, 2011


DCI (Drum Corps International) contender Carolina Crown has a show this year entitled "Rach Star" (as in Rachmaninov) that includes an arrangement of Bohemian Rhapsody as well as some other Queen material. I've only heard a brief exerpt yet, but, to my biased ears, it sounds fairly awesome.
posted by newdaddy at 3:46 PM on June 30, 2011


Rasputin as a polka in Finnish! You've made my day, thanks.
posted by immlass at 3:47 PM on June 30, 2011


I wish there was a bit more of the "Rasputin" clip.

And thank you to the mods for the spelling correction.
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:50 PM on June 30, 2011


DCI (Drum Corps International) contender Carolina Crown has a show this year entitled "Rach Star"

I would love to hear that! Is there a clip available somewhere?
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:52 PM on June 30, 2011


Sorry, Weird Al did it better. (as seen in Previously link 3) Bonus points for fan video LOST mashup.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:07 PM on June 30, 2011


If it were truly Finnish the Polo would be power sliding around a rally track as they played...
posted by Submiqent at 4:28 PM on June 30, 2011


If it were truly Finnish I'd be smashed out of my mind on good Vodka.

(this video made me smile)
posted by device55 at 4:35 PM on June 30, 2011


With guys like these, who needs Weezer?
posted by punkfloyd at 6:01 PM on June 30, 2011


Man, I am so sick of these dreadlocked Finnish polka musicians and their damn guitars...
posted by PlusDistance at 6:59 PM on June 30, 2011


I would love to hear that! Is there a clip available somewhere?
DCI has a podcast on iTunes (I think called DCI Fieldpass). There's a recent one discussing the Rach Star show, but it's just snippets of the music because it's so early in the season. The best way to hear it, by far, would be to see it performed live.
posted by newdaddy at 7:02 PM on June 30, 2011


This is one of those things that I didn't know I needed in my life until I had it and now I don't know what I did before, like the microwave oven and gin
posted by NoraReed at 8:58 PM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]


My favorite moment is at 1:07 where the guy in the backseat plays the trombone note while hitting the high-hat. That's hardcore in a VW, man.

Their cover of Ace of Spades is full of win, too. Ahhh, Finns. Of course it's in a sauna!

The videos of them playing on the street are fun, too. I have no idea what they're saying but there's lots of great energy there.
posted by QuantumMeruit at 9:35 PM on June 30, 2011


Oh wow, what a flashback! I lived in Helsinki for a year and this video is just SO perfectly Finnish. But I love the Rasputin one even more. I had never heard the song until I went to the pikkujoulu ("little Christmas") work party where my husband worked. We had only been in Finland for about two months, and hadn't met many people yet, and I found Finnish social groups a little hard to penetrate. But the siideri was flowing fast and furious, and when Rasputin came on, the dance floor was packed full of Finnish scientists dressed in 80's clothes wildly dancing to the tune. It was one of the most fun evenings I had while I lived there.

Quirky Finnish music also reminds me of this video from Talent Suomi (Finland's version of America's Got Talent) - two guys performing Popcorn with a synthesizer and a kazoo.
posted by Neely O'Hara at 6:15 AM on July 1, 2011


Here are some more Finns doing Rasputin.

Works better live.
posted by nowonmai at 7:01 AM on July 3, 2011


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