Virtanen

When looked from afar, it may seem that punk rock emerged practically out of nothing in 1976/77, but that is not the case. There had been many names that had greatly influenced the first punk rock bands: New York Dolls in The US (and The Stooges and MC5 before that), Dr. Feelgood and other pub rock bands in The UK. And then there was Virtanen in Finland. In the mid 1970's Finland bands that emphasized the raw energy of rock'n'roll rather than the virtuosity of instruments were few and far between. Virtanen, however, played raunchy and energetic rock and had a reputation of having wild stage shows. Many people who were active in Finnish punk rock scene in the late 1970's have later stated that Virtanen was an important early influence when they were forming their own bands. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.