Vocalist and a musician Ollie “Rock-Ola” Rowan land died of a long-term illness in Vantaa on January 8, 2024. He was 61 years old, born in Helsinki on August 27, 1962.
Pihlajamaa spent his childhood in Herttoniemi and Mellunmäki in Helsinki. During these years, he got a feel for playing in the Teenangels lineup. Even before this, he had gained playing experience in his father's jazz band.
Pihlajamaa's family moved to Kerava in 1978, and the timing of the move was as if written in the stars for the 16-year-old boy. Teddy & The Tigers from Kerava was just about to become the most popular band in Finland and put Pihlajamaa's new hometown on the Finnish music map.
Pihlajamaa soon found itself at the heart of the rockabilly craze.
The music Pihlajamaa first turned professional in 1980, when Kari Heimonen, the manager of Teddy & The Tigers, founded the “Finnish rockabilly supergroup” The Lonestars.
Pihlajamaa, who has just come of age, was chosen to be a drummer and one of the soloists in the band.
The other members of the band were familiar from the pages of Suosikki magazine: Aikka “Teddy Guitar” Hakala, Jari Salminen of the Buck Jones & His Rhythm Riders band, and accompaniment guitarist Farmer John.
The tempo of the time was fast, and The Lonestars only worked for half a year and had time to record one album before changing to the rhythm & blues band Falcons.
The rockabilly craze after fading, Pihlajamaa started a solo career that lasted until his death.
He recorded for the Bluelight record company, which focuses mainly on roots music, first one EP in the 1980s and later albums in the latter half of the 1990s Yesterday Is Gone and Upskirt! and a live album On the Rocks.
In addition to solo work, Pihlajamaa performed and recorded in the early 1990s as the soloist of the band The Charades, which opened a new era of wire and beat music.
Pihilajamaa's biggest role model as a singer was Elvis Presley. You can hear this in his voice. Pihlajamaa would have succeeded, for example, as the soloist of the Finnish group Agents.
The music after years as a professional, Pihlajamaa worked as a barber-hairdresser in the center of Helsinki at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. At that time, he was known as the trusted hairdresser of many TV presenters and celebrities. Later, Pihlajamaa ran his own barber shop in Kallio.
Despite his health concerns and personal problems, Pihlajamaa continued to perform occasionally with his Rock Ola & The Freewheelers line-up until he became seriously ill a couple of years ago.
Pihilajamaa's immediate family includes his spouse, two sons, mother, sister and brother.
Mikko Aaltonen
#Obituary #Olli #Pihlajamaa
