Gösta Sundqvist

Who was Gösta Sundqvist?

Gösta Erik Sundqvist was a famous Finnish musician and radio personality. He was the lead singer for Leevi and the Leavings since the forming of the band. The name "Leevi" is often taken to mean Sundqvist personally, although this is incorrect, and "Leevi" refers to a late friend of the band members. Sundqvist kept himself almost completely hidden from publicity and Leevi and the Leavings never performed in front of a live audience, with only one exception under the name "Tarmo Dynamo". In the 1980s and 90s, Gösta and the band gave some interviews but after the year 2000 Sundqvist became a total media hermit.

Sundqvist is best remembered by the songs he composed, arranged, and wrote the lyrics for. His lyrics were down-to-earth which was probably the key to success among the Finnish public. In 1990 Sundqvist expanded his work to include radio comedy. He wrote several humorous shows for the radio station formerly known as Radiomafia, including Tietokoneenkorjauskurssi and Koe-eläinpuisto.

Sundqvist also wrote songs for singer Aarne Tenkanen, who was originally one of the characters appearing in Koe-eläinpuisto.