Biography
was a Finnish-Swedish singer, theater conductor, composer and actor. Mårtenson’s mother tongue was Swedish, but he recorded mainly in Finnish. Mårtenson performed as a pianist in the 1950s and became one of Finland’s most popular singers of jazz and light music in the 1960s. Lasse Mårtenson’s first solo band was the Lasse Mårtenson Trio, where he sang and played the piano from 1952 to 1960. Between 1956 and 1963 he served as the conductor of the theater at Lilla Teatern and at the Swedish and Helsinki Theaters. In 1964, he represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest. In 1967, he created a piece of music for television, called “Voiko sen sanoa toisinkin”. Fredi’s 1967 Eurovision song “Varjoon-suojaan” was Mårtenson’s composition, as was Danny’s “Pieni sana”. Mårtenson was one of Finland’s most popular singers of jazz and light music in the 1960s. His most famous songs include, among others, “Laiskotellen”, ”Marraskuu”, ”Ken on hän”, ”Iltaisin”, ”Muistatko syyskuun”, ”Rikas mies jos oisin”, ”Hei hei Pussycat”, ”Kaikessa soi blues” ja ”Mä lähden stadiin” and a Finnish cover of The Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun”.
In 2006, a tribute album of Finnish young musicians was released called “Kaikki paitsi Mårtenson on turhaa”. In 2011, Mårtenson published the autobiography ‘Vågspel’, which was published in Finnish under the title ‘Laiskotellen’ in 2013.
Mårtenson died at the age of 81 on 14 May 2016.
