Ultra Bra


Ultra Bra was a Finnish band, formed in 1994 by Olli Virtaperko and Kerkko Koskinen, and disbanded in 2001.

Band history

In 1994, Olli Virtaperko heard about a political song contest held by the Finnish Democratic Youth League and decided to enter it with his friend Kerkko Koskinen. Koskinen composed several songs based on lyrics from his friends. A group of singers and musicians was assembled and the new band won the contest with their song "Ampukaa komissaarit, nuo hullut koirat".
In the summer of 1995, they released their first single, "Houkutusten kiihottava maku". Over the course of the recording sessions, they also came up with a name for the band: Ultra Bra. During 1995, many new people joined the band, while others left. However, the lineup started to become fixed towards the end of the year. By the end of the year Anni Sinnemäki, Koskinen's wife who was to become the most celebrated of all UB's lyricists, began writing lyrics, starting with "Sankaritar" and "Ken Saro-Wiwa on kuollut".
Their first real album, Vapaaherran elämää, came out in the autumn of 1996. All the while, they had been doing a lot of touring and their live reputation had become substantial. In 1997, the second album Kroketti came out. With the release of this album Ultra Bra really started to gain fame. Kroketti sold very well, remains their best selling album and contains some of their biggest hits, namely "Sinä lähdit pois" and "Minä suojelen sinua kaikelta".
In 1998, they participated in the contest for a song to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest. Ultra Bra didn't win, but their entry, "Tyttöjen välisestä ystävyydestä", became a hit song. The third album, Kalifornia, was released in the spring of 1999. In early 2000, Ultra Bra again participated in the Finnish Eurovision song selection process, with "Kaikki on hetken tässä" without reaching the final round. In the spring, they also released several new singles. The song "Heikko valo" also featured in the Finnish movie Levottomat.
Their fourth album, Vesireittejä, came out on 13 October 2000. The week before it was released, numerous magazines and newspapers wrote articles about them, and they appeared on TV and on the radio. Vesireittejä went number one – and gold – on its first week in the Finnish charts.

The end of Ultra Bra

In the summer before the release of Vesireittejä, Ultra Bra decided they would continue for only about a year and then quit and start doing something else. In October 2001, they released a compilation album, Sinä päivänä kun synnyin, that contained a few new songs and many rarities, along with a music video tape and music book. After this they did a small tour of seven gigs, quitting on 20 October 2001, with maximum media coverage, surrounded by thousands of fans.

Comeback

Ultra Bra performed a comeback on 30 January 2012. It took place at Kokoaan suurempi Suomi 2012, a fundraiser concert for Pekka Haavisto's presidential campaign. Tickets to the concert sold out in two hours on 25 January and the rush crashed the online ticket service Tiketti. According to singer Vuokko Hovatta, the fundraiser was a one-off event and there are no plans for further Ultra Bra gigs.
However, Ultra Bra did a small comeback tour in Finland in the summer of 2017.
The band also performed for three ultimate concerts in Helsinki from 15 to 17 December 2017.

Band members

In many orchestral pieces Ultra Bra also had an additional string section and a chorus.

Current projects

Albums