# Jean-Pierre Kusela

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**Jean-Pierre Kusela** is a fictional character invented by [Spede Pasanen](/source/Spede_Pasanen) and played by [Vesa-Matti Loiri](/source/Vesa-Matti_Loiri), appearing in the [Finnish](/source/Finland) sketch comedy series *[Spede Show](/source/Spede_Show)* from 1985 to 1987. The character also appeared in *[Vesku Show](/source/Vesku_Show)* from 1988 to 1991.[1]

## Appearances

Jean-Pierre Kusela became famous with his song *Naurava kulkuri* ("The laughing tramp"), a cover version of [Jim Lowe](/source/Jim_Lowe)'s song *Gambler’s Guitar* that was published by German singer [Fred Bertelmann](/source/Fred_Bertelmann) (under the *Der lachende Vagabund*, *The laughing Vagabond*) in 1957. The song became so popular that Vesa-Matti Loiri published it on his 1986 album *Naurava kulkuri*, under the Kusela name. The album sold 92 thousand copies. It received a platinum record award in 1987, and is one of the 60 most sold ever Finnish albums in Finland.[1] In 1987 Loiri published another album, *Voi hyvä tavaton* ("Oh my goodness"), which sold 25 thousand copies, receiving a gold record award.[2] In 1988, Kusela appeared on the Tyyne album *Pim peli pom*. They performed the song *"Tahdon olla sulle hellä"* together. In 1995 Loiri published a [CD](/source/Compact_Disc) single *Nauravan kulkurin paluu* ("The return of the laughing tramp"), which included a [remix](/source/Remix) version of the original 1986 song.

Jean-Pierre Kusela appeared in November 2001 in the Spede Pasanen memorial concert at the [Hartwall Arena](/source/Hartwall_Arena). The concert was broadcast on [MTV3](/source/MTV3) in December 2001. Kusela's last appearance was in the 2004 film *[Uuno Turhapuro - This Is My Life](/source/Uuno_Turhapuro_-_This_Is_My_Life)*.

## Concept

The character is a [parody](/source/Parody) of typical [French](/source/France) smooth-voiced *[chanson](/source/Chanson)* singers, particularly [Jean-Claude Pascal](/source/Jean-Claude_Pascal), whose surname - like that of Kusela - has a connotation of [toilet humour](/source/Toilet_humour).[3] ("Pascal" sounds like *"paska"*, [Finnish](/source/Finnish_language) for "[shit](/source/Shit)", and hence the name Kusela comes from *"kusi"*, Finnish for "[piss](/source/Urine)".)

Jean-Pierre Kusela is a big-nosed, dark-haired and dark-bearded [night club](/source/Night_club) singer speaking Finnish in a foreign accent. In a typical Kusela sketch, the character performed his songs smoking [cigarettes](/source/Cigarette) and drinking [alcoholic beverages](/source/Alcoholic_beverage) while the [Swedish](/source/Sweden) pianist Puppe ([Olli Ahvenlahti](/source/Olli_Ahvenlahti)) accompanied him with piano music.

## Discography

- *Naurava kulkuri* (1986)

- *Voi hyvä tavaton* (1987)

## Singles

- *Nauravan kulkurin paluu* (1995)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_1-1) [Myydyimmät levyt](http://www.ifpi.fi/tilastot/myydyimmat/kaikki/kotimaiset/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20111121173605/http://ifpi.fi/tilastot/myydyimmat/kaikki/kotimaiset/) 2011-11-21 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), ifpi.fi. Accessed on 22 July 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Archived copy"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110721064455/http://www.ifpi.fi/tilastot/kplista.html?action=etuk&kirjain=V). Archived from [the original](http://www.ifpi.fi/tilastot/kplista.html?action=etuk&kirjain=V) on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2015-01-19.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_archived_copy_as_title))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [FINNPICKS - Remaking musical memories](http://finnpicks.blogspot.com/2008/07/gamblers-guitar-naurava-kulkuri.html)

Authority control databases International ISNI National Finland Artists MusicBrainz

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jean-Pierre Kusela](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pierre_Kusela) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pierre_Kusela?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.