Pohjola was born in Helsinki, Finland[2] and studied classical piano and violin at the Sibelius Academy in the city.
Pohjola's first solo album, Pihkasilmä Kaarnakorva (Resin Eye Bark Ear), released in 1972, bears a notable resemblance to the work of Frank Zappa.
The album saw Pohjola's sound developing in a more distinctive direction, with heavy use of trumpets, saxophones and piano.
The somewhat jazz-influenced album sufficiently piqued the interest of Virgin Records executive Richard Branson for him to release it in the United Kingdom the following year under the name B the Magpie.
[3] At the request of Virgin, Pohjola teamed up with Mike Oldfield to record and produce his third solo album, released in 1977 in Finland as Keesojen Lehto (Grove of the Keeso) and in the UK as The Mathematician's Air Display.
The album was also released in 1981 on the Happy Bird label, in the Netherlands, under the name The Consequences of Indecisions and credited to Oldfield instead of Pohjola.
His next album was the soundtrack to Hannu Heikinheimo's 1983 movie Jokamies (released in 1984 under the title Everyman in the United States and Germany).
As a result, Breakthru' scrambled and forfeited away its rights to unscrupulous distributors in an effort to adapt to the fast changing audio landscape of the music business during 1984 and 1986.
Pressed on CD in Switzerland, Space Waltz was also released by Breakthru' Records on audiophile vinyl and cassette.
The album's sound differed greatly from Pohjola's guitar-driven works of the '80s, offering a softer, more piano-based soundscape.
The album featured Finnish top musicians Seppo Kantonen (keyboards), Markku Kanerva (guitar) and Anssi Nykänen (drums), who became Pohjola's regular band.
Pohjola's piece "The Madness Subsides" from B the Magpie (1974) was sampled by DJ Shadow as the main bass line in his song "Midnight in a Perfect World", from the wildly successful debut album Endtroducing..... (1996).