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| Hanoi Rocks |

|
| Background information |
| Origin | Helsinki, Finland |
| Genres | Glam punk, hard rock, glam rock, glam metal[1][2] |
| Years active | 1979–1985
2001–2009 |
| Labels | Johanna Kustannus, Lick Records, Nippon Phonogram, CBS, Major Leiden Productions, Liquor and Poker Music, Backstage Alliance |
| Associated acts | Briard
Pelle Miljoona Oy
The Suicide Twins
Jerusalem Slim
Demolition 23.
New York Dolls |
| Website | Official website |
| Members |
Michael Monroe
Andy McCoy
Conny Bloom
Andy "A.C." Christell
George Atlagic |
| Former members |
Nasty Suicide
Stefan Piesnack
Nedo Soininen
Peki Sirola
Tumppi Varonen
Sami Yaffa
Gyp Casino
Razzle (deceased)
Terry Chimes
René Berg (deceased)
Timo Kaltio
Lacu
Timpa Laine
Costello Hautamäki
Stevie Klasson |
Hanoi Rocks was a
Finnish rock band formed in 1979, whose most successful period came in the early 1980s. The band broke up in 1985 after the death of their drummer,
Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley. Original members vocalist
Michael Monroe and guitarist
Andy McCoy came back together in 2001 and were active with the new line-up of Hanoi Rocks until 2009.
In the 80s Hanoi Rocks was the most successful Finnish band internationally and are still popular in the
United States,
Japan, and
England. They were also one of the first rock bands to tour in
Asia, and were the first western rock band to play in
Delhi. According to Finnish radio and TV personality
Jone Nikula (who was also Hanoi Rocks' tour manager in the 2000s), Hanoi Rocks' albums have sold around 780.000–1.000.000 copies around the world, but mostly in
Scandinavia and Japan. They are more known for their energetic live performances than for album sales though.
The band have been cited as pioneers of
hair metal.
[3]
[edit] History
[edit] Formation and early days (1979-1980)
Hanoi Rocks was formed in
Helsinki in 1979 by
Michael Monroe (Matti Fagerholm) and his friend, guitarist
Andy McCoy (Antti Hulkko). Although McCoy was the other forming-member, he didn't join the band right-away, because, at the time, he was the guitarist for the Finnish
punk band
Pelle Miljoona Oy. McCoy let Monroe form the band without him, but they agreed that McCoy would join later.
The original line-up of Hanoi Rocks consisted of Michael Monroe on vocals, former Pelle Miljoona Oy guitarist
Stefan Piesnack, Monroe's old friend guitarist
Nasty Suicide, bassist
Nedo Soininen and drummer
Peki Sirola. By 1980, Sirola was replaced by drummer
Tumppi Varonen.
The band toured Finnish clubs, playing McCoy and Monroe's own songs and covers like
Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore",
The Police's "Born in the 50's" and
MC5's "Looking at You". At one of the band's first shows was
Seppo Vesterinen, who had brought big name artists like
Iggy Pop and
Frank Zappa to Finland. Vesterinen soon became the band's manager after talking with McCoy and Monroe. In late 1980 Andy McCoy left Pelle Miljoona Oy to join Hanoi Rocks, and was later joined by another former Pelle Miljoona Oy member, bassist
Sam Yaffa. McCoy replaced Stefan Piesnack who had been arrested for
drugs, and Yaffa replaced Nedo. By then, Tummpi Varonen had left the band, and when the band relocated to
Stockholm, they hired an old friend of Monroe and McCoy's, drummer
Gyp Casino.
[edit] Stockholm, early recordings and London (1980–1981)
When the band moved to Stockholm, they lived mostly in the streets, begging for money, except Andy McCoy, who was living with his wealthy girlfriend. In November 1980, the band struck a deal with
Johanna Kustannus and released their debut-single, "
I Want You / Kill City Kills". "I Want You" was a new version by Andy McCoy of the Swedish song "Jag Vill Ha Dig" (means exactly "I want You" in Swedish, McCoy only translated the song into English and claimed it as his own). "Kill City Kills" was one of McCoy's oldest songs, which he had written when he was hanging around at a Finnish block called Kill City. Even though Gyp Casino was the band's drummer, he didn't play on the single, on the count that he was recording with another band in Stockholm.
In December 1980, the band played a show in Virrat, a small town in Finland. This show started a long 102-day tour in January 1981, which is apparently still the longest rock-tour in Finnish history. The tour developed the band's energetic and wild playing style, which people weren't too fond of at the time, but later the band has been praised for their playing style.
In February 1981, the band released their second single "
Tragedy / Café Avenue", which McCoy had written when he was 15–16 years old. In that same month the band released their debut album, titled
Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks, which was produced by Michael Monroe and Andy McCoy, who were known as "The Muddy Twins". The album was well-received, and climbed to number five on the Finnish album-charts.
In September 1981, the band moved to
London,
England, but before that, they continued touring in Finland and in Sweden. In London they started the recording process for their second album. On November 21, 1981, the band performed at the legendary
Marquee Club in London. In late November they returned to Finland and released the single "
Desperados / Devil Woman". In December they released another single, titled "
Dead By X-Mas / Nothing New".
[edit] Oriental Beat and Razzle joins (1982)
In January 1982, Hanoi Rocks made their first music videos at the
Lepakko (a place for independent youth culture) for the songs "Tragedy", "
Oriental Beat" and "Motorvatin'". In that same month the band released their second album
Oriental Beat. The album was mostly well received by critics and magazines, including
Sounds and
Kerrang!, whose
Dave Dickson since covered Hanoi Rocks' career in the 80's extensively. The band spent the spring of 1982 touring in Sweden, and also had their first Japanese breakthrough with "Tragedy". In May the single "
Love's An Injection / Taxi Driver" was released. In June 1982, the band permanently moved to London, but they still weren't very wealthy, and the dark side of the rock'n'roll lifestyle were hurting the band. Nasty Suicide's wild lifestyle was getting out of hand and was affecting his playing. At the same time Michael Monroe met a Hanoi Rocks-fan called
Razzle at a
Johnny Thunders show. Later Razzle found out that Monroe was the singer for Hanoi Rocks, and after seeing some shows, Razzle showed-up backstage and told them that he wanted to be their drummer. McCoy and Monroe soon fired Gyp Casino, whose drug use had gotten out of control, and he was also getting very depressed and suicidal. Razzle was hired as the new drummer.
In August 1982, Hanoi Rocks released their third studio album,
Self Destruction Blues in London. Even though Razzle was featured on the album's cover he didn't actually play on the album, because the album featured old singles like "Love's An Injection". The album was released in October in Finland, with "Love's An Injection" spending a week at number one on the Finnish singles-charts. The band also struck a deal with the
Japanese record-company
Nippon Phonogram.
The band has later said that without Razzle they probably would have broken-up, but when Razzle joined he revitalized the band.
[edit] Tour in Asia, Back to Mystery City and the deal with CBS (1983)
The year 1983 was a good year for Hanoi Rocks: They had broken through in England, mostly due to their second manager
Richard Bishop, their popularity in Japan was increasing, and they were close to a breakthrough in the
US.
By January 1983 the band was back on the road and were touring outside of England, Finland and
Sweden, including
Asia. The Asian-tour was largely covered by British magazines, and the band also got on the cover of
Sounds. The tour started in
Bombay, where the band actually started a riot. The tour continued in
Hong Kong and then in Japan. In Japan the band was very popular, with fans breaking into hotels too see the members of the band. The ticket prices for the show were as high as for stadium fillers. There were even phone-booths in
Tokyo that would play Hanoi Rocks-songs. The tour continued from Tokyo to
Vietnam.
In April the band returned to London for the recording of their fourth album, and on the first week of April, the band went to
Israel, where they weren't very well received. Monroe couldn't even leave the hotel because of his somewhat odd looks: Local people thought he was an improperly-dressed woman and would gather around him and even spit on him. Also, Nasty Suicide broke his ankle, and overall people didn't like the band's loud playing style. In late spring Hanoi Rocks toured in London and
Norway, and released a single before the new album, titled "
Malibu Beach / Rebel On The Run". The band's fourth album,
Back to Mystery City, was soon released an it reached number 87 on British album-charts. In England the albums and singles were released on the band's managers', Seppo Vesterinen and Richard Bishop's record label,
Lick Records, and in Finland on Johanna Kustannus. After the albums release, Hanoi Rocks toured in England and in Finland until June 1983, when the band made a deal with
CBS for 150 000 £.
[edit] Bob Ezrin and All Those Wasted Years (1983–1984)
In August 1983, Hanoi Rocks released the 7" single "
Until I Get You / Tragedy", an the 12" Maxi-Single "Until I Get You / Tragedy / Oriental Beat". On August 13, Lick Records released Hanoi Rocks' first three albums in Britain for the first time. The next day, the band played a show at the
Ruisrock festival in Turku, Finland. Before the show, Michael Monroe was interviewed for the Finnish television station YLE, where he stated that McCoy and Suicide's alcohol use had gotten out of hand. He also stated that he didn't drink or use drugs. In October 1983, legendary producer
Bob Ezrin flew from the US to see Hanoi Rocks live in London and in December he was confirmed as the producer for Hanoi Rocks' next album.
In September the preparations for Hanoi Rocks fifth album started. Songs that the band were working on included "Two Steps From The Move", "Never Get Enough" (an early version of "
Million Miles Away"), "I Can't Get It", "Bad Love" and "Teenage Revolution". The working title for the next record was
Silver Missiles and Nightingales, which was slated for February 16, 1984 release.
In November, Hanoi Rocks played their two famous shows at
The Marquee Club, the later of which was recorded as the bands first live album and video, titled
All Those Wasted Years.
[edit] Two Steps from the Move (1984)
Bob Ezrin has stated that he and the band "had a great time making the record", and that the band's "energy was relentless."
In late January 1984, Bob Ezrin and Andy McCoy flew to
Toronto to work on new songs. The rest of Hanoi Rocks flew to Toronto a few days later for the albums preproduction. While in Toronto, the band rehearsed a lot and worked on the songs. There was a tight schedule, so many of the sessions were grueling. Ezrin also got
Ian Hunter of
Mott the Hoople to help write some of the new songs. The actual recording-sessions started on February 20th, 1984 at
Record Plant in
New York, where the drums, bass and some of the guitars were recorded. The band flew back to Toronto to record the vocals and the rest of the guitars. Bob Ezrin also helped on a lot of the recording, including Razzle's drumming and Monroe's vocals. Ian Hunter had brought
Jack Bruce (formerly of
Cream), who had also brought
Pete Brown, to the recording-sessions. Pete Brown wrote a lot of lyrics, but the only one the band used was "
Smoked a lot of sky, drank a lot of rain" which is featured in "Million Miles Away".
By the end of April the new album was almost ready for release, but Ezrin and the label thought that the album was missing a hit, so they chose the band to cover the
Creedence Clearwater Revival song "
Up Around The Bend", which was already a favorite of Michael Monroe and Nasty Suicide.
In May 1984 Hanoi Rocks went on tour in Bombay and in Japan. In Japan, the Hanoi Rocks -hysteria had gone through the roof, with concert halls being sold-out and loyal fans following the band everywhere the whole tour. Even in Finland people were baffled by the Hanoi-hysteria in Japan.
The Japanese tour was followed by a tour across England and
Scotland. British magazines were raving about the band, and were sure that the next record would be their breakthrough. In June the single "Up Around The Bend / Until I Get You" was released, but it also appeared as an double-single and as an
EP. A music video for "Up Around The Bend" was also shot, at a hotel in England. At the time it was the most expensive music video for any Finnish band, and wasn't too cheap internationally either. After its release the single climbed to number 61 on British single charts and got radio-airplay in America too.
After touring in July in England, Hanoi Rocks' new album finally came out, now titled
Two Steps From The Move, which was changed from
Silver Missiles and Nightingales at the last minute. In September the single "
Underwater World / Shakes" was released. On October 8,
Two Steps From The Move was released in England, and right away the band went on a successful tour with Johnny Thunders.
In November the single "
Don't You Ever Leave Me / Oil And Gasoline" was released, by which time the new album had sold 200 000 copies; most of which were sold in America (60 000), Britain (50 000) and Finland (20 000). In the US the album sold 44 000 copies in its first two weeks. After a Swedish tour, the band headed out for their breakthrough US tour. The band toured the west coast until Michael Monroe fractured his ankle on November 29, which resulted in some of the tour dates being cancelled. On December 2 the band were celebrating Razzle's birthday, and were headed towards
Los Angeles, which Razzle was looking very much forward to. The Los Angeles shows were all sold-out in less than half-an-hour, and the audience included future
Guns N' Roses -members
Duff McKagan and
Slash.
[4] The breakthrough on the west coast seemed sure.
[edit] Razzle's death, Rock & Roll Divorce and break-up (1984–1985)
December 27, 1984 issue of
Kerrang!, featuring an obituary for Razzle, written by Dave Dickson.
On December 8, Hanoi Rocks band members (except Michael Monroe, who was recuperating from his fractured ankle) were partying with their friends
Mötley Crüe, at lead singer
Vince Neil's house. The party stopped when everybody noticed that they were out of beer. Vince Neil and Razzle, who were both drunk, drove to a nearby liquor store with Neil's new sports car. After buying more beer, the two headed back to Neil's, but on the way Neil crashed into another car. Razzle was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at the time of 7:12 pm. Razzle had died instantly in the collision with the other car.
Andy McCoy and Mötley Crüe's drummer
Tommy Lee went looking for Neil and Razzle. They drove by the crash site and saw Neil being handcuffed and being put into a police car. They were informed that Razzle had been taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. McCoy informed the band's manager Seppo Vesterinen, who then told the rest of the band.
The death of Razzle had a big impact on the band. The rest of the tour dates were cancelled, and the band retreated back to London. The only shows not cancelled were the Helsinki
Kulttuuritalo (Finnish for The House of Culture) show and the Europe A-Go-Go show, which was televised all over Europe, with around 200 million viewers watching. Both shows became memorials to Razzle, with "Million Miles Away" being dedicated to Razzle. Former
Clash -drummer
Terry Chimes played the drums.
In 1985, after the shows, Sam Yaffa left the group due to personal differences with Andy McCoy. McCoy was ready to continue with the band, but Monroe and Nasty Suicide weren't so sure. Yaffa was replaced by bassist
René Berg, who didn't get along with many of the members (especially Nasty Suicide). Terry Chimes was chosen as the new drummer. With the new members the magic wasn't there and Monroe was actually going to quit. The record label talked Monroe into doing a short tour in
Poland, where "Don't You Ever Leave Me" was going up the charts. Monroe agreed on the condition that no live record would be released, but a half-official live album was released. Entitled
Rock & Roll Divorce, the album was panned by the managers, band members and critics. René Berg was very arrogant, often stating that Hanoi Rocks was "his band", which led to him being fired, and he was shortly replaced by bassist
Timo Kaltio. This line-up never performed live, and on June 17, 1985 Monroe officially left Hanoi Rocks. This signaled the end of the band. At the same time, "Don't You Ever Leave Me" rose to number 6 on the Polish singles charts and Hanoi Rocks' popularity continued to the 1990s even though the band broke up.
[edit] Rebirth and new success (2001–2007)
In February 2001, Michael Monroe and Andy McCoy performed together for the first time since 1985. They performed three Hanoi Rocks songs: "Malibu Beach Nightmare", "Tragedy" and "Up Around the Bend" in
Turku, Finland. After that show, McCoy and Monroe toured again together in the summer of 2001, under the moniker "Hanoi Revisited".
The classic Hanoi Rocks line-up of the 2000s.
After the short tour, Monroe and McCoy started talking about if they should consider reforming Hanoi Rocks. Monroe was hesitant at first but eventually agreed to reform the band. This would be (as the two put it), a "rebirth", not a reformation of Hanoi Rocks, mainly because none of the other former members weren't able to join. Razzle was dead, Nasty Suicide had taken a complete overhaul and become a
pharmacist, Sam Yaffa was living in New York and was playing as the bassist for the
New York Dolls and Gyp Casino wasn't active in the band-circles anymore. "The Muddy Twins" chose Kari "
Lacu" Lahtinen from Monroe's solo band to play the drums,
Timpa Laine (who had also been in Monroe's solo band) to play the bass, and to play the rhythm guitar they chose
Costello Hautamäki from the Finnish rock band
Popeda.
The new Hanoi Rocks toured, the fans' reactions were mostly enthusiastic, and the rebirth of Hanoi Rocks also sparked news around the world. On the writing side, McCoy and Monroe made a deal that they would be equal writers on songs, and not just McCoy. By 2002, the two had written enough songs for an album, and Hanoi Rocks' comeback-album
Twelve Shots on the Rocks was released. The most popular songs were "In My Darkest Moment", "Obscured", "
People Like Me" and "
A Day Late, A Dollar Short". Music videos of the latter two were also made. Even though the album was a hit in Finland and Japan, Monroe and McCoy were not present when the album was mixed, and when they heard the finished product they were not too happy. The album was remixed in 2003 and it also featured two new songs, "Moonlite Dance" and "Bad News". Monroe and McCoy were much more happy with this version.
Most of 2003 and 2004 consisted of touring, but guitarist Costello had to leave Hanoi to work with his other band Popeda. Costello was shortly replaced by guitarist
Stevie Klasson, whose only recording with Hanoi Rocks was the "
Keep Our Fire Burning" single. Klasson was fired from Hanoi Rocks in the fall of 2004 for not getting along with other members. Bassist Timpa also left Hanoi because of family issues.
In 2004 the band (now consisting of Monroe, McCoy and Lacu) headed to the studio to record the album
Another Hostile Takeover. With no bassist and no guitarist, Monroe had to play some of the bass and guitar parts, but in early 2005 the band was able to find a new guitarist,
Conny Bloom. Bloom had played with Gyp Casino and the
Electric Boys and fit well to Hanoi Rocks. He suggested that bassist
Andy "A.C." Christell, who had also played with the Electric Boys, should join the band. Hanoi Rocks finally found a bassist again.
The reaction to
Another Hostile Takeover was mixed. Critics liked the albums diversity and braveness to try new things, but some of the old fans and hard rock fans thought that the album was weird and that Hanoi Rocks had changed too much since the 80s. The band's line-up, which now consisted of Monroe, McCoy, Conny Bloom, Andy Christell and Lacu, was the classic Hanoi line-up of the 2000s.
The years 2005 and 2006 the band spent touring in Europe and Asia, and the tours created a new generation of Hanoi Rocks fans.
In 2007 Hanoi started working on their third album of the new millennium,
Street Poetry. On
Street Poetry the band worked on some of the unfinished songs from the 80s, like "Teenage Revolution", which was first thought of in the
Two Steps from the Move sessions in 1984. This album also marked the first time that other band members besides Monroe and McCoy got to write songs.
Street Poetry was released on September 5, 2007 and a music video was shot for the first single, "
Fashion".
[edit] The final break-up (2008–2009)
On January 25th, 2008 Lacu suddenly announced that he would be leaving Hanoi Rocks to join Popeda. On March 20th, the band started their first acoustic tour, during which time the band's drum technician played drums. On May 25th, it was announced that the band's new drummer would be Swedish drummer George Atlagic. Monroe and McCoy hadn't written a song together since 2007, things with the band were getting stale and the two were distancing themselves from each other. Eventually Monroe and McCoy released a statement that they had taken the band as far as they could and that the band would break up.
In late 2008 an autobiography titled "All Those Wasted Years" was released. It mainly covered Hanoi Rocks' career in the 80s and included rare photos of the band and its members and new interviews with Monroe, McCoy, Nasty Suicide, Gyp Casino, Seppo Vesterinen, Richard Bishop and countless others.
Hanoi Rocks announced thath they would play 8 farewell shows in 6 days at the
Tavastia Club, in Helsinki. All the shows were sold-out, and the band's original guitarist Nasty Suicide appeared as a special guest on 3 of the last gigs, and Lacu also appeared at the final show.
The last show was released as a
DVD in late 2009, titled
Buried Alive.
[edit] Legacy
Although Hanoi Rocks never achieved huge commercial success, they have a very big
cult following and they have received critical acclaim for their musical style and energetic live performances. On January 5, 1985, Hanoi Rocks was featured in almost every category in a poll cast by
Sounds, including Best Album (5th), Best Band (2nd) and Best Live Act (3rd).
Hanoi Rocks' influence can be seen in various bands, including Guns N' Roses, and their glam look has been used by many bands, including Poison,
L.A. Guns and Ratt. Other bands like
Manic Street Preachers and the
Foo Fighters have admitted being Hanoi Rocks-fans.
[5] Alice in Chains also often played Hanoi Rocks' "Taxi Driver" live in their early days.
[6] Other Finnish rock groups that were influenced by Hanoi Rocks include
The 69 Eyes (with whom McCoy has also worked with) and
Negative. In Finland Hanoi Rocks is known as the
Finnish rock band who, at their time, had come closest to real international fame, only much later giving way to such groups as
HIM,
Nightwish,
Stratovarius, and
Children of Bodom.
Hanoi Rocks also brought the glam rock look of the 70s back into style. In 2003, when Nasty Suicide was asked about the bands look, he said that he and Michael Monroe decided to keep the punk
leather jackets but bring a kind of "
transvestite-vibe to it".
American TV Channel
VH1 named the top "hair bands" of all time, and Hanoi Rocks was at number 40. When Sam Yaffa was asked about it, he replied: "We were a hat band, not a hair band!".
[7]
Andy McCoy has said that the Guns N' Roses song "
Paradise City" is a compilation of a few riffs of Hanoi Rocks. He said the chorus is the same as the riff in "
Lost in the City", just slowed down. Nasty Suicide can also be seen in the music video for "Paradise City".
The Guns N' Roses song "
Right Next Door to Hell" was co-written by former Hanoi Rocks bassist Timo Kaltio.
Hanoi Rocks is mentioned by
Bret Michaels in the song "Human Zoo" from his album
A Letter from Death Row, which is also the soundtrack to the
film of the same name.
[8]
[edit] Band members
- Final line-up
- Michael Monroe - Lead vocals, saxophone, harmonica (1979–1985, 2001–2009)
- Andy McCoy - Lead guitar, keyboards, piano, backing vocals (1980–1985, 2001–2009)
- Conny Bloom - Guitar, backing vocals (2004–2009)
- Andy "A.C." Christell - Bass, backing vocals (2005–2009)
- George Atlagic - Drums, percussion (2008–2009)
|
- Former members
|
[edit] Timeline
[edit] Discography
[edit] Videography
[edit] References
- Christe, Ian (2003). Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. HarperCollins. ISBN 0380811278
- Macdonald, Bruno; Harrington, Jim. Dimery, Robert. ed. 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Quintet Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
[edit] External links