Frontman Michael Monroe went on to enjoy a successful solo career, but managed to put together a new version of the group in 2002. Hanoi Rocks made headlines in 1984 when their drummer, Razzle, was killed in a drunk driving accident during which Mötley Crüe’s Vince Neil was behind the wheel, and by 1985 the group had officially called it quits. Picking up where the New York Dolls left off, the band’s punk aesthetic rang through on their sneering 1981 debut, Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks, but 1983’s Back to the Mystery City saw the band adopt a punchier and more streamlined style that played well with the burgeoning pop-metal movement. While they never reached the commercial heights of their contemporaries, they built a loyal cult following both at home and abroad, and have been cited as highly influential to the mid-'80s glam-metal scene by bands like Guns N’ Roses, Poison, and Skid Row.
#Hanoi rocks until i get you tv
Although musically closer to traditional rock n' roll and punk, the band have been cited as a major influence in the glam metal genre for bands such as Guns N' Roses, Skid Row and Poison.Īccording to Finnish radio and TV personality Jone Nikula, who was the band’s tour manager in the 2000s, Hanoi Rocks’s albums have sold between 780,000 and 1,000,000 copies around the world, but mostly in Scandinavia and Japan.įinland’s major export to the world of heavy metal, Hanoi Rocks drew much of their sound and inspiration from ‘70s glam rock and were thought by some to have fused the two styles more successfully than similar acts such as Mötley Crüe. Original vocalist Michael Monroe and guitarist Andy McCoy reunited in 2001 with a new lineup that lasted until 2009.
The band broke up in June 1985 after the drummer Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley died in a car accident during their first US tour in December 1984. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. An excellent book (and again it must be pointed out how good it looks) that will be appreciated by any fan of the band or genre.Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979. Stiv Bators and Ian Hunter, punk and glam rock legends who had influenced the young Hanois, also enter the story in interesting ways. The story builds in momentum leading up to Hanoi’s swan song, Two Steps From The Move, and as this was such a crucial period for the band (with consequences they could not predict) much time is spent on the making of this album with producer Bob Ezrin. The book is a large testament to Razzle, who died tragically young in December 1984 as a result of Vince Neil’s drunk driving. Friends and co-workers relate how rock n roll excess was driving the young band apart, making them lose their sense of purpose, but all agree that Razzle reinvigorated the group and became the glue that kept them together. With copious quotes from UK music papers, Väntänen gives us a good look at the scene in 1982 London as Hanoi relocated there, and in the process took up, after much pestering, an enthusiastic drummer named Razzle’s offer to replace Gyp Casino. With the first line-up proper cemented, the group’s work ethic was admirable, playing 102 shows in 1981 then jumping into the beginning of the following year playing almost 50 gigs in 50 days. It was always Michael and (guitarist/main songwriter) Andy McCoy’s band - a fact emphasized in the nice and concise final chapter on Hanoi’s reformation in 2001 - but the two didn’t play together under the banner Hanoi Rocks until an Andy-less version of the moniker already had some gigs under its belt. Plenty of information is given on their beginnings, how the puzzle pieces were moved around until the glamorous picture finally fell into place. The story stretches the world over - from their childhoods in native Finland, through sleep-deprived homelessness on the streets of Stockholm, to wrecks in Tooting Bec, the Far East and the Holy Land, and onward to conquer America, at all times either over or under a tidal wave of drink and drugs.
Just a year or two ahead of their time, looking at the multitude of photos from all over the globe (and many from frontman Michael Monroe’s personal collection) it’s easy to see where a lot of the bands of the late 80s -Guns N’ Roses in particular - got their look. Ari Väntänen does an excellent job of relating how, while they were a tight unit on a mission, Hanoi were also six distinct personalities whose complex inner friendships and tensions made them so cohesive yet explosive. A big, beautiful book for a beautiful band who should’ve been bigger, All Those Wasted Years is the tale of how this determined gang of stylish rockers took on the world…and almost won.
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