How many times have you (yes, you) said, “I don’t know where I would be without *enter band/person.* As a fanatic music dork and musician, I can apply this to many people/bands. I don’t know where I would be without my amazingly supportive wife. I don’t know where I would be without Twisted Sister, Ronnie James Dio, Iron Maiden, or the Grateful Dead. I don’t know where I would be without my best friends. I don’t know where I would be without them, but sometimes I find myself pondering on the question, “Where would we be WITH *insert band/person here.*
There are three bands in particular that I always wonder how the music world would have been affected if they stuck around and were given the opportunity to grow. California pop-rockers Jellyfish released two brilliant albums before disbanding in 1994. Seatle hard rock band Mother Love Bone parted ways in 1990 after the overdose of vocalist Andrew Wood and Finnish glam rockers Hanoi Rocks. There has been plenty of articles written and even fan pages created to ensure that their legacies carry on. But what about Hanoi Rocks? They seem to be a band that gets lost in the shuffle.
Hanoi Rocks was a glam rock band from Finland formed in 1979 and released five albums in the ‘80s. The debut album Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks was released in 1981 and was a massive album for the band in Europe and Asia. Hanoi Rocks had a look that was over the top and songs that were so dynamic and full of classic influences. Ranging from The Ramones to The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith, Hanoi Rocks had a sound all their own. Gritty, raw guitar playing, a rhythm section that kept time like a clock, and a vocalist who was a perfect frontman in every sense of the world. He looked amazing, he had an electrifying stage presence, and he could play the fuck out of a saxophone.
In 1982 the band recruited British-born drummer Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley, and this addition seemed to be the thing that completed Hanoi Rocks. Razzle’s energetic stage presence and tight, in-the-pocket drumming took Hanoi Rocks to a new level. Live, this lineup of Hanoi Rocks packed sweaty, stinky armpit venues all over Europe and in December of 1983 recorded a live show at the Marquee in London for the live album All Those Wasted Years… Live. All Those Wasted Years offered a taste of a Hanoi Rocks live show’s energy and fun, and slowly but steady, Hanoi Rocks started to become known in the US.
On November 14th, 1984, Hanoi Rocks set out on what was scheduled to be a 28 date tour of the USA. It was to begin in Buffalo, New York, and end in San Francisco on December 16th. This was their first major tour in the United States, and it was hoped it would be the breakthrough into the American market for the band. It turned out to be a disaster. Mike fractured his ankle onstage in Syracuse. The tour was cut short at Cleveland so that he could receive treatment for the ankle. The band re-routed to Los Angeles, Where tragically, Razzle was killed in a car accident in Redondo Beach, California. The band called it a day a few months later, unable to cope with the loss of Razzle.
Hanoi Rocks did a couple of shows with a fill-in drummer, but the band couldn’t get over their friend’s loss. Razzle was the comic relief and the peacekeeper in the band. No matter how much tension was there between the members, Razzle was there to lighten the mood and get everyone back into a good place. That is a challenging role to play, but Razzle did it well, and he didn’t mind. He loved being in Hanoi Rocks as much if not more than the others, and it showed in his demeanor and performances. Hanoi Rocks found it too hard to continue without Razzle, so in 1985, they officially disbanded.
Even though Hanoi Rocks never got the chance to invade US soil fully, they left a huge, lasting influence on many bands, especially in LA and Hollywood. Hanoi Rocks’ stylistic and musical influence on LA’s glam metal scene can be seen and heard in bands such as Motley Crue, Ratt, Guns N’ Roses, Poison, and Faster Pussycat to name a few. If you could plagiarize a look, Faster Pussycat and Guns N’ Roses would be guilty on all charges. Early photos of Guns N’ Roses mirror Hanoi Rocks to a “T,” and Guns N’ Roses vocalist Axl Rose even stated that the title of their hit “Welcome to the Jungle” was taken from the Hanoi Rocks song “Underwater World.” In the chorus, Michael Monroe sings: “Welcome to the ocean. Welcome to the sea. Welcome to the jungle. Deep inside of me.”
Many of the above-listed bands impacted the music scene, experienced international success, released platinum albums, and played 10-20,000 seat arenas. Guns N’ Roses even went on to be one of the world’s biggest bands playing and selling out stadiums worldwide. When I reflect on this, I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Hanoi Rocks had managed to keep the fire burning.
In my mind, I can’t help but believe that Hanoi Rocks very well could have been every bit as big as Poison and Ratt. I could have seen Hanoi Rocks opening for bands such as Motley Crue and even Guns N’ Roses and shot into the mainstream eye. Hell, maybe they would’ve even been one of those more prominent arena bands. Hanoi Rocks had the songs, the attitude, and the destructive (and self-destructive) tendencies that make bands legends.
After the band’s split, a couple of shows were played for a live TV broadcast which was the only two shows not canceled. The performances were billed as a tribute to Razzle. Shortly after, bassist Sami Yaffa left the band because of differences with guitarist/songwriter Andy McCoy. I’m sure that is safe words for “Sami fucking hated Andy,” but I’ll digress. The band tried to move on but eventually disbanded. Lead singer Michael Monroe emerged in 1987 with his debut album Nights Are So Long and in 1989 had a breakthrough album with Not Fakin’ It.
Not Fakin’ It spawned three songs that drew in a whole new generation of hard rock fans, “Dead, Jail, or Rock N’ Roll,” “The Man With No Eyes,” and “All Night With the Lights On.” This brought Hanoi Rocks back to the surface, and many music fans who had never heard Hanoi were treated to some of the best music they never heard. Monroe did one US tour but experienced much more success in Europe and Asia, where Hanoi Rocks was already a household name. Monroe played to packed clubs in the states, but in Europe, he performed in arenas to thousands and at huge festivals. After Not Fakin’ It, that was pretty much the last we saw of Michael Monroe in the states.
It’s a shame, but at the same time, I am thankful that I was made aware of Hanoi Rocks in the aftermath of the tragic death of drummer Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley. I had never even heard of Hanoi Rocks, but I had to check them out after reading this sad news. I headed out to the record store and picked up a copy of their most recent and last album, Two Steps From the Move. I played the living fuck out of that album, but I wanted more. In 1989, Guns N’ Roses was on top of the world at this point and was one of the biggest bands on the planet. Regardless of what a monster ass Axl Rose can be, he and the band did a great thing to bring Hanoi Rocks’ music to a new wave of fans. Using their own Uzi Suicide label, Guns N’ Roses re-released the Hanoi Rocks catalog on CD for the first time and colored vinyl. This move allowed North American Hanoi Rocks fans to own their music and not pay an arm and a leg for imports. As far as I can remember, the only one I could find here in the States before this was Two Steps From the Move.
In February 2001, Monroe and McCoy performed together for the first time since 1985 in Turku, Finland. They toured again in the summer of 2001, under the moniker “Hanoi Revisited.” After the short tour, Monroe and McCoy 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 members were able to join: Razzle was dead; Nasty Suicide had become a pharmacist; Sami Yaffa was a member of a New York-based group called Mad Juana and the bassist for the New York Dolls, and original Hanoi drummer Gyp Casino was no longer active in music. “The Muddy Twins” chose Kari “Lacu” Lahtinen from Monroe’s solo band to play the drums, Timpa Laine (also from Monroe’s solo band) to play the bass, and Costello Hautamäki from the Finnish rock band Popeda to play guitar.
Hanoi Rocks released three albums in this reborn era, Twelve Shots on the Rocks, Another Hostile Takeover, and Street Poetry. This would also mark the first time where the songs were collaborations between Michael Monroe and Andy McCoy. The new releases were welcomed with open arms and were met with critical acclaim from both fans and critics. Hanoi Rocks announced that they would play eight farewell shows over six 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 in three of the last gigs. The last show was released as a DVD in late 2009, titled Buried Alive.
Hanoi Rocks was a one-of-a-kind band. Much like the bands that inspired them, Hanoi Rocks broke the rules and didn’t give a fuck. They weren’t concerned with the music industry, and they didn’t care about what people thought of them. Hanoi Rocks wanted to make the best music they could. They wanted to make music for the fans of gritty, dirty, streetwise Rock N’ Roll, and they succeeded. Would they have been huge? Who knows? At times, in my mind, Hanoi Rocks could’ve been huge, bigger than Guns N’ Roses. They had the look, and they had the songs, but would they have been a band that would be comfortable with the larger-than-life stage shows? The over-the-top theatrics? The smoke and mirrors?
Would Hanoi Rocks have been like the Ramones, a band who influenced so many bands that went on to be huge while remaining a small venue kind of band? Honestly, I would like to think that Hanoi Rocks would be more like the Ramones; a band that has inspired countless bands but continued being a band that I could connect with; a band I could touch; a band I could be pressed up against the front of some armpit club’s stage screaming for them to play “Stop Cryin’” just so I could yell, “Blow Your Horn, Mike” right before his sax solo.
Hanoi Rocks are both a memory and a dream for me. Their music continues to be a big part of my life, and I still proudly sport a Hanoi Rocks t-shirt. I have even been honored to have Michael Monroe on my podcast to discuss his current music and Hanoi Rocks’ legacy and he was every bit as humble and kind as I thought he would be. Monroe is still putting out music to this day and even is joined by former Hanoi Rocks bassist Sami Yaffa and occasionally former guitarist Nasty Suicide. Hanoi Rocks is a band that I will always regret being gone long before I even had the opportunity to see live, but again, I have the music, and it’s timeless.
Pulling out the debut Hanoi Rocks album and putting the needle down onto the opening track, “Tragedy,” makes me happy and makes me feel like the band is playing right there in my basement. Hanoi Rocks connects with me on such a level that I feel as if they are playing for me, not to me or at me. Hanoi Rocks may be gone, but the music will live on forever. Do yourself a favor and listen to this band. You may hate it, you may be indifferent to it, but you may also discover your new favorite band.
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