哈诺伊摇滚乐团

Hanoi Rocks were a Finnish rock band formed in Helsinki in 1979 by singer and multi-instrumentalist Michael Monroe (Matti Fagerholm). They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and were also popular in Japan. By 1984, the band was considered to be on the verge of an international breakthrough when they released their first major label album for CBS and headed for their first US tour. The tour was cut short when their drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a drunk driving incident with Vince Neil behind the wheel in December 1984. The band never recovered from the loss and announced their split in June 1985.

After their initial break-up, lead singer Michael Monroe became the first Finnish artist to chart on the American Billboard 200 in 1989. Monroe and original lead guitarist Andy McCoy reunited in 2001 with a new lineup that lasted until 2009, releasing three studio albums during this period. Although musically closer to traditional rock and roll and punk rock, Hanoi Rocks has been cited as a major influence in the glam metal genre for bands such as Guns N' Roses, Skid Row and Poison.

According 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, mostly in Scandinavia and Japan.

The original line-up (Michael Monroe, Andy McCoy, Nasty Suicide, Sami Yaffa and Gyp Casino) reunited at Monroe's 60th birthday concert on 23 September 2022 at the Helsinki Ice Hall.

In 2020, Jeff Mezydlo of Yardbarker included them in his list of "the 20 greatest hair metal bands of all time". In 2023, the band released a 40th-anniversary re(al)mix edition of their 1982 album Oriental Beat, remixed by Petri Majuri. In late 2024, Monroe and Yaffa announced four European shows to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Two Steps from the Move (1984), performing the album in its entirety.

History

Formation and early days (1979–1980)

Hanoi Rocks were formed in Helsinki in 1979 by Michael Monroe (Matti Fagerholm) and his friend, guitarist Andy McCoy (Antti Hulkko). McCoy did not join the band immediately, because he was the guitarist for the Finnish punk band Pelle Miljoona Oy. McCoy allowed Monroe to form the band with the agreement that McCoy would join the band later.

The original line-up of Hanoi Rocks was Monroe on vocals, former Pelle Miljoona Oy guitarist Stefan Piesnack, Monroe's guitarist Nasty Suicide, bassist Nedo Soininen, and Peki Sirola on drums.

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 50s" 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 speaking 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 Sami Yaffa. McCoy replaced Stefan Piesnack, who had been arrested for drug possession, and Yaffa replaced Nedo. By then Peki had left the band, and when they relocated to Stockholm, they hired an old friend of Monroe and McCoy's, drummer Gyp Casino formerly of Warheads.

Stockholm, early recordings and London (1980–1981)

When they moved to Stockholm, the bandmembers lived mostly on the street, begging for money, except Andy McCoy, who lived with his wealthy girlfriend. In November 1980, the band struck a deal with Johanna Kustannus and released its debut single, "I Want You / Kill City Kills". "I Want You" was a new version of the Swedish song "Vill ha dej" by Heartbreak. McCoy had translated the song, whose title means "I Want You" in Swedish, 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 apartment block called Kill City. Gyp Casino was the band's drummer but did not play on the single as he was recording with another band in Stockholm.

The band launched a 102-day tour in January 1981, which is believed to be the longest rock tour in Finnish history. The tour developed the band's energetic and wild playing style, which audiences were slow to find pleasing but later praised the band for.

The second single "Tragedy / Café Avenue", written by McCoy when he was fifteen or sixteen years old, was released in February 1981. That same month, the band released its debut album, Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks, produced by Michael Monroe and Andy McCoy, calling themselves "The Muddy Twins". The album was well-received, reaching number five on the Finnish album charts.

In September 1981, after extensive tours in Sweden and Finland, the band moved to London, where they recorded their second album. On 19 September 1981, the band made their debut at the Marquee Club in London. In late November they returned to Finland and released the single "Desperados / Devil Woman". Another single, "Dead by X-Mas / Nothing New", was released in December.