Hanoi Rocks are a Finnish band formed in 1979, “The rock band that changed the course of rock.” That’s something very few bands can claim to their name. Maybe Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath… and of course, Hanoi Rocks. whose most successful period came in the early 1980s. The band broke up in 1985 due largely to the death of their drummer. The vocalist Michael Monroe and guitarist Andy McCoy from the original line-up came back together in 2002; musically the band is influenced by artists such as the New York Dolls, The Stooges and The Rolling Stones. Their music fuses elements of blues, punk, rock, as well as the original rock ‘n’ roll of Chuck Berry and Little Richard. Lyrical themes revolve around the topics of love and its trials and tribulations, and suburban alienation.

Early days and main career (1979-1985)

Hanoi Rocks was formed in Helsinki in 1979 and the first line-up included vocalist and saxophone player Michael Monroe (Matti Fagerholm), guitar player Nasty Suicide (Jan Stenfors), guitar player Stefan Piesnack, bass player Nedo and drummer Peki Sirola. The following year Piesnack, Sirola and Nedo were replaced by guitar player Andy McCoy (Antti Hulkko), bass player Sam Yaffa (Sami Takamäki) and drummer Gyp Casino (Jesper Sporre). In 1981 they moved to Stockholm and in 1982 to London to take advantage of the livelier music scene in these cities. Later that year Casino was fired and replaced by Razzle (Nicholas Dingley).

Back in 1980, when the band took its early steps in Finland and Sweden, they already were something else. Loud and proud, flamboyant and full of attitude, they quickly gained fame outside of Scandinavia, first in the UK, then in Asia, continental Europe and finally in the US.

Hanoi Rocks played anytime, anyplace and with anybody daring enough to share the stage with them and built their following a bit more, gig by gig. Alongside their gruelling live schedule they managed to record five albums and with each release gained new ground until the final breakthrough was looming ahead.

Hanoi Rocks had just released their major label debut on CBS, the now legendary “Two Steps From The Move”, and were in L.A. to tour the US for real for the first time. Already having a following in the United States, Hanoi Rocks had gained momentum of such scale that a breakthrough as a result of not more than a year of touring was imminent. But then tragedy struck the band: Razzle, the drummer was killed in a car crash in California on December 9th 1984.

The death of a friend was a devastating blow to the band and it never recovered. The rest of the US tour was cancelled and consequently the bass player Sam Yaffa quit the band. Eventually early 1985 Hanoi Rocks threw in the the towel and disbanded. The fruits of their labour were to be picked by bands heavily influenced by Hanoi Rocks, both musically and visually, like Guns ‘n’ Roses for example.

The years that followed saw the ex-members of Hanoi Rocks launching solo careers and new bands and it seemed like it was all over as far as Hanoi Rocks was concerned. And so thought the guys themselves. Until things changed with the Millennium.

Reunion (2002-present)

In 2002 Monroe and McCoy reformed the band, with two members of the Electric Boys, and a drummer who had previously featured in Monroe’s solo project. They have released three new albums and toured heavily since then in Europe and Japan. Having not really been in any contact with each other for some time, the founding members Andy and Michael met at a release party for a Hanoi Rocks 4-cd box set in early spring 2001. After having fun that night, jamming at a club together, the two started keeping in contact again and eventually ended up playing a couple of festival gigs together under the moniker Hanoi Revisited. Since the summer shows were fun and the old energy was back, the pair booked some studio time and tried their hand at writing together after an over 15 year break. From the word go it was obvious the magic was still there. The stuff they’d recorded was too good not to be released and after a lot of pondering and since any other moniker under which to release it would have been pretentious and just plain stupid, the EP “People Like Me” was released by Hanoi Rocks. The legend was reborn.

After the EP, Hanoi Rocks released “12 Shots On The Rocks” an album which went gold in their native Finland and opened a lot of doors all over the world. After having undergone some changes in their personnel, Hanoi Rocks in the spring 2005 not only presented a new album “Another Hostile Takeover” but also the new guitarist Conny Bloom and the new bass player Andy “A.C.” Christell. Along with the drummer Lacu the band’s chemistry had now finally locked perfectly into place.

To promote the release of the new record in Finland the band made a special historical live appearance on Friday, April 15th, 2005 in the middle of Helsinki City during rush hour, stopping all traffic and jam-packing the City center with about 15 000 people.

Since then the band has toured extensively in Europe and Japan and have definitely tightened up into one of the hardest rockin’ live bands on the planet. Eventually they’ll head for the States in order to “finish what was started” back in 1984.

Sounding better than ever, Hanoi Rocks is more than ready to rock the world in 2007. Besides the new great album STREET POETRY, Hanoi Rocks’ jaw-dropping, breath-taking live shows are more and more beyond any comparison – this is what true rock’n’roll sounds and looks like! Still, you don’t really see bands like Hanoi Rocks nowadays. The secret formula is made of experience, talent, attitude, incredible amount of energy and original touch – so few have it all.

STREET POETRY is great proof of what Hanoi Rocks’ steady three-year-old lineup is capable of right now. The recognizable sound of the most legendary Finnish band ever is present throughout the record. The positive vibe of the songs reveal a lot about the attitude and determination Hanoi Rocks possess. The quality of the compositions and the production are in the level which can only be reached by a rock group as grand as
Hanoi Rocks. Street Poetry includes thirteen new rock’n’roll masterpieces, each of them blessed with the Hanoi Rocks magic touch.

The single “Fashion”, released in May 2007, went straight to #1 in the Finnish singles chart. So if you are even slightly into what real Rock’n’Roll is all about, do yourself a favour and get yourself a copy of STREET POETRY and do not miss a chance to catch Hanoi Rocks live.

2nd breakup (2008)

Hanoi Rocks announced on 21st of October 2008 that the band will break up. The band will play all planned the concerts, the last one of them being Japan, in March 2009. Monroe and McCoy agreed that they had “taken the band and music style as far as possible”, and decided to end the band. The band have released eight studio albums throughout their career and sold approximately 10 million records worldwide.

Michael Monroe - voc., sax.
Andy McCoy - gtr.
Conny Bloom - gtr.
Andy “A.C.” Christell - bass gtr.
George “Jolle” Atlagic – drums

Nasty Suicide works as a pharmacist Sami Yaffa did play in a band called Mad Juana with his wife, Karmen Guy, and is based in New York City. Yaffa is currently touring and recording with the reformed New York Dolls. Suicide and Yaffa have appeared onstage with the reformed Hanoi although not at the same time.

www.hanoirocks.info

Myspace: www.myspace.com/hanoirocksofficial

Record Label in Europe: Demolition Records
www.demolitionrecords.com

Record Label in Finland Backstage Alliance
www.backstagealliance.com

Record Label in JapanVictor Entertainment
www.jvcmusic.co.jp / www.jvcmusic.co.jp/hanoirocks