Hanoi Rocks

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).

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, garage rock, glam 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.

The group is sometimes mistaken as glam metal, largely due to their image, which many of the American acts in the 1980s would imitate. Musically however, Hanoi Rocks are not part of that movement nor were they influenced by heavy metal.

Although the band never gained significant commercial success, they have a considerable cult following and critical acclaim for their ‘sleazy’ yet melodic style of music. They have been cited as an influence by major bands such as Guns N’Roses and Manic Street Preachers. The re-release of Hanoi Rocks’ albums on CD was in large part due to efforts by Guns N’ Roses via their own record label UZI Suicide.