Hanoi Rocks biography
Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979, whose most successful period came in the early 1980s. The band broke up in 1985 after their drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a car accident. Original members vocalist Michael Monroe and guitarist Andy McCoy reunited in 2001 and were active with the new line-up of Hanoi Rocks until 2009.
In the 80s, Hanoi Rocks were the most successful Finnish band internationally and are still popular in the United States, Japan, and the UK. They were also one of the first rock bands to tour in Asia, and were the first western rock band to play in Delhi. According to Finnish radio and TV personality Jone Nikula (who was also Hanoi Rocks' tour manager in the 2000s), Hanoi Rocks' albums have sold between 780,000 and 1,000,000 copies around the world, but mostly in Scandinavia and Japan. Although their album sales are strong, they are more widely known for their energetic live performances.
History
Formation and early days (1979-1980)
Hanoi Rocks was formed in Helsinki in 1980 by Michael Monroe (Matti Fagerholm) and his friend, guitarist Andy McCoy (Antti Hulkko). Although McCoy was the other forming member, he didn't join the band right away, because, at the time, he was the guitarist for the Finnish punk band Pelle Miljoona Oy. McCoy let Monroe form the band without him, but they agreed that McCoy would join later.
The original line-up of Hanoi Rocks consisted of Michael Monroe on vocals, former Pelle Miljoona Oy guitarist Stefan Piesnack, Monroe's old friend guitarist Nasty Suicide, bassist Nedo Soininen and drummer Peki Sirola.
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 50's" 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 talking 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 Sam Yaffa. McCoy replaced Stefan Piesnack who had been arrested for drugs, and Yaffa replaced Nedo. By then Peki had left the band, and when the band relocated to Stockholm, they hired an old friend of Monroe and McCoy's, drummer Gyp Casino.
Stockholm, early recordings and London (1980–1981)
When the band moved to Stockholm, they lived mostly in the streets, begging for money, except Andy McCoy, who was living with his wealthy girlfriend. In November 1980, the band struck a deal with Johanna Kustannus and released their debut single, "I Want You / Kill City Kills". "I Want You" was a new version by Andy McCoy of the Swedish song "Jag vill ha dig" (means exactly "I want You" in Swedish, McCoy only translated the song 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 block called Kill City. Even though Gyp Casino was the band's drummer, he didn't play on the single, on the count that he was recording with another band in Stockholm.
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