Which was a shame, as the album actually featured some great tunes. In fact, as early as 1985 bassist Sam Yaffa referred to the album in an interview as a ‘piece of shit’. Let me explain: it seemed that almost from its release the members of Hanoi Rocks, particularly McCoy and Monroe, were more than a tad disgruntled with the sound of the record. And here we are, just a shade over forty years later and we have something of a dream come true for the members of Hanoi Rocks – and their fans. In late 1981 the band travelled to London to record the now highly regarded follow up album Oriental Beat (originally released in 1982) at Advision Studios (home to Elton John, The Yardbirds, Yes and David Bowie among others). It has to be stated that Hanoi Rocks were somewhat ahead of their time in both the image and sound department, coming some years ahead of the glam movement that would soon make mega stars of bands like Guns ‘n’ Roses. Before too long ripples of interest began appearing internationally, beginning in the U.K., with that country’s Kerrang! magazine being an early champion of the band. By 1980 they had released their debut single, I Want You and were soon working on their debut album Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks which was then released only in their homeland of Finland in 1981. Not least of all, their second album: Oriental Beat.įormed by vocalist Michael Monroe and guitarist Andy McCoy in 1979, Hanoi Rocks appeared on the scene looking like a cross between early Japan and the New York Dolls, but with a sound that leaned closer to a more musically capable Dolls than the former. This has been at the expense of some seminal albums recorded during their original run. The well documented death in a car accident of their drummer Nicholas ‘Razzle’ Dingley perhaps being the most famous, alongside assorted drug issues, record company troubles and so on. Over the years Finnish rockers Hanoi Rocks have been remembered for, if not all, then some of the wrong reasons.
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