Fallen Star Tragedy Underwater World Hanoi Rocks

Fallen Star Album: Oriental Beat (1982)
Tragedy Album: Album: Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks (1981)
Underwater World Album: Two Steps from the Move (1984)
Hanoi Rocks

Hanoi Rocks were a Finnish rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they 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 however 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. Although musically closer to traditional rock n' roll and punk, 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.

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 an agreement that McCoy would join later.

The original line-up of Hanoi Rocks was Michael Monroe on vocals, former Pelle Miljoona Oy guitarist Stefan Piesnack, Monroe's guitarist Nasty Suicide, bassist Nedo Soininen, and drummer Peki Sirola.[8]

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.

Oriental Beat is the second studio album recorded in London and released in 1982. Oriental Beat also opened markets in the UK and Japan, where Hanoi eventually became very popular. "Falling Star" is from Side One, the last song... the eleventh. So that's One Eleven... me and numbers.

The artwork for Oriental Beat features the band covered in paint behind a glass panel with blue and red paint-pressed hand marks on it. The artwork was originally supposed to feature guitarist Andy McCoy's girlfriend's naked breasts painted blue and red with the legend "Hanoi Roxx" written across it. This was changed due to Castle Records' view that some record shops may refuse to stock the album due to the graphic nature of the cover. The record company was also worried that potential customers may get confused by the alternate spelling of the band's name. The original cover was used as the album's back cover.

Over the years, Hanoi Rocks members have stated their dissatisfaction with the mixing of Oriental Beat. The original multitrack recordings of the album were found in 2020 after being lost for over 30 years and a newly mixed version, labeled Oriental Beat - 40th Anniversary Re(al)mix was released on March 17, 2023. The new version peaked at #2 on the Finnish Albums Chart and #1 on the Finnish Physical Albums Chart.

Even though Oriental Beat is considered a Hanoi classic, many of the band members have called the album a failure. Michael Monroe has called the album great, but blamed the producer, Pete Wooliscroft, of ruining the album's sound with all-around bad producing and mixing, claiming that Wooliscroft had mixed the album while Hanoi Rocks was on tour, didn't know what Hanoi Rocks was about, and had mixed it without understanding the band's aesthetic. Sami Yaffa called the album "a piece of shit" in a 1985 interview. Even with these comments, the album was voted the 91st best rock album in the "100 Greatest Rock Albums" poll by the Finnish radio station Radio Rock. Oriental Beat beat out such albums as Kiss' Lick It Up and The Doors' Morrison Hotel.

The song "Fallen Star" features in the episode titled "Monkey Dory" of the 2022 TV-series Peacemaker.

"Tragedy" is a single from the album Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks, but "Tragedy" was released a little before the release of the album. "Tragedy" and its B-side, "Café Avenue", are the most well-known songs from Hanoi Rocks's early career.

"Tragedy" was written by the band's guitarist Andy McCoy when he was 15 or 16. The lyrics basically deal with a typical teen story of a first love and how one imagines it will last forever. At some point it all collapses and it feels that the world is breaking. The result is a "tragedy" and tears. The song is very energetic and has a fast tempo. It is also melodic, even though the guitar parts are a punk style.

"Tragedy" was recorded at Park Studios outside Stockholm at the Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks recordings.

Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks was recorded in January 1981, between Hanoi Rocks' club shows. While the album was produced by Andy McCoy and Michael Monroe under the name "The Muddy Twins" (inspired by "The Glimmer Twins"), the album was recorded by Swedish Seppo Johansson, who worked at the studio. While the album received positive reviews, Andy McCoy later complained that Johansson had ruined many of the songs. Michael Monroe lamented that he could not listen to his own vocals, which he considered underdeveloped.

The album was originally going to be titled Some Like It Hot or Some Like It Cut, but Jim Pembroke suggested the name Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks, which the band ultimately chose.

The biggest hit of the album was "Tragedy".

Two Steps from the Move is the fifth studio album released in 1984. This is their last album to feature drummer Razzle, before he was killed in a car accident on 8 December 1984. It is also their final album to be released before their break-up in 1985.

Before this album, all of Hanoi Rocks' albums were released on Lick Records and Johanna Kustannus, but Two Steps from the Move was the band's first album on a major label, CBS. Originally the album was supposed to be called Silver Missiles And Nightingales, but the name was changed at the last minute. Andy McCoy and Nasty Suicide later used the name as the name of their album, when they worked under the moniker "The Suicide Twins".

The album's producer, Bob Ezrin had previously worked with big-name artists like Pink Floyd, Kiss and Alice Cooper, which was one of the main reasons Hanoi Rocks' wanted him to produce the album. Ezrin wanted the album to have a heavier atmosphere and darker guitar playing than the band's previous efforts, still keeping it melodic and punky, and he also worked on the writing of almost every song on the album. Ezrin knew that a more hard rock-style would sell more units in the United States.

The album also features some of Hanoi Rocks' biggest hits, including "Underwater World" featured here.

While touring to promote the album, Hanoi Rocks rose to fame in Japan even more and had two sold-out concerts in New York City. Following drummer Razzle's death, the group canceled their concert dates and eventually broke up, while on the verge of an international breakthrough.

The line "Welcome to the Jungle" featured in the song "Underwater World" arguably inspired the long time Hanoi Rocks-admirer Axl Rose to write the eponymous song for Guns N' Roses, due to its similar tone and similar use of fifths (power chords).

Andy McCoy's comments on the song "Underwater World" from a 1984 issue of Suosikki.
"What could I say about it? It's a cool song, it swings. I don't want to say anything about the lyrics. Everybody can have their own interpretation."

"Underwater World" was released as a single and as an EP in August 1984 in Finland and in November in the UK.

"Underwater World" was chosen as the "Single of the Week" in the September 8, 1984 issue of the UK's Sounds magazine, ahead of songs like "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2, Heaven's on Fire by Kiss and Smooth Operator by Sade.

The song was recorded with the rest of the album at the Record Plant in New York City and finished at the Phase One studio in Toronto, Ontario. Later the band Guns N' Roses took the title of their hit song, "Welcome to the Jungle" from "Underwater World's" chorus where Michael Monroe sings: "Welcome to the ocean. Welcome to the sea. Welcome to the jungle. Deep inside of me.".

Hanoi Rocks
Michael Monroe – vocals, saxophone, harmonica
Andy McCoy – guitar, backing vocals
Nasty Suicide – guitars, backing vocals
Sam Yaffa – bass
Gyp Casino – drums