HANOI ROCKS
"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.
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.
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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.
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.
Street Poetry is here – spread the good word!
A new strong and confident album from Hanoi Rocks.
Sounding better than ever, Hanoi Rocks is now more than ready to rock the world. Besides the new great album STREET POETRY (fall 2007), 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!
STREET POETRY is great proof of what Hanoi Rocks' 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.
Spring 2008 brought an exciting change for Hanoi Rocks, when drummer Lacu decided to step aside. 200 drummers around the world applied to fill the big boots, and five of them were invited to the audition with the band. George Atlagic was one of them. Hailing from Sweden, George Atlagic (nicknamed ”Jolle” among friends) stood out not only for his talent, but also because of his personality and for being a kindred spirit with the band. Hanoi Rocks comment on the decision: ”Jolle is technically a very skillful drummer and his style is greatly in the vein of the former Hanoi Rocks drummers, Gyp Casino and Razzle. He also already looked like he was playing in a successful rockband.”
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 don't ever miss a chance to catch Hanoi Rocks live. You don't really see bands like Hanoi Rocks nowadays. The secret formula is made of experience, strenght, incredible amount of energy and original touch - so few have that all.