Saturday
Oct172009
I'll Be Listening to Hanoi Rocks Today...
Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 12:20AM I have a massive chore list for today which involves cleaning, organizing and writing. It dawned on me the other day that I haven't listened to Hanoi Rocks in a long, long time. I decided to make a Hanoi play list to use during my work. Here's a few of the songs I'll be rocking out to while clearing out my junk room.
"Tragedy"
"Fashion"
"Up Around the Bend"
Reader Comments (14)
Here's something ironic...
If it weren't for Hanoi Rocks, there probably would be no Motley Crue. Vice-versa, had there been no Motley Crue, we might still have Hanoi Rocks. Let's not forget, it was Vince Neil who crashed his De Tomaso Pantera, killing Razzle from the original line-up of Hanoi Rocks (and permanently and severely injuring the other passengers) which ended HR at the height of their success and creativity.
I know Vince has long since made amends and I am a big fan of Motley Crue. I've seen the Crue 3 times, have all their stuff including, "Too Fast For Love", their first album, which I bought on 8 track the day it came out not knowing what the hell it was but because I liked the cover. I bought all Hanoi Rocks stuff for the same reason, just knowing it was gonna rock our frickin' socks off , them just being one of those bands you really could tell had the stuff just by lookin' at the album cover.
Imagine if none of the tragedy that struck this band didn't happen. All the great music they would have continued to make together and how it would have evolved. And probably a lot of us would have wound up seein' the original band, no doubt. RIP, Razzle, may you be drummin' for that super group up in Rock and Roll Heaven.
Heard Hanoi Rocks' "Tragedy" playing in a bar in New York during a recent trip, so the legend still lives on...
Sounds like a law firm in Heavy Metal Hell, hahaha!!!
And Metalboy! needs your advice and consent..
To all viewing and participating in the Bring Back Glam Posts out there, The Council of the Cauldron is now called to order (or chaos, depending on how you look at it)...
First off, let's thank Allyson for providing this ever excellent forum to discuss all things Metal, but particularly, Glam Metal, because that's the stuff you can actually listen to (Sorry, Bob)!
Allyson continues to come up with great subjects and Hanoi Rocks is such an incredible band to discuss.
Troy: This'll kinda kill ya (well, almost)...that 8 track of the Crue's "Too Fast For Love" I bought the day it came out...
That was also the day I left it in my friend's '67 Mustang (Don't get too excited about the vehicle, it was a semi-beater with a Maaco paint job). My friend didn't really like Crue when we popped it in his Coby 8 track player (that scares me that I can remember he had a "Coby"). He was more into Styx and REO Speedwagon at the time, though he did come around once Motley "refined" their sound, or rather Tom Werman refined it. I think at the time it came out TFFL was just too much, which is awesome.
It kinda has this rawness not unlike the Todd Rundgren produced New York Dolls epoymous release back in '72 (WTF?! Hey, even Rundgren was Glam [Rock] for 5 minutes -- check out his Midnight Special appearance doin' "Hello, It's Me" on YouTube!). Talk about ahead of their time! The New York Dolls wrote the book! Everybody copped Thunder's licks from Aerosmith (In my humble opinion, Aerosmith were actually Glam Metal until "Done With Mirrors" tanked, and then became a pop band with a few occasional moments of actually rockin' out) to The Pistols to Poison to Crue and back. Anyway, I remember seeing the Crue video for "Livewire" on NYC Public Access TV not too long after I got the TFFL 8 track and thinkin' WTH?! But I loved it! Anyway, I digress (as Al will tell you, this occurs quite frequently as is evident with all the parenthesis, etc.).
So, Troy, I left that TFFL 8 track in this dude's car and then he left it in there. I forgot to get it back and it melted! Argh! I still have all my AC/DC 8 tracks (among about 350 others including Motorhead,"The Ace of Spades"!), though. And I've got all the Hanoi Rocks albums on original vinyl, mostly as imports, too, since it really wasn't until "Two Steps From the Move" that Hanoi Rocks got a well distributed domestic release. That was their big break and we know what happened right after that.
Karl: Thanks for the tip on that Andy McCoy book, "Sheriff McCoy". I'm gonna read that next. Just finished "Exile on Main Street", the story of the Stones on the French Riviera when they wrote and began recording that album. Check it out! Hey, man, they were Glam (Rock), too! Check out their look in photos and promo vids from the late Sixties and well into the Seventies. And I think there are clips live from Paris in '76 on YouTube that show 'em just crankin' before Woody and Kief turned the amps down after the album "Some Girls" came out.
Back to McCoy...and his band after Hanoi disbanded, Shooting Gallery, that's a helluva record, er, CD. Can't wait to read his book.
Also, do you remember the name of that bar where they had "Tragedy" playin'? Any bar that's playin' stuff like that, I wanna go have a beer in! I should be headin' up there right before the Holidays.
Lucifer: Never thought I'd be sending a note to Lucifer! Yikes! A very wise and astute observation by you, my friend, to help me keep my Heavy Metal Hyperbole in check. You are so right! The fact is, we will never know what Hanoi Rocks would have brought us. Life's full of Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda! At least most of the surviving members of Hanoi Rocks carried on. Both McCoy's stuff and Monroe's stuff after HR rock on with very Glam Metallic (or Glam Rockin', if you prefer) results. Monroe's "Dead, Jail or Rock and Roll" is one of my anthems these days!
Boys, I throw it back to you and anyone else to continue this discussion. The Cauldron's just getting warmed up, right Lucifer? Hahaha!!!!!!!!! (Sorry, Al, I'll try to control myself a little better from here on in)...
Metalboy, if you were a woman, I may want to marry you. And yes, Dead, Jail, Rock n roll is an awesome song.
Hahaha!!!
Hey, BTW, your videos Allyson posted are great! You are quite the shredder. Are those some of your original songs? You guys should recruit a soprano from the church choir to sing with you guys, too! She or he could really do some serious shrieking call and response with you and your guitar!
I was thinkin' more about Hanoi Rocks today and I listened to Shooting Gallery's version of "Don't You Ever Leave Me" from a Powerballad playlist on my iTunes. They changed the title and the words a little to "Don't You Never Leave Me" on the album.
The more I thought about 'em and what I wrote yesterday, I realize it really was the combination of the Dolls and Hanoi Rocks more than anything that set the tone for all those future L.A. glamsters back in the 80's and early 90's.
Speaking of new albums by old bands still kickin'. If you like the latest one from Hanoi Rocks, you'd probably like the last couple of Dolls records. I had the privilege of seein' em a couple of years ago point blank at a small joint on Long Island, and they absolutely rocked out! It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen! They were jammin' out like they were the Glam Rock answer to the Allman Brothers or something. Wild!
Rock On, Brother and all you other Rockahs out there...
If there was someone in church who could sing, do you think I'd be doing it ? :P
I've got the original version of Cafe Avenue stuck in my head..kickass song.
And..while I love Motley (they were my first concert, first band I really got into, first hair metal band I heard), does anyone else think it's just a little tasteless of Vince to release his own line of tequila? O.o.
Marty E.