hanoi rocks bangkok shocks saigon shakes

Unfortunately another timid production means that while again there is good stuff on this record, there is also a hollow drum sound and a general lack of guts to the guitars. During this time they had played with the UK Subs and had thus endeared themselves to the UK Punk scene of the time even though they were completely out of kilter with those sort of bands. Hanoi Rocks were nothing if not hyperactive and after a 102 date tour(!) the band set about recording the follow up “Oriental Beat” in London (this LP would get a much wider release than the debut). just about manages to overcome its audio limitations to reveal a varied and fleetingly exciting concoction. Hanoi even come across like a Punk version of the Searchers on Don’t Ever Leave Me! Overall Bangkok Shocks…. They crib a little from the Clash on the anthemic 11th Street Kids and breakthrough single Tragedy uses some unusual high backing vocals to good effect. Lost In The City, with its Bluesy harmonica opening, most closely follows the NYDs, but the tune itself is a convincing dynamic rocker. The blurred cover photo of the band in live action perfectly purveys the image the band were striving for of reckless Rockin’ mayhem which this record, partly at least, fails to deliver. The Dolls were the obvious template for Hanoi Rocks to begin with but they were not really impersonators, they looked to adapt the NYD’s sleazy rock sound for a new decade of debauchery and in turn bringing some Punk noise into the Hard Rock arena. Paraphrasing the words of the old Kraut song they had “to look backwards to go onwards”. This did help to set them apart from virtually any other outfit of the time. Setting aside all these sonic issues, this album does show a band developing a Pop sensibility, confident enough in their ability to be able to dabble in Glam Rock, Punk and straightforward Pop Rock.

Though the lyrics were not in the band’s mother tongue, they too could bear some criticism and this would remain a problematic area for the band throughout their existence. McCoy apparently still disapproves of the sound achieved by Johansson (and yes I have noticed the irony of someone called Johansson (sic) putting the skids under Hanoi Rocks career!) whilst Monroe hated his vocals at this point in time. Their combined efforts unfortunately yielded slightly tinny results. It does struggle to harness the band’s live power through the somewhat iffy production, with a studio hand Seppo Johansson putting his oar in as well as McCoy and Monroe under the pseudonym The Muddy Twins (which was their homage to the Stones The Glimmer Twins, not the only one in the Rocks’ oeuvre either). Though more than a little brittle sounding at times, “Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks” (and try saying that ten times quickly) is a fairly decent debut LP and has some enjoyable moments.

They quickly made a name for themselves in their adopted homeland and as their first LP hit the racks they were beginning to make ripples elsewhere in Europe too. A move to the Swedish capital of Stockholm set them off blazing a trail all over Scandinavia via a gruelling tour schedule and a hard living Rock ‘n’ Roll image. Forming in Helsinki at the end of the ’70s, Hanoi Rocks went through several players before arriving at their “classic” line-up of singer Mike Monroe, guitarists Andy McCoy and Nasty Suicide, drummer Gyp Casino and finally bass player Sami Yaffa (as we can see they mostly both anglicised and glam-punked their names).

Hanoi rocks bangkok shocks saigon shakes