Hanoi Rocks were a Finnish rock band formed in They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. By , 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 The band never recovered from the loss and announced their split in June After their initial break-up, lead singer Michael Monroe became the first Finnish artist to chart on the American Billboard in Monroe and original lead guitarist Andy McCoy reunited in with a new lineup that lasted until 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 s, Hanoi Rocks's albums have sold between , and 1,, copies around the world, mostly in Scandinavia and Japan. 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. Vesterinen soon became the band's manager after speaking with McCoy and Monroe.
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. When they moved to Stockholm, the bandmembers lived mostly on the street, begging for money, except Andy McCoy, who lived with his wealthy girlfriend. Gyp Casino was the band's drummer but did not play on the single as he was recording with another band in Stockholm. The band launched a day tour in January , which is believed to be the longest rock tour in Finnish history.
The tour developed the band's energetic and wild playing style, which audiences were slow to find pleasing but later praised the band for.
