UMR [Release date 13.11.26]

Helsinki, 1979. A band forms itself that would go on to have a massive impact on some of the biggest bands of the eighties and nineties. They are also, hands down, my favourite band.

Vastly underrated yet hugely influential, Finnish legends Hanoi Rocks are said to have sold around a million albums back in the eighties. That is not a lot when you consider that without them we would not have the likes of Guns N Roses, Faster Pussycat or Poison, and the eighties Sunset Strip, and hair metal scenes, would have looked very different indeed. With an infectious mix of glam rock, punk, ballads and even the odd nod to reggae it is not an overstatement to say Hanoi Rocks changed the direction of rock music in the early eighties.

“The Complete Collection 1981-1984” includes the band’s first five studio albums
“Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks”, “Oriental Beat” (2022’s 40th Anniversary ”The RE(AL)MIX” version of the album), “Self-Destruction Blues”, “Back to The Mystery City” and “Two Steps From The Move” (although live album “All Those Wasted Years” is sadly missing here), plus a sixth disc title “Motorvatin’!!!” that is made up of BBC sessions, demos and rare tracks.

These five studio albums were all released between 1981 and 1984, and before the band’s career was abruptly halted by the tragedy that robbed the band drummer Razzle, and undoubtably a huge and successful future. Frontman Michael Monroe and guitarist Andy McCoy have a similar dynamic to the likes of Jagger/Richards or Tyler/Perry and when you add bassist Sami Yaffa and guitarist Nasty Suicide you get a line-up that should have taken over the world, and once drummer Razzle joined the band in 1982 it looked like they were unstoppable.

Amongst the albums here are such classic tracks as “Taxi Driver”, “Don’t You Ever Leave Me”, “Mental Beat”, “Motorvatin’” and “Oriental Beat”, staples of the band’s live set and firm fan favourites, and on the band’s major label debut “Two Steps From The Move” we get the songs the band is best know for “Up Around The Bend” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (both of which still appear on the Planet Rock radio playlist). Dig a bit deeper into the albums and you will also find such treasures as “Kill City Kills”, “Tooting Bec Wreck”, “Desperados”, “I Can’t Get It”, “Cutting Corners”, “Love’s An Injection” and the prophetically titled “Dead By X-mas”.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the bonus “Motorvatin’!!!” disc, I was really looking forward to seeing which undiscovered gems would appear in this rather promising collection, however, all was not as it seems. Back in 1990 there was a rather good compilation released that also promised us BBC sessions, demos and rare tracks and it would appear that the bulk of the tracks here were also on the “Tracks From A Broken Dream” album. That album though is long out of print and songs on this new compilation disc really are too good to not be heard again. “Two Steps From The Move” should never have been left off of the album of the same name, “Oil and Gasoline”, “Shakes” and “Rebel On The Run” are all superb. The BBC sessions include “Underwater World” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and we also have demos for “The Beating Gets Faster (I Know You)” and “Sailing Down The Tears”.

“The Complete Collection 1981-1984” boxset has been put together nicely with each album in a gatefold of the original sleeve, there are additional art cards for each and also a 36-page photobook featuring many previously unseen pictures of the band.
The Hanoi Rocks story didn’t end in December 1984. A new line-up featuring Terry Chimes (The Clash) on drums and Rene Berg on bass played some European dates in early 1985 and recorded some demo’s but called it a day shortly after. There was off-shoot bands, some successful solo careers and a new century brought a new Hanoi Rocks line-up (after briefly trying the name Hanoi Revisited) featuring only Monroe and McCoy from the original band but the magic was gone, or certainly very different. Then on the 22nd September 2022 the original line-up of the band, including drummer Gyp Casino, took to the stage to perform a handful of songs at Michael Monroe’s 60th birthday bash, was that the final chapter in the band’s story? Only time will tell. *****

Review by Nikk Gunns

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Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

Josh now hosts “Taerk’s Tracks” as part of the Singer Songwriter Sunday sequence on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio.

This is the second show broadcast on 25 October Josh presents some of his inspirational artists and tracks.

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 18 October 2026.

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Power Plays w/c 26 October 2026

BLACK RIVER DELTA Shame On You (Despotz Records)
DAYTONA Listen To The Silence (Escape Music)
SUCKERTRAP Sacred Lies (indie)
WOOD BURNT RED Count My Blessings (indie)
BLACKLIST UNION Heavy Is The Crown (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 26 October 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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