Not everybody knows what the word 'enough' means.”Įsa Koivio interviewed Nasty in 1982 to Soundi-magazine and that might help us interpretate Andy's statement: ” Then ya (Rene Berg) started to hang with us at Tooting Bec. He's no longer the same kind of a musician or singer what he used to be and he's really strung out nowadays. We were livin' fast there but we came back.”Īndy in 1982: ” I don't want to rat anyone but one of my bandmate's condition's gone worse. We were just jolting China white and observed what's gonna happen. There used to be rats in the kitchen 'cause nobody gave a shit about cleaning. Yeah, I tried once some nose powder and some mushrooms with Makkonen and then I wrote that song. All the others were Pakistani's and the house where we lived was fucking cold. We were probably the only whiteys in there. We all lived in one flat in Tooting Bec which is a suburban area in London. Tooting Bec Wreck's a song that describes that time and state of mind. Of course, I was the baddie, that black sheep who suggested to try this and try that. Just boasting, real junkies don't talk about their lives.”Īndy in the nineties: ” Everybody in Hanoi was hooked on schmack. ”Probably it was Andy who boasted about his drugscenes. Then he coughed and looked a bit embarrassed. Not everybody had the sense of humour seeing it was just talk-talk.” So all the talks about using drugs were just a joke? ”No comment,” Mike said. Talks about selling arse or using drugs is our stigma. Every record company in the world knows about the drug issue. Michael in the nineties: ”Hanoi Rocks has possibly closed more doors behind than opened new ones in front.
The truth is that in 1982 also rumours of bad habits started to reach Finland along with good news about their success. In this story we try to go through that part as shortly as possible. Stories that are connected with Hanoi Rocks mostly romanticize drug-usage as a necessity to make rock-dream to work. Me and Mike could play every instrument in the songs but it wouldn't be fair towards others.” Andy: "Yeah, on the stage we are a band of five different people but otherwise Hanoi Rocks is just me and Michael.
Next comment from 1982 shows that their attitudes towards own contributions haven't changed much since those days.
In reality Hanoi Rocks included six colourful personas and a very professional manager, Seppo Vesterinen. In the interviews during the newcoming of Hanoi Rocks, Andy and Michael have constantly underlined their part in the band. Typical setlist in 1982 (taken from an authentic setlist):ġ) Intro (Michael joins the drumbeat with his harmonica and after a while it melts into the second song of the set) The band wasn't participating to that activity anymore but were waiting in the bus or at the backroom sophistically reading books etc. The band had their faithful roadie Spede touring with them and the fans eagerly helped him to put up the P.A. Swedish company EMA-Telstar was in charge for promoting and selling gigs. That's why the audience was just clapping hands and sang with the band. The really hilarious thing was that in those days in many venues it was strictly forbidden to move along with the music because it was seen as dancing.
Therefore they could compress the set to more powerful one-time set and it had an impact like an erupting volcano. It made things easier that by then in many places in Finland bands didn't have to play anymore those traditional 2x45 minute Ballroom sets.
Despite that fact the band still tried to perform every gig with full speed.
When Hanoi Rocks toured in Finland in 1982, many venues weren't even nearly sold out.