Dave: Saying the Hanoi Rocks "had no commercial success" beckons the question whether you know a Finnish band with more success. Abba and Roxette were Swedish and Aha Norwegian. It's a bit like saying that The Velvet Underground were less important to rock music than the Beach Boys because they had less success. People who want to own a bass by Sam Yaffa don't care about his record sales, they want to own a piece of history. Which with Yaffa also includes the New York Dolls (last two studio albums) and his own brave project Mad Juana which defies the description stadium rock. Yaffa is the guy playing the acoustic guitars in those vids.
To people who like music in that netherworld of punk, rock'n'roll and glam, the Hanoi Rocks were nothing short of iconic and a blueprint to a lot of later bands (none of them with the depth and inherent cool of the Rocks). The Rocks were carying the banner: At a time when it was unfashionable to like Mott the Hoople, they wanted Overend Watts as their producer. When everyone looked New Wave, they grew their hair long and wore leopard skin spandexes without ever being mistaken for Iron Maiden.
(featuring a raucous TBird sound btw)
The tragic death of their - Brit - drummer at the hands of drunken Vince Neil curtailed their career. At that point they were actually going somewhere, Bob Ezrin having given them a lavish production on Two Steps from the Move. Bands like Guns & Roses and Mötley all admit that they were an influence, visually and musically. And Michael Monroe's new album - with Sam Yaffa on bass - gets great reviews currently.
And besides Monroe has covered a song from another great band which never went anywhere either. So there!
Hanoi Rant over. You can have meant (and mean) something in rock'n'roll and still not have been a commercial success. Especially if your drummer dies on your first large scale American tour. Where is George Carlston to come to the rescue when you need him?
