In a new feature by music writer Joel Gausten, former Hanoi Rocks singer Michael Monroe discusses a number of topics including the '80s band's second breakup in 2009 after reforming in 2001. An except from the feature appears below:

As frontman of Hanoi Rocks, Monroe was the voice on five of the greatest Rock records of the '80s. Armed with the bulletproof songwriting talents of guitarist Andy McCoy, the band released four albums in Europe (1981's Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks, 1982's Oriental Beat and Self Destruction Blues and 1983's Back to Mystery City) before landing a deal with CBS Records for 1984's Bob Ezrin-produced Two Steps from the Move. The band was on its way to an American breakthrough when a December '84 car accident took the life of drummer Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley. (Razzle was riding in a car driven by Motley Crue singer Vince Neil, who was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol. Neil later served a brief jail term and paid approximately $2 million in restitution to the two people in the vehicle he struck, who both suffered serious injuries. According to a September 21, 1985 story in the Los Angeles Times, Dingley's estate received $200,000.)

Devastated, Hanoi Rocks (minus departed bassist Sami Yaffa) carried on for another six months with former Clash/future Black Sabbath drummer Terry Chimes stepping in before the group finally imploded in the summer of 1985. In 1990, Geffen Records – under the Uzi Suicide imprint created for longtime Hanoi Rocks fans Guns N' Roses – released the group's European catalog in America, introducing a new crop of fans to what could have been. 

Two years after Hanoi Rocks' career was tragically cut short, Monroe issued his first solo album, Nights Are So Long. After five more solo releases (including 1989's still-awesome Not Fakin' It) and stints fronting the short-lived '90s bands Jerusalem Slim and Demolition 23 (which both featured Yaffa), Monroe did the unexpected and joined forces with McCoy and a revolving door of musicians (including The Electric Boys' Conny Bloom and Andy Christell) for a new version of Hanoi Rocks. This incarnation yielded three solid albums – 2002's Twelve Shots on the Rocks, 2005's Another Hostile Takeover and 2007's Street Poetry - before the band said goodbye for a second time.

“It came to a point where it wasn't fun anymore,” admits Monroe regarding Hanoi Rocks' 2009 breakup. “I would have never done a reunion where we had just done a one-off tour to make money. We just got to know each other again in a different, more meaningful way than before, and it was interesting to see what we could create together. If it had continued to be fun, I was ready to do that the rest of my life. But it just came to a point where it wasn't going forward anymore. We decided to put the band to its final rest with its integrity intact honorably, without any shit-slinging in the press or arguments or anything stupid like that. It was just time to call it a day; it was a good decision. I wanted to maintain Hanoi's integrity, like my own.”

The complete story is available at this location.

Monroe has released a music video for “Goin' Down With The Ship”, a track from his latest album, Blackout States. Check it out below:

Photo by Ville Juurrikkala