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Hanoi Rocks & Mother Love Bone - Bands That Disappeared Too Soon

© Marianne Moro

Fate is not kind to certain bands. Two promising bands - one from the '80s (Hanoi Rocks) and another from the early 1990s (Mother Love Bone) - were cut down before they had a chance to bask fully in the spotlight.

Hanoi Rocks first formed in Finland in 1980, as the founding members finished their apprenticeships with a number of Finnish punk bands. (Bet you didn't think there was one punk band in Finland.) The nucleus of Hanoi Rocks consisted of vocalist Michael Monroe, guitarists Andy McCoy and Nasty Suicide (one of the better punk pseudonyms), bassist Sam Yaffa and original drummer Gyp Casino. Combining the best aspects of the Sweet, Mott the Hoople and the New York Dolls, and affecting a sort of "gypsy glam" look, the group took aim at the European market. After releasing their first 2 albums Bangkok Shocks,Saigion Shakes, Hanoi Rocks, and Oriental Beat, Hanoi Rocks signed to CBS, and recorded their breakthrough album Two Steps From The Move. Although not as quirky and eclectic the New York Dolls ish Oriental Beat, the album garnered attention for the band in America. The energetic but easy choice of a first single, CCR's Up Around The Bend got Hanoi Rocks on MTV, alongside the more generic hard rock bands of the day. The other well-known track, the sweet and deeply melancholy love song Don't You Ever Leave Me was sung with too much genuine emotion to be called a true "monster ballad."

Just as the band was generating a buzz in the U.S., drummer Razzle had the misfortune of joining Motley Crue's Vince Neil for a drunken joy ride one night. Neil returned, Razzle didn't, and the Neil's trial for vehicular manslaughter caused quite a stir in the music world. Hanoi Rocks dropped out of sight after that, releasing a few CDS in the late '80s - All Those Wasted Years and Self-Destruction Blues that went virtually unnoticed. Singer Michael Monroe released a solo album in 1989 and still remains a cult figure in some circles. Along with Yaffa and Suicide, Monroe formed Demolition 23 in the mid-90s.

http://www.hanoi-rocks.net

Mother Love Bone

Before hooking up with Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament did not have a socially conscious lead singer. Rather, they had a vocalist named Andrew Wood who could best be described attitude and photo wise as David Lee Roth's baby brother. He could sing better than DLR, though. Unfortunately, the band met its demise in 1990 when Wood O.D. ed days before Apple, the bands first CD was going to be released. Apple is better known now by the title Stardog Champion.

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