In a recent exclusive interview, Michael Monroe, the lead singer of Hanoi Rocks, had a discussion with Andrew Daly from Ultimate Guitar. Hanoi Rocks achieved significant success during the 1980s, placing them within the boundaries of glam metal or “hair metal” to some extent. However, whether they identified themselves as part of that movement or not was largely beyond their influence. Consequently, Monroe was questioned about this topic in the initial portion of the interview, which can be found below for your perusal.
When asked about Hanoi Rocks’ influence on the 80s scene, he said (via UG):
“I had the idea of genres and labels. That’s number one. I think all that stuff sucks, to be honest. Good rock ‘n’ roll music is what I’ve always been about. And that’s what Hanoi Rocks was about, too. So, when it comes to categories, none of that matters. Rock music should never be categorized; I think it’s entirely unnecessary. But in terms of Hanoi Rocks, glam, and all of that, we were a rock band; we never called once called ourselves ‘glam’ because we aimed to defy all categories and do whatever the f*ck we wanted, really.”
Michael continued, saying:
“People can say and think what they want. What do I care? I mean… Hanoi Rocks really did defy categories, though. We combined punk, glam, calypso, and whatever else we were into at the time. I think we were a breath of fresh air, and I guess that’s why a lot of people say we were influential over a lot of those bands. But, yeah, you’re right, we did influence that scene, but I think we inspired bands like Guns N’ Roses in a good way. But a band like Aerosmith also inspired them, and bands like them. So, it’s a matter of pulling influences from many different places.
“So, no, it doesn’t bother me. It’s an honor, and it’s very flattering to hear that Hanoi Rocks influenced a lot of bands. But I will say that a lot of it got to be very superficial and was more about makeup, posing big hairdos, and all that sh*t. And then you had the sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll garbage, too. The ’80s became very cliché, but none of that was ever what Hanoi Rocks was about. We always put the music first and the rest second. It wasn’t about partying and girls and all that. I’ve never been with a gr*upie in my entire life. I’m not that kind of guy.”