Hanoi Rocks proudly presents

Oriental Beat (The 40th Anniversary Re(al)mix)

Interview by Ken Morton

Oriental Beat (The 40th Anniversary Re(al)mix) by the legendary Hanoi Rocks has been issued at last - and just the way front man Michael Monroe and his co-horts wanted the album to be heard. Displeased with the final version with no way to fix it due to the original masters being lost, a twist of fate would change the course of this iconic record. In this interview with Highwire Daze, Michael Monroe documents the epic journey towards the unveiling of Oriental Beat (The 40th Anniversary Re(al)mix) - now available worldwide via the mighty Svart!

We’re here with Michael Monroe from Hanoi Rocks. What was the state of the band in 1982 around the original version of the Oriental Beat album came out – especially when you heard the original mix. We recorded the album in London, and we were in the process of moving to London. Our Finnish manager Seppo Vesterinen, he hooked up with Richard Bishop in London – and Richard Bishop had a friend who was this guy Peter Wooliscroft – who he thought would be a good producer for the album. We had no idea, but the first album we produced ourselves – which we should have done with this album too because as it turned out. We recorded the record and then we were on tour in Finland when Seppo our manager brought the mix – which the album was already pressed on the vinyl. He brought a turn table to the hotel room and played the record for us – and we were like, “This is it?” We had some rough mixes on audio cassettes and we thought it sounded pretty good – but then this mix, it sounded really hollow and it really didn’t sound like us. “Where’s the guitars? There’s nothing but snare drums and vocals.” We were really surprised the way he had mixed it wasn’t really good, but we really didn’t know any better. We thought we couldn’t change it anymore at that point. We figured okay, I guess we’ll just let it be.

I think that record might have set back our career a year or two. There were some great songs, and a second album is important of course. We were really so young. Of course, if I had known what I know now, I would have said, “Screw it! Let’s remix it! It‘s unacceptable.” But we let it be as it was. Yeah, there’s a lot of great songs but because of the mix, most of us did not want to listen to it much. It was a crime. I don’t know what the guy was thinking. He was obviously going for something totally different, and he didn’t “get” the band. We were a guitar rock band. He really wasn’t our kind of producer and you never heard from the guy afterwards. We heard that he had worked with the band Slade at some point, so we figured he must be okay. He might have just been an assistant engineer or something – who knows!

So that’s the way it was, and the album has always been a thorn in our side. And when Guns N’ Roses in the early 90’s they released our European catalog on their Uzi Suicide label – we wanted to remix the album – and we thought “Here’s our chance to remix it and make it sound the way it should have been.” The head of the Finnish label where we recorded back in the day – he said he had sent the multi-track tapes to some producer in Germany for some guy to mix – and they got lost along the way. And I said, “What? How is the possible? You didn’t make any safety copies?” “Oh yeah, no, those were the only tapes.” So, the tapes were thought to have been lost, and we thought “Oh my God, now we can’t even remix it!” So, all these years we thought that they were lost and that it was not possible to remix the album – until about three years ago. I got a tip from a guy – somebody had been at the Universal Music warehouse where they keep a bunch of tapes on their vaults – because Universal owns the old Hanoi material now. Somebody mentioned they saw some old Hanoi Rocks material there and I said, “What? Really?” So, I called the head of the label and asked if they could have somebody go and take a photograph of the tapes. And if one of them Advision Studio London on it, then those are the Oriental Beat tapes. And they were them – and lo and behold – there was the album to be remixed! Yah! We could finally do it!

So, we digitized the tracks and I went into the studio with Petri Majuri who I worked with for years – except with the last album – my newest solo album I Live Too Fast to Die Young! – that was done in a different studio. But up until then, I’ve worked with Petri for years and years. He’s mixed the previous albums and he’s pretty good at what he does. So, he put it in the deck, and he put the basic sounds together. I went into the studio a few times with him. And then I sent the mixes to everybody – all the surviving members – including Gyp Casino, the original drummer – and Andy and Nasty and Sammy. Sammy came with me a couple of days in the studio, and it was really sounding so much better. It was really exciting to be able to hear the tracks this way.

It’s like a great closure! It’s so nice to have this album sounding as good as it deserved – like it was supposed to originally. I must point out – at least for me – it’s the longest and slowest album project I’ve ever worked on. It was 40 years until we got it to sound the way we wanted! Even Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy – that even pales compared to this! That was only 10 years – this was 40 years! It must be a world record! So, we’ll call it the 40 Year Anniversary 21st Century Edition – The Re(al) Mix Not The Remix – The Re(al) Mix! Finally, the album is sounding like it deserves – like it was supposed to originally. So, there you have it! It’s a great thing and I’m so happy that it happened.

One of the songs Don’t Follow Me featured Katrina Leskanich from Katrina and The Waves. What was it like working with Katrina, and did you keep in touch with her over the years?

I haven’t really kept in touch with her over the years I must say. She was interviewed for the Hanoi book – she said some nice things and she had a good time hanging out with us – drinking beers and smoking some spliffs. She had a good time in the studio. It was a good vibe in the studio – and we had a good vibe with me and Andy too at the time. I think that was before she had the big hit Walking On Sunshine – it was ’82. But she was great – it was great to work with her –but I’m not sure how she ended up in the studio. Maybe she knew Richard Bishop or the producer or maybe she was just doing sessions. I’m not sure how she ended up singing there, but she was great! Later on, as someone pointed out, wait, she’s Katrina from Katrina and the Waves! Unfortunately, I didn’t keep in touch, but she was really cool! I have great memories of working with her. But that was cool that she became famous and we had her on the record at that early point.

What is currently going on at the moment with your solo career?

We had a new album come out last summer called I Live Too Fast to Die Young. The newest video – the title track – Slash is on it – came out a couple of weeks ago. We’ve had five video singles off the album. It’s being very well received. People have been saying it’s one of my best – if not the best album I’ve made. We toured with Alice Cooper last summer and played with Guns N’ Roses in London and then did some festivals and stuff. We’re still touring with the album. We’re going on tour starting next week in the UK opening for Black Star Riders and Phil Campbell and His Bastard Sons for two weeks. And we’ll keep touring in support of I Live Too Fast to Die Young. My band that I have right now, we’ve been together for 13 years. I’m quite happy with that. I turned 60 last year too. I had a 60th birthday concert on September 23rd – we had like a celebration concert at Helsinki Ice Hall. It was packed to the hilt. We had all facets of my career presented – my early solo stuff, the current band, and then the reborn Hanoi from the 2000’s. We had Demolition 23 as the opening band. And then at the end we had the reunion of the original Hanoi Rocks with the lineup from the Oriental Beat album with Gyp Casino. It just came together because Sammy and Nasty were in the house. And Andy invited himself and I said “Okay, why not?” All these guys are going to be there – why not do the first time in 40 years –we hadn’t seen each other in 40 years, and we had not been in the same place together for 40 years. That would be exciting to do and what happen if we played a few songs with the original lineup. As it turned out, we decided to announce it to the fans to be fair – they would be pissed off if they didn’t know ahead of time. We had already almost sold out the Ice Hall, but when the Hanoi news came out, they had to make extra seats. It was packed to the hilt! It was a good vibe and a nice special evening. I really enjoyed it.

A great memory but in the end, it pointed out what a great band I have right now. We’re the best of friends and we have a great time on the road. We’re still making better records than the previous one. I love doing what I do, and I always try to get better. There’s always room for improvement. So, life is good! I’m quite happy to be doing what I do, and I feel better than ever. I must say it’s a good time to be alive and it’s a good time to be Michael Monroe. Always a good time!

March/April 2023 HIGHWIRE DAZE