When most people think of “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams”, they think of the smash hit from Green Day off the American Idiot album. Not me! When I think of this song title, I think of the rockin’ little ditty from a lesser-known 80’s hair band, Hanoi Rocks. Music fans usually know very little about this hard rock band from Finland except for the fact that their drummer Razzle was killed by Vince Neil of Motley Crue in a terrible automobile accident. The fact that Vince Neil got away with manslaughter was outrageous (read the Crue’s bio The Dirt! for more info), but he also killed the future of Hanoi Rocks. The band was on the cusp of greatness until this unfortunate incident which really affected the band in a major way. Two members of the band left right after the incident and Hanoi Rocks faded away.
Hanoi Rocks
1984 saw the release of their final album, Two Steps From The Move, which features the classic tune, “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams”. Although the song wasn’t officially released as a single, a video was still made and aired briefly on MTV. The song has a fun chorus that immediately sinks into your head. “Take me Baby..(Guitars- NUH NUH NUH NUH) on the Boulevard Of Broken Dreams!” Who knows how big Hanoi Rocks could have been if Razzle hadn’t died, as the hair metal explosion really wouldn’t take full effect until two years later. Perhaps Hanoi Rocks would have been ranked in the Top 5 on one of VH1’s plethora of music lists if not for the tragedy. For my fellow “hair metal” aficonados who may have overlooked this great song, take a ride down the boulevard of broken dreams.
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