In a recent interview with Metal Edge, Michael Monroe shared his thoughts about being in a band with Razzle and his resemblance to Keith Moon.
Michael Monroe has been in the rock scene for over forty years, and it seems as if he’s ramping it up a notch with his new album ‘I Live Too Fast to Die Young,’ which takes glam-punk to another level.
Although Monroe has achieved great success with his solo albums, he was also a member of Hanoi Rocks. The band was popular during specific time frames, and one of those instances where the band had chemistry like no other was when they hired Razzle to be their drummer.
Michael Monroe stated that Razzle was a great guy to be around and that he reminded him of Keith Moon and Neal Smith due to their similar playing styles. Monroe talked about Razzle coming to the first audition for Hanoi Rocks in platform boots. They had all thought playing the drums with those would be complex.
The rocker added that although Razzle wasn’t the greatest drummer, they knew he’d learn and evolve with time. Monroe also didn’t forget to mention the time they recorded ‘Until I Get You’ where they played the song live to record it. The track showed their flawed chemistry perfectly.
Michael Monroe’s words about the similarities between Razzle and Keith Moon:
“He was a great guy, in the first place. And the way he played reminded me of Keith Moon and Neal Smith from the Alice Cooper band. He came to the first audition, where we checked him out in platform boots. That’s going to be hard to play drums with platform boots on! Technically, he wasn’t the greatest drummer, but he had a great attitude, and we knew he’d evolve. And he had a cool style.
He and Sami, back in the day, like on the Back to Mystery City album, there were no click tracks; they would play it live. It was living and breathing. You listen to the tempos; some of the songs, like ‘Until I Get You,’ that song slowly speeds up towards the end. You don’t notice it, but you can feel it. That was the chemistry and the magic in the band. It was a perfectly flawed kind of chemistry, and it was great. And he was a dear friend. If I were going through a rough patch, he’d come up to me and say, “I can tell you’re in a bad place, but it’ll be all right; you’ll be okay.”
He added:
“He’d been in a speed-metal kind of band before, and he had two bass drums, and we were like, “Double kick drums, no way.” He brought a second bass drum to a show, and at the venue, we took the other pedal off before the show, and he was pissed off. But after that, he realized it wasn’t our kind of thing. But he was a fantastic drummer and had his style and human touch. He and Sami together were a perfect rhythm section.”
You can listen to ‘Until I Get You’ below.
