By 1984, the band was considered to be on the verge of an international breakthrough when they released their first major label album for CBS and headed for their first US tour.

The tour was however cut short when their drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a drunk driving incident with Vince Neil behind the wheel in December 1984.

According to Finnish radio and TV personality Jone Nikula, who was the band's tour manager in the 2000s, Hanoi Rocks's albums have sold between 780,000 and 1,000,000 copies around the world, mostly in Scandinavia and Japan.

[7] Hanoi Rocks were formed in Helsinki in 1979 by Michael Monroe (Matti Fagerholm) and his friend, guitarist Andy McCoy (Antti Hulkko).

[8] The band toured Finnish clubs, playing McCoy and Monroe's own songs and covers like Cheap Trick's "He's a Whore", The Police's "Born in the 50s" and MC5's "Looking at You".

At one of the band's first shows was Seppo Vesterinen, who had brought big-name artists like Iggy Pop and Frank Zappa to Finland.

By then Peki had left the band, and when they relocated to Stockholm, they hired an old friend of Monroe and McCoy's, drummer Gyp Casino.

That same month, the band released its debut album, Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks,[9] produced by Michael Monroe and Andy McCoy, calling themselves "The Muddy Twins."

In January 1982, Hanoi Rocks recorded their first music videos at the Lepakko, a concert venue and centre of independent youth culture, for the songs "Tragedy", "Oriental Beat", and "Motorvatin'".

[9] The album was mostly well received by critics and magazines, including Sounds and Kerrang!, whose Dave Dickson continued to extensively cover Hanoi Rocks's career in the 1980s.

The album was released in October in Finland, with "Love's an Injection" spending a week at number one on the Finnish singles charts.

The ticket prices for the show were as high as for stadium-fillers, and some phone booths in Tokyo played Hanoi Rocks songs.

Monroe could not leave the hotel because of his somewhat unconventional appearance: local people thought he was an improperly-dressed woman and would gather around and spit on him.

In late spring, Hanoi Rocks toured London and Norway, and released a single before the new album, "Malibu Beach / Rebel On The Run".

Before the show, Michael Monroe stated in an interview with the Finnish television station YLE that McCoy and Suicide's alcohol use had gotten out of hand, and that he did not drink or use drugs.

After a July tour in England, Two Steps from the Move, whose title was changed from Silver Missiles and Nightingales at the last minute, was released.

In November the single "Don't You Ever Leave Me / Oil And Gasoline" was released, by which time the new album had sold 200,000 copies—most of them in the U.S. (60,000), Britain (50,000), and Finland (20,000).

On 8 December, Hanoi Rocks band members (except for Michael Monroe, who was recuperating from his fractured ankle) were partying with their friends Mötley Crüe, at lead singer Vince Neil's house.

The only tour dates not canceled were two shows at Helsinki Kulttuuritalo on 3 and 4 January 1985, which were broadcast live under the title of "Europe A Go-Go" to a worldwide audience of 200 million viewers.

Monroe planned to quit, but the record label convinced him to do a short tour in Poland, where "Don't You Ever Leave Me" was rising on the charts.

[9] At the same time, "Don't You Ever Leave Me" rose to number 6 on the Polish singles chart and Hanoi Rocks's popularity continued into the 1990s.

For 2007's Street Poetry the band worked on some of the unfinished songs from the 1980s, such as "Teenage Revolution", which was first thought of during the Two Steps from the Move sessions in 1984.

It mainly covered Hanoi Rocks's career in the 1980s and included rare photos of the band and its members and new interviews with Monroe, McCoy, Nasty Suicide, Gyp Casino, Seppo Vesterinen, Richard Bishop and countless others.

[7] Although Hanoi Rocks never achieved huge commercial success, they have a very big cult following and they have received critical acclaim for their musical style and energetic live performances.

On 5 January 1985, Hanoi Rocks was featured in almost every category in a poll cast by Sounds, including Best Album (5th), Best Band (2nd) and Best Live Act (3rd).

Other bands like Manic Street Preachers, Murderdolls, Skid Row and the Foo Fighters have acknowledged being Hanoi Rocks fans.

In 2003, when Nasty Suicide was asked about the band's look, he said that he and Michael Monroe decided to keep the punk leather jackets but bring a kind of "transvestite vibe to it".

[20]Michael Monroe and Hanoi Rocks have influenced many rock'n'roll artists and bands: Slash and Duff McKagan had bought tickets to the sold-out gigs in Los Angeles, which were canceled because of the death of Razzle.

Hanoi Rocks is mentioned in the Bret Michaels song "Human Zoo" on his 1998 soundtrack album, A Letter from Death Row.

[23] The fictional character Peacemaker mentions Hanoi Rocks as "only the greatest band of all time" in the eponymous 2022 TV series.