The Demise of Razzle...
With Vince Neil at the Wheel
On this day 40 years ago, Nicholas Charles Dingley (more readily known by his stage name Razzle) met his end in a deadly combination of alcohol consumption, a recklessly driven Italian sports car and poor judgement.
Neo-glam, punk/metal band Hanoi Rocks were on their first American tour at the time. Their singer Michael Monroe had sprained his ankle. Sitting out concert dates for his recuperation, Hanoi Rocks ended up partying with Mötley Crüe at the Redondo Beach home of that band’s frontman Vince Neil. Beer ran out at some point in the festivities. Neil and Dingley, Hanoi Rocks’ drummer, both inebriated, headed to the liquor store with Neil at the helm of his De Tomaso Pantera. (You may recognize a subtle yet cosmic coincidence in that the metal band Pantera formed not long after Dingley died as passenger in a car by the same name.)
They got the beer and while heading back, Neil sloppily steered into an extreme collision with an oncoming vehicle. Rushed to a nearby hospital, Dingley was declared dead on arrival, likely upon impact. His 24th birthday had only been six day earlier.
Hanoi Rocks rotated through various drummers before this incident in their discography’s arc, but Dingley was the band’s man behind the kit for two of their most definitive studio albums.
The first was Back to Mystery City (1983). Title track:
The next LP — released about five months before Dingley’s death — was the Bob Ezrin-produced Two Steps from the Move. Great album. One of my favorite tracks:
In addition to those two LPs, worth seeking out and listening to is the Fallen Angels LP (also 1984). Not a Hanoi Rocks album, but a collaboration between Hanoi Rocks’ members and the former leader of The Vibrators, Ian M. Carnochan (better known as Knox). Here’s one of my fave tracks:
Thanks for reading, Dosers.
#30#