Hanoi Rocks - heard that riff before at all?

When I first came across Hanoi Rocks in the late 80s it was great to hear a 'glam' band that had drawn from a punk/new wave background rather than metal. (I know I've mentioned this quote before but it's like when Paul Blittz stated in an interview that he hated when bands described themselves as 'punk' but were in fact just bad metal.)

One or two points of reference were quite clear. For example the single note piano part on 'Dead By Xmas' was reminiscent of Captain Sensible's playing in the Damned. It also went without saying that Andy McCoy had listened reverentially to the Clash, and London Calling in particular. 'Taxi Driver' is virtually 'Brand New Cadillac' (admittedly that was a cover) and the choppy guitars on the title track feature prominently on early Hanoi (eg '11th Street Kids').

As I moved on through other bands, though, more noticeable similarities emerged. Imitation is of course the best form of flattery, and recipients of such dedicated attention include the Dead Boys (the intro to '3rd Generation Nation' on We Have Come for Your Children later turning up on 'Back To Mystery City', right down to the '1-2-3-4!') and, going back to 1975, The Dictators, where the intro to 'Next Big Thing' on their Go Girl Crazy! debut features a brief snatch of what I knew as part of the riff to 'Boulevard Of Broken Dreams' before moving onto a verse that Hanoi fans will recognise as 'Oriental Beat'.

Does any of this influence my opinion of Hanoi Rocks, or Andy McCoy as a songwriter? Not a bit. And I'm sure it would be easy to disect the output of many other bands in the same way. What would upset me though would be finding out that 'Tragedy' was lifted from an early Emerson, Lake & Palmer track ....