"Dead by X-Mas" is a song by the Finnish rock band Hanoi Rocks. The single was released prior to the band's 1982 album Oriental Beat but neither the A- or B-side were featured on an album until the band's third album, Self Destruction Blues.

"Dead by X-Mas"
Single by Hanoi Rocks
from the album Self Destruction Blues
B-side"Nothing New"
ReleasedDecember 1981
RecordedAugust 1981
GenreRock, hard rock, glam punk, glam rock
Length2:58
LabelJohanna Kustannus
Songwriter(s)Andy McCoy
Hanoi Rocks singles chronology
"Desperados"
(1981)
"Dead by X-Mas"
(1981)
"Love's an Injection"
(1982)

The songs are well liked and were the biggest hits of Hanoi Rocks' early career. The B-side, "Nothing New", is not as well known as the A-side, "Dead by X-Mas". "Dead by X-Mas" has since been thought to be as a prediction of the death of drummer Razzle, who died in a car crash in December 1984. The chorus even has the lyrics "I'll be dead by X-mas now anyway". The lyrics tell a horror story which guitarist Andy McCoy said could happen.

A cover version was released by the Japanese Visual kei band The Piass as a bonus track on their first album, Ryouki Kousatsu Chissoku-Shi, in 1995. The song also played a role in an urban legend similar to that of Razzle's, since the vocalist and drummer, Chihiro and Hiroshi, died while filming a music video later that year. English electronic music band Sohodolls also released a cover version of the song in 2007.

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Dead by X-Mas"Andy McCoy2:58
2."Nothing New"Andy McCoy3:19

Personnel

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