Tommy Lee (left), Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Mick Mars
"Motley Crue, collectively and individually, have done things on our own terms." - Nikki Sixx
Bands and artists like Led Zeppelin (1968), Pink Floyd (1965), The Beatles (1960), Ozzy Osborne/Black Sabbath (1968), Alice Cooper (1962), and Aerosmith (1970), flooded the streets of Rock and Roll in the late 60s and most of the 70s, so it wasn't a surprise when the Sunset Strip band Mötley Crüe emerged and hit the ground running in 1981; with bassists Nikki Sixx, vocalist Vince Neil, guitarist Mick Mars, and drummer Tommy Lee. They assaulted the scene with their tight leather, eyeliner, high heels, and their self released album "Too Fast for Love".
"I was saying just let me out of here before I was even born." -
Blank Generation (Richard Hell), quoted by Nikki Sixx
Born December 11, 1958 as Frank Feranna in a San Jose hospital, Nikki Sixx's beginning was less than average. His mother the black sheep of her family, with a passion for adventure and mischief, and his father was ready to abandon them just a few short years later. He spent most of his youth with his traveling grandparents (while his mother was on one of her adventures). However, she wouldn't give up custody of him, and continued to live a partier's lifestyle, ultimately leaving young Sixx to his own devices. He was bullied in every school he went to, making few friends, and always feeling like an outcast. Ultimately, his path to destruction, drugs, sex, and theft started early, and he saw no reason to look back.
- Mötley Crüe's first #1 hit was Dr. Feelgood in 1989, where it topped the chart for two weeks.
"He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood--
he's the one that makes ya feel alright--
he's the one they call Dr. Feelgood--"
"When you can't climb your way out of such a hole, you tend to crouch down and call it home..."
-Nikki Sixx
Thomas Lee Bass was born October 3, 1962 in Athens, Greece. His mother was Miss Greece in the 50s and his father was an American army sergeant. They moved a year after Tommy's birth to a town in California. Following his parent's love story with their own version of 'love at first sight', Tommy quickly became a romantic. He began his destiny as a drummer at the age of four when his parents bought him a tiny drum kit, he joined the drum-line of his high school band, and soon had a small band of his own at a new high school--where he met Vince Wharton (Neal), the lead of a much cooler band called Rock Candy. Lee played drums for Suite 19 up until Nikki Sixx spotted him at a gig. They jammed together in Nikki's roach infested house, keeping their eyes out for an off-the-wall oddball like themselves that could play guitar. Through an ad in the paper, they found Robert Deal.
"Loud, rude, and aggressive guitarist available."
- ad in 'The Recycler' by Robert Deal (Mick Mars)
Born April 4, 1955 in Terre Haute, Indiana; Robert Deal attended his first concert at fourteen years old in Huntington, Indiana. It inspired him so much, he learned to play guitar almost immediately. He joined a Beatles coverband once his parents moved once again to a city in California. With experience under his cap playing with numerous bands for many years in the L.A. area, Mars placed an ad in the paper which read, 'Loud, rude, and aggressive guitarist available.' Little did he know, he would be hired on the spot for a band that would become legendary throughout the 80s. Now they needed a vocalist.
"I told them about you bro. They saw you and they're stoked." -
Tommy Lee
February 8, 1961 in Hollywood, California marked the beginning of Vince Neil Wharton. He wasn't a trained vocalist, but he embodied the suave surfer dude look with his long bleached blonde hair and screeching vocals. Another David Lee Roth, just like Sixx, Mars, and Lee were looking for. When Nikki and Mick followed Tommy to the Hollywood nightclub Starwood to check out the bleach blonde frontman of Rock Candy, Vince Neil was all but on board. His band Rock Candy guaranteed a supply of girls every night. He took Tommy's number anyway, due to the fact that Tommy had let him sleep in his van back when they were in high school and Neal was homeless. Neil never called Tommy back until Tommy called him for the second time and all but begged him to audition as the lead singer for this upcoming band. Vince on the fence about it still, decided to give it a try. He ended up liking the sound and vibe of all the characters involved with the current nameless band. Now they needed a name.
Scene from Mötley Crüe's 'The Dirt' on Netflix
Once the members settled on Mötley Crüe as their band's name, they quickly climbed the popularity charts by becoming an L.A. cult favorite with their punk rock image. Vince Neil decribes Mötley Crüe as more of a gang than a band. They found mischief everywhere. Soon they caught the attention of Elektra Records, which would sign the band, re-releasing their first album Too Fast for Love. Their second album, Shout at the Devil, debuted in 1983. The single "Looks that Kill" secured itself as an MTV hit amongst people who had never been witness' to Mötley Crüe's flair. An additional million copies of the album were sold a year later. In 1986 however, a deadly crash involving Vince Neil and Hanoi Rocks' own Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley left the Mötley Crüe frontman facing vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence charges. It resulted in Neil being imprisoned for 15 days, left to pay a hefty cash settlement, as well as attend community service. During Neil's time in prison, the band released the album Theatre of Pain and secured the continuance of Mötley Crüe's stay in popularity.
Girls, Girls, Girls came next in 1987, when the band was at their peak in drug use. Singer Vince Neil however had turned a page in his book of drugs and was now on the road to sobriety. Amongst his fellow bandmates however, the road had many steep hills and valleys. The latest album meant abroad tours, which had to be cancelled when Nikki Sixx was pronounced dead from a serious heroine overdose. Due to quick thinking of the EMTs however, Sixx was revived after two shots of adrenaline to his heart. He recovered to return home and shoot up once more. When the band found out, they all agreed to get clean in rehab before continuing with Mötley Crüe.
1989 marked the big return of Mötley Crüe with their album, Dr. Feelgood, which would land them their first #1 hit on the charts, songs like Kickstart my Heart and Without You made the album one of Mötley Crüe's best to date.
When the scene started to shift to a more grungier vibe, things took a turn for the worst for the band. Attempting to keep up with the change in the early 90s, caused feelings within the band to grow tense, which led to Vince Neil quitting as the frontman and lead vocalist. The band found a replacement, but was met with disdain from their fans, and had to start over with Vince once again their lead. They released another album titled Generation Swine, but Mötley Crüe had lost their wondrous momentum from the 80s.
The band continued in an on-again-off-again spiral when drummer Tommy Lee and Vince Neil had a falling out which led to Lee leaving the band in 1999, he returned in 2001, when the band released their album The Dirt. However, the band remained distant, each member doing their own solo gigs. Rumors continued of a reunion tour, Neil and Lee kept those rumors from being proven true until late 2004 when the band acknowledged they were going to go on a reunion tour. Red, White, and Crue (2005), Carnival of Sins (2006), and Saints of Los Angeles (2008) followed the Crüe until they announced their farewell tour in 2014 featuring Alice Cooper. In 2018, the band recorded four more songs together, for the upcoming film 'The Dirt' which was picked up by Netflix and released in early 2019.
Quiz Questions:
1. When (what year) did the band officially form?
2. What instrument does Tommy Lee play?
3. Where is vocalist Vince Neil from?
4. T/F: Did Nikki Sixx have his mom arrested?
Discussion Questions:
1. If you're not a Crüe fan, are you now?
2. Do you listen to any 80s/90s punk rock? If yes, which bands/artists? If you found out they had seriously crazy origin stories, would you still be a fan?
Sources:
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mötley-crüe-mn0000500992/biography
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tommy-lee-mn0000521424/biography
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/vince-neil-mn0000808388/biography
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mick-mars-mn0000482018/biography
Strauss, Neil, et al. The Dirt. Harper Entertainment, 2002.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbQWaZnaYO0
***I commented on the Veggie Tales***
I'll sound like an old fogey saying it, but to my mind the Beatles don't belong in the same category as any of the other bands you mention. And, they "flooded the streets" in the early 60s, not late. By then, they were senior statesmen commenting wryly on the passing scene. But of course we all love the music we love, and tend to form prejudicial biases exalting those prejudices. To each her own!
ReplyDeleteIf your mother was Miss Greece, I guess you might have a philosophical bone or two in your body... but I'm still a little hazy on this: what is the philosophical angle or significance you see in this band? And in rock & roll generally?
I think the Beatles references really serve the purpose of showing how influential they were to Mötley Crüe and the rock and roll scene in general. Also, I think philosophically, Mötley Crüe could have several questions raised in multiple areas. Music influences our culture whether we like it or not, and they were a really large band that influenced teenagers, adults, and other musicians as well. The attitudes they presented and the actions they did and got away with subsequently created a culture that influenced the fan base. It may or may not have been a positive influence all the time, but it was an influence nonetheless! Some questions that may be worth thinking about (music in general) is how do we let music influence us? What's the point of seeing these public figures and letting them have power over us (even if it's not a conscious effort to conform to their thoughts/behaviors)? How can we separate ourselves from art?
DeleteIs it possible to separate an artist from their art? Are the members of Mötley Crüe "bad" or were they innately wrong for getting involved in that specific, laid back, take whatever you can get scene?
I referenced The Beatles simply because Nikki Sixx talks about how they influenced him when he was growing up, learning who he wanted to be in life, within the Motley Crue biography book "The Dirt". I agree with Jillian, I might just not have made it clear enough in the report. I chose Motley Crue because they went against the grain, and their philosophy was simply to rock the pants off of the world, have fun, and look good doing it--screw the consequences. Overtime however, they realized that their way of life was going to put them in an early grave. When Vince Neil's young daughter died from cancer at the age of 4, he realized that things can drastically change in the blink of an eye, and he needed to grow up and cherish those around him. He has had slip ups between then and now, but getting to know him personally in the last couple years, it's easy to tell now that he separates his "on-stage" life from his everyday life. When it comes to rock and roll in general, I believe their style has continued to influence modern band styles today. They were wild, they dressed provocativley, they wore dark makeup and styled their hair black and messy, and their "give no f*cks" attitude inspires people today. It isn't completely possible to separate an artist from their art. It runs in the blood which runs through their veins, its the air they breathe. I think it's hard for the generations that came before Crue, even today, accepting that type of image. It just wasn't okay to act that way. That's why the band did what they did. They wanted to break their chains off, do their own thing, and you accepted them or you didn't.
DeleteThe Beatles pioneered the movement of self expression and each generation had another way of influencing it.
DeleteI'm not a Crüe fan per say, but I did see The Dirt and loved it. My boyfriend is a big fan, and has the actual book, so we watched it through a really critical lens. I think the philosophical significance lies in the actions they did and why they did them. The rock and roll music scene at that time was all about "every man for themselves" and it was heavily influenced by drug culture and sex. There's a lot of questions that can be raised from music, drugs, and sex. Is that all there is? Why did they feel that was so important? Do the drugs and party lifestyle excuse the things some band members did to others or themselves?
ReplyDeleteMötley Crüe seemed to grow overnight from nothing. While I know that's not necessarily the case, and I'm sure it took a lot of hard work to get to where they were, they were sensations. They're a staple to the "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" era in music. Not only did they belong to that specific culture, they influenced a lot of other musicians and teenagers that felt called to their art!
I have always been a fan of Motley Crue's music but never really knew much about the band. I watched The Dirt which I think gave them more exposure to later generations that may not have known much about them. I found the film very interesting and it motivated me to find out what was truth vs "Hollywood" which actually taught me more about the band. I think the crazy origin stories make the band even more likable because it adds an extra element to the music.
ReplyDeleteBeen a fan of Motley Crue and other 80s/90s rock and punk all my life, but never knew their history. Always assumed they were pretty wild due to their performances, sounds, and lyricism. To me, bands having crazy origins usually add more interest to the band and more meaning behind lyrics and songs; it's also important to note you can enjoy someone's music without liking them as a person, it's important to separate music from musician sometimes
ReplyDeletei have recently watched their movie on netflix and it was really good, didn't expect their story to be like that. i used to not be a big fan of rock music until i watched bohemian rhapsody movie and the dirt and saw how hard it used to be be a successful artist and the quality of the music back in the 70s and 80s compared to now days.
ReplyDelete