Jump to content

Mötley Crüe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Isb420 (talk | contribs) at 15:33, 27 May 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe in 2004 (from left: Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee)
Background information
Years active1981 – present
MembersVince Neil
Nikki Sixx
Mick Mars
Tommy Lee

Mötley Crüe (pronounced as 'maht-lee crew') are a popular American Heavy Metal band from Los Angeles, California. The band is made up of Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, and Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe is considered one of the most successful American bands crossing between the Glam Metal/hard rock/heavy metal genres, having sold over 41 million albums worldwide.

History

1980s

Mötley Crüe was formed in 1981, in Los Angeles, after bassist Nikki Sixx left the band London, which he and Lizzie Grey had started in 1979 after he was fired from Blackie Lawless' band Sister. London was also the first band for Guns N' Roses guitarists Izzy Stradlin and Slash, as well as Cinderella drummer Fred Coury.

Drummer Tommy Lee was in a band called Suite 19 with vocalist/guitarist Greg Leon, who would later replace Randy Rhodes in Quiet Riot. Nikki and Tommy decided to play together, but Leon declined.

Nikki and Tommy met guitarist Mick Mars, at that time still perforning under his name Bob Alan Deal (born Bippis, Indiana in 1949), through a classified ad in an L.A. music newspaper reading "Loud, rude, aggressive guitarist available." When they first met Mick, Nikki's first reaction was, "I can't believe it! Here's another one like us!" Mick's equipment was quickly set up and shortly after, he was playing the opening riff to "Stick to Your Guns". Mars proceeded to, according to Tommy Lee, "play the shit out of his guitar." After getting drunk and jamming for an hour, Mick fired the band's guitarist, who was a musician known only as Robin (a "pansy" according to Lee).

It was Mick who came up with the band's name. While in his former band, White Horse, one of the band members walked in and called the group "a motley looking crew." Mick copied the name down on paper, with the original spelling Mottley cru. The name was later applied to the band he was to join in 1981 with Nikki and Tommy. However, there is much talk about the band floating the name "Christmas" before they settled on Motley Crue.

Tommy and Vince Neil originally knew each other in high school (South Hills H.S.) in West Covina. They had performed in different bands in the garage-band circuit. Mick suggested Mötley Crüe hire Vince after seeing him perform with the band Rock Candy at the Starwood in Hollywood.

At first Vince rebuffed the band when they asked him to audition. Then, as fate would have it, Rock Candy dissolved; Vince broke down and agreed to audition for Mötley Crüe after Tommy called him once more.

File:044003866720.jpg
Re-mastered cover of Shout At The Devil.

They soon met their first manager, Allan Coffman, who was a Vietnam veteran. Coffman's brother-in-law was one of the band's roadies, Stick, and Coffman owned a contracting company in Grass Valley, CA and was looking to invest some money in an entertainment venture. The band's first release was the single "Stick to Your Guns/Toast of the Town," which was released on their own label, Leathür Records, which had a pressing & distribution deal with Greenworld Distribution in Torrance. In November 1981, their debut album Too Fast for Love was self-produced and released on Leathür, selling 20,000 copies. Coffman, and his assistant Eric Greif, set up a tour of Canada, while using the band's success in the Los Angeles club scene to negotiate with several record labels, eventually signing a recording contract with Elektra Records in late Spring 1982. At Elektra's insistance, the debut album was then re-mixed by producer Roy Thomas Baker and re-released on August 20, 1982, two months after its Canadian Elektra release using the original Leathür mixes, to coincide with the tour. The Canadian jaunt had the desired effect as national headlines were the result of the band being arrested at Edmonton International Airport for trying to enter the country wearing their spiked stage gear, and Edmonton Police being called for a "bomb on the stage" hoax arranged by Greif.

In 1983, the band changed management from Allan Coffman to Doug Thaler and Doc McGhee. McGhee is best known for managing KISS, starting with their reunion tour in 1996. Greif subsequently sued all parties in a Los Angeles Superior Court action that dragged on for several years, and coincidentally later re-surfaced as manager of Nikki's former band, London (D'Priest). Coffman himself was sued by a couple of investors for whom he had sold 'stock in the band', including Michigan-based Bill Larson. Coffman eventually declared bankruptcy, as he had mortgaged his home at least three times to cover band expenses.

After playing the US Festival, the band took the United States by storm. They were known as much for their backstage groupie antics, outrageous clothing, extreme high-heeled boots, heavy make-up, and seemingly endless abuse of alcohol and drugs as for their music. Their mixture of metal and glam rock stylings produced several massive-selling albums during the 1980s, including Shout at the Devil (September 26, 1983), Theatre of Pain (June 21, 1985), and Girls, Girls, Girls (May 15, 1987).

The band has also had their share of scrapes with the law and life. In 1984, Vince was in a fatal car accident on his way to the liquor store. He was in a head on collision, and his passenger and "close" friend, Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley, drummer of Hanoi Rocks, was killed. Vince was charged with a DUI and vehicular manslaughter, and spent 30 days in jail. In 1987, Nikki suffered a near-fatal heroin overdose and passed out. He was picked up in an ambulance and was declared legally dead on the way to the hospital, but one medic refused to give up and gave Nikki two shots of adrenaline to the heart, which amazingly brought him back to life. His few minutes in death were the inspiration for the band's song "Kickstart My Heart," which peaked at #18 on the Mainstream U.S. chart, and was featured on their album Dr. Feelgood. Their decadent lifestyles almost shattered the band, until Doug Thaler and Doc McGhee pulled an intervention, and refused to allow the band to tour in Europe, fearing that "some of [them] would come back in bodybags". Shortly after, all the band members underwent rehabilitation, except for Mick, who cleaned up on his own.

After finding sobriety in 1989, Mötley Crüe reached its peak popularity with the release of their fifth album, Dr. Feelgood, on September 1, 1989. On October 14 of that year, it became their only No. 1 album and stayed on the charts for 109 weeks after its release.

Doc McGhee was fired in 1989 after breaking several promises to the band in relation to the Moscow Music Peace Festival.

File:Mick, Vince & Nikki.jpg
Mick Mars, Vince Neil & Nikki Sixx

1990s

On October 14, 1991 the band's 6th album, Decade Of Decadence was released. It was supposed to be just something for the fans while they worked on the next "all new" album. Unfortunately though, Vince was fired from the band in February 1992. Which, of course caused a Major decline in Mötley Crüe's commercial success, although a self-titled March 1994 release with new frontman John Corabi (formerly of Angora and The Scream) made the top ten. Doug Thaler would manage the band alone until 1994, after the band did a mass-firing when their album, Mötley Crüe, failed to meet commercial expectations.

The band reunited in 1997, after their current manager, Allen Kovac, and Vince's manager, Bert Stein, set up a meeting between Vince, Tommy, and Nikki. Agreeing to "leave their egos at the door," the band released Generation Swine. Although it debuted at #4, and despite the band performing at the American Music Awards, the album was a commercial failure, due in part to their label Elektra Records' lack of support. The band soon left Elektra and created their own label, Mötley Records.

File:Nikki Sixx 14.jpg
Nikki Sixx

In the 1990s, Mötley Crüe was perhaps better known for the women married by three of its members. Both Tommy and Nikki married former Playboy Playmates and stars on the TV show Baywatch. Tommy married Pamela Anderson and Nikki wed Donna D'Errico. Not to be outdone, Vince married former Playboy centerfold Heidi Mark. Both Tommy's and Vince's marriages ended in divorce, and Donna D'Errico filed for divorce from Nikki in early 2006.

More tragedy would hit the band in the 1990s. In 1994, Vince suffered perhaps his most crushing blow when his daughter Skylar Neil succumbed to cancer. Vince along with former wife, stripper and mud wrestler, Sharise Ruddell, would later sue the company Rocketdyne for dumping cancer-causing chemicals near their former Simi Valley home. Tommy, on the other hand, would go to prison for six months after being accused of abusing his then-wife Pamela Anderson.

In 1998, Mötley Crüe's contractual ties with Elektra Records had expired putting the band in total control of their future. This included the ownership of the masters of all their albums. In announcing the end of their relationship with Elektra Records, the band became one of the few groups in history to own and control their publishing and catalogue of recorded masters. In 1999, the band re-released all their albums, dubbed as Crücial Crüe. The limited-edition digital re-masters included demos and previously unreleased tracks.

In 1999, Tommy left the band to pursue a solo career due to increasing bad tension between himself and frontman Vince. He was replaced by Randy Castillo, who drummed on several Ozzy Osbourne albums. Randy died of cancer on March 26, 2002. No replacement had been named which sent the band into a hiatus following a 2001 tour in support of their most recent studio release, New Tattoo. New Tattoo charted at #41 and sold less than 150,000 copies. Drummer Samantha Maloney filled in on drums during the tour for this album. She is perhaps best known for her work with Courtney Love after she replaced original Hole drummer Patty Schemel in 1998. Samantha later toured with Love in 2004 in support of the latter's solo album America's Sweetheart. The Crüe released the DVD Lewd, Crüed & Tattooed after a performance in Salt Lake City.

File:Vince & Nikki.jpg
Vince Neil (left) with band member Nikki Sixx

2000s

Within the following six years, Nikki played in the bands 58 and Brides of Destruction, while Tommy formed Methods of Mayhem and performed as a solo artist. Vince continued touring on an annual basis as a solo artist, singing mostly Mötley Crüe songs. Mick, who suffers from a degenerative back condition called ankylosing spondylitis, went into seclusion in 2001.

A 2001 autobiography entitled The Dirt told their full story. The book made the top ten on the New York Times best-seller list. It also introduced the band to a whole new generation of fans. The Dirt has become a sacred text and “bible” for rockers all over the world and is set to become a major motion picture through Paramount and MTV Films. A later book, Tommyland, which was co-written by Tommy, was released in 2004.

A promoter in England, Mags Revell, started the ball rolling for Mötley Crüe's reunion when he started a promotion that basically revealed how fans wanted the band to reunite. After meeting with management several times, in September 2004, Nikki announced that he and Vince had returned to the studio and had begun recording new material. In December 2004, the four original members announced a reunion tour which began February 14, 2005, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The band's latest compilation album, Red, White & Crüe, was released in February 2005. It features the band members' favorite original songs plus three new tracks, "If I Die Tomorrow," "Sick Love Song," and a cover of The Rolling Stones' classic "Street Fighting Man." A small controversy was caused when it was suggested that neither Tommy nor Mick played on the new tracks (duties were supposedly handled by Vandals drummer Josh Freese and ex-Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba). However, a VH1 documentary of the band reuniting would later show that Tommy Lee did indeed play on some of the tracks. The Japanese release of Red, White, & Crüe, includes an extra new track titled "I'm a Liar (and That's the Truth). Red, White & Crüe charted at #6, and has since gone platinum.

File:Reactnow-hsh-9.jpg
Chester Bennington performing "Home Sweet Home" at ReAct Now alongside Mötley Crüe

The tour itself took many people in the media by surprise by becoming one of the biggest in 2005, grossing $33 million and making it the 8th biggest money maker for the year. The band had to add a second leg of sixty additional dates to meet fan demand. This ongoing tour included performances at the KROQ Weenie Roast and Live 8. A live DVD called Carnival of Sins, filmed in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was released on October 25th 2005. Also, on December 10th 2005 in Perth, Western Australia, Mötley Crüe along with Motörhead played an encore together onstage of "Anarchy in the U.K.", a worldwide first. On December 31st 2005, Mötley Crüe played the Crüe Year's Evil show in Detroit, MI.

Nikki's long-awaited book The Heroin Diaries is set to be released in 2006. On January 26th 2006 the band was awarded a star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, on occasion of their 25th anniversary. As of January 2006, they are set to return to the studio in May 2006 to record a new album with long-time producer, Bob Rock.


Legacy of Mötley Crüe

Motley Crue were often regarded as 'hair metal' and compared to their peers such as Warrant, Poison, Whitesnake and Faster Pussycat. But the truth is that their music was in reality much closer to that of Cheap Trick and the New York Dolls. These bands such as Poison were formed really in a response to success of Motley Crue and have much to owe them. As such being labelled 'hair metal' led Motley Crue to be critically panned by the music industry throughout the 1980s, despite being one of the key architects in 80s rock and roll and having amassed a legion of fans.

Mötley Crüe are often cited by many contemporary artists as an inspiration. Artists such as Green Day, Moby, Simple Plan, Murderdolls and Marilyn Manson have praised them in recent years, most notably for Too Fast For Love and Shout At The Devil. They've also been parodied for their early glam rock look in music videos by a variety of artists.

File:Mick Mars 12.jpg
Mick Mars on stage

Green Day's "Jesus of Suburbia" (from their blockbuster album American Idiot) contains a blatant riff off of Mötley Crüe's "On With The Show" from Too Fast For Love.

Besides music, Mötley Crüe also set the scale for decadant rock and roll behavior. After the release of "The Dirt", the band has been known as one of the most decadant and self-destructive groups in rock music history, if not the most.

Members

Former, temporary members

Discography

Studio albums

Compilations

Live

Other

Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
US Hot 100 US Modern Rock US Mainstream Rock UK
1983 "Shout At The Devil" - - #30 - Shout At The Devil
1984 "Looks That Kill" #54 - - - Shout At The Devil
1984 "Too Young To Fall In Love" #90 - - - Shout At The Devil
1985 "Smokin' In The Boys Room" #16 - #7 - Theater Of Pain
1985 "Home Sweet Home" #37 - #38 - Theater Of Pain
1987 "Girls, Girls, Girls" #12 - #20 #26 Girls, Girls, Girls
1987 "You're All I Need" #83 - - #23 Girls, Girls, Girls
1989 "Dr. Feelgood" #6 - #7 - Dr. Feelgood
1989 "Kickstart my Heart" #27 - #18 - Dr. Feelgood
1990 "Without You" #8 - #11 #39 Dr. Feelgood
1990 "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)" #19 - #13 - Dr. Feelgood
1990 "Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)" #78 - #34 - Dr. Feelgood
1991 "Primal Scream" #63 - #21 #32 Decade Of Decadence
1994 "Hooligan's Holiday" - - #10 #36 Mötley Crüe
1994 "Misunderstood" - - #24 - Mötley Crüe
1997 "Afraid" - - #10 - Generation Swine
1997 "Beauty" - - #37 - Generation Swine
1998 "Bitter Pill" - - #22 - Greatest Hits
1999 "Teaser" - - #35 - Supersonic And Demonic Relics
2000 "Hell On High Heels" - - #13 - New Tattoo
2004 "If I Die Tomorrow" - - #4 - Red, White And Crüe
2005 "Sick Love Song" - - #22 - Red, White And Crüe

Music videos

Videography

  • MÖTLEY CRÜE: UNCENSORED
  • MÖTLEY CRÜE: DR.FEELGOOD THE VIDEOS
  • MÖTLEY CRÜE: DECADE OF DECADENCE '81-'91
  • BEHIND THE MUSIC: MÖTLEY CRÜE
  • LEWD, CRÜED & TATTOOED
  • MÖTLEY CRÜE: GREATEST VIDEO HITS
  • CLASSIC MÖTLEY CRÜE: UNIVERSAL MASTERS DVD COLLECTION
  • MÖTLEY CRÜE: CARNIVAL OF SINS

Books

  • Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band
File:Vince & Tommy.jpg
Tommy Lee (right) with fellow band member Vince Neil

Pop culture trivia

  • Two fictional Mötley Crüe roadies in the movie Beavis and Butthead Do America are unknowingly the fathers of Beavis and Butthead.
  • At one Mötley Crüe performance in Germany, the entire audience started chanting "/mœtli kry/". They did this due to the band's use of umlauts over their name.
  • During the band's first international tour, 'Crüesing Through Canada Tour '82' (dubbed the 'I'm in Hell' tour by the band members), there were several widely-publicized incidents. First, the band were arrested and then released at Edmonton International Airport for wearing their spiked stage wardrobe through Customs and for Vince's small carry-on filled with porn magazines (both PR stunts) - considered 'dangerous weapons' and 'indecent material', Customs eventually had the confiscated items destroyed. Second, a spurious 'bomb threat' against the band, playing Scandals Disco in Edmonton, made the front page of the Edmonton Journal where manager Coffman's assistant Eric Greif was interviewed. This ended up being a PR stunt perpetrated by Greif. Lastly, Tommy Lee threw a television set from the upper story window of the Sheraton Caravan Hotel. Word was that the band were 'banned for life' from the city.
  • Larry Flynt appears in the music video for "Afraid".
  • The album "Theatre of Pain" was originally going to be titled Entertainment or Death.
  • Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson have been married twice, at one wedding, they wore space costumes. At the other Pamela was in a bikini and Tommy was in board shorts. In 1998 when they renewed their wedding vows Tommy was dressed as a 'Knight in Shining Armour'.
  • Two of the bands members Tommy Lee and Vince Neil have had successful solo careers.
  • Nikki Sixx bought his first bass guitar with money he got from selling a guitar he stole from the same store.
  • After Metallica's infamous battle with Napster caused major controversy, members of Mötley Crüe decided to cooperate with Bob Cesca, creator of the Napster Bad! cartoon, to raise their voice for MP3 distribution and to promote their upcoming tour and album. Camp Chaos also created the music video for the song Hell on High Heels, the song available for download at the end of the cartoon. [1]
  • Tommy had a spinning drum set during the Girls, Girls, Girls tour, and a drum set that went out into the audience during the Feelgood tour. During the Carnival of Sins tour, he had two different drum sets high above the stage that he swung back and forth from. He now has hopes of a set-up where his drum set would be on a roller coaster type track.
  • Among the names the band members considered before settling on Mötley Crüe were Bad Blood, Suicidal Tendencies, Trouble and CHRISTmas.
  • 'Home Sweet Home' was ranked the #12 greatest power ballad of all time on VH1.
  • There were rumors floating around that Mick was going to be replaced on the Better Live Than Dead tour, so for the first performance of the tour he came out fully dressed and covered with a mask. According to Nikki, he could see people in the crowd saying 'That's not Mick'.
  • Mötley Crüe was the first band ever to have two singles released at the same time on MTV, Anarchy In The UK and Primal Scream in 91.
  • In 1998 Mötley Crüe performed at WWF RAW is WAR.
  • Every album (except Raw Tracks I & II) has a different "Mötley Crüe" logo.
  • Home Sweet Home was the first ever power ballad played on MTV.
  • Dr. Feelgood was ranked the #10 Greatest Air Guitar Song on VH1.
  • Dr. Feelgood was ranked the #46 Big Hair Song of all time on musicMAX.
  • The Dirt spent 10 Months on the New York Times Best Seller list.

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mötley_Crüe&oldid=55426778"