Mötley
Crüe
In the late 1980s Mötley Crüe - Vince Neil (real name Vincent
Neil Wharton), Mick Mars (real name Bob Deal), Nikki Sixx (real
name Frank Carlton Serafino Ferrano) and Tommy Lee (real name
Tommy Lee Bass) - were bona fide rock gods.
The greatest career move they ever made was splitting up. The
lack of any new albums gave the myth time to grow, aided by a
mucky band biography, The Dirt, which never once required
the reader to care about the music to find it a page-turner.
The band were often surrounded by controversy, usually of their
own making. Events which kept them in the news included vocalist
Vince Neil killing his best friend - Hanoi
Rocks drummer Nicholas 'Razzle' Dingley - in 1984 when he
crashed his car whilst driving drunk, and bassist Nikki Sixx
marrying Baywatch
star Donna D'Errico - he also inserted a telephone receiver
into a groupie's vagina and then telephoned room service! In 1987
Sixx actually died of a heroin overdose but was revived from the
dead.
Meanwhile, Tommy Lee counted amongst his conquests Pamela
Anderson, Heather Locklear and a girl who was so ugly the rest of
the band called her 'Bullwinkle' - but Tommy would not break up
with her because she could spray female cum. Guitarist Mick Mars
accidentally shot his girlfriend in the early 90s and once tried
to hang his brother . . .
There were also amateur porn videos with their partners and
porn starlets, and the usual drugs and drink binges.
In August 1982, having just signed with Elektra Records, Mötley
Crüe were arguably at their dumbest and most irresponsible
in a career noted for dumbness and irresponsibility. Having their
self-produced album Too Fast For Love re-mixed by former Queen
producer Roy Thomas Baker, they were invited to attend a party at
his Sunset Drive mansion in the Hollywood hills.
Firstly they snorted cocaine off the lid of his Plexiglas piano
where, he said, Freddie Mercury wrote Bohemian Rhapsody
"while getting a blowjob". The subsequent four day
blow-out included Jacuzzi orgies, women used as human dinner
plates and enough booze and drugs to fell a herd of stampeding
buffalo.
With regular party guests such as Elton
John, Rod Stewart and Queen,
Baker had prudently installed a central locking mechanism on his
house to stop his celebrity pals attempting to drive home drunk.
 Despite
being dazed from too much cocaine, alcohol and Jacuzzi sex,
resourceful Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx managed to escape,
scale a perimeter wall and - still naked from the hot tub -
attempt to drive home. He promptly smashed his Porsche into a
telephone pole and attempted to hitchhike the rest of the way
stark naked with a dislocated shoulder.
The festive season of 1984 wasn't a particularly jolly one for
Vince Neil, although it was considerably better than that
experienced by Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle Dingley (who
incidentally hailed from the Isle Of Wight).
After a hardcore drinking binge, Neil and Dingley decided to
take a drive to the local store for some continued sustenance.
Unfortunately Neil, who had elected to drive, was by this stage
well over the limit.
Accelerating too quickly, Neil caused his 1972 Ford Pantera to
hydroplane as it passed through a puddle of water and within
seconds they had careered head-on into an approaching Volkswagen.
Dingley died within moments of the collision and both passengers
of the VW were seriously injured.
Neil survived the crash and was convicted of felony vehicular
manslaughter. He served only 18 days in jail, but did 200 hours
community service and was ordered to pay $2.6 million in
compensation.
Neil was sacked by the band in February 1992 and launched a
solo career, then returned five years later for what appeared a
final pay day.
To celebrate the 1997 reunion of Mötley Crüe, and the release
of their new album Generation Swine, the Skeleteens soda
company released a beverage called 'Motley Blue'. In addition to a
tangy ginseng-and-jalapeno flavour, the soda boasted the added
attraction of turning your faeces blue!
Tommy Lee was arrested in 1998 following a 911 call made by his
wife, Pamela Anderson. Lee was charged with spousal abuse, child
abuse and unlawful possession of a firearm, and was given a six
month jail sentence, placed on probation for three years and
ordered to give $5,000 to a shelter for battered women.
In their mid-80s salad days, Mötley Crüe were all about
attitude over song writing, group members managing to suspend
normal human traits such as fear of death, in pursuit of a good
time.
Now and again they struck lucky musically, but generally, Mötley
Crüe were to Van Halen and KISS
what Netto is to Waitrose and Sainsbury's. But if you wanted
to wear mascara and drink Southern Comfort, The Crüe were
the band for you!
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