Motley Crue

Members: Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee

Active: 1981-present

HISTORY

1980'S

Motley Crue 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.

Nikki asked London bandmate Greg Leon about musicians interested in joining a new band. Leon recommended the drummer Tommy Lee who was currently in the band Suite 19.

Nikki and Tommy met guitarist Mick Mars 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 Krue. The name was later applied to the band he was to join in 1981 with Nikki and Tommy.

Tommy and Vince Neil originally knew each other in high school. They had performed in different bands in the garage-band circuit. Mick suggested Motley Crue hire Vince after seeing him perform with the band Rock Candy.

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 Motley Crue after Tommy called him once more.

Now the four members were together. They played in Los Angeles and Hollywood for a while, catching fire wherever they went. They soon met their first manager, Allan Coffman, who was a Vietnam veteran. The band's first release was the single "Stick to Your Guns/Toast of the Town," which was released on their own label, Leath?r Records. In November 1981, their debut album Too Fast for Love was self-produced and released on Leath?r, selling 20,000 copies. Their success in the Los Angeles club scene earned them a recording contract with Elektra Records in early 1982. The debut album was then remastered by producer Roy Thomas Baker and re-released on August 20, 1982.

In 1982, 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.

After playing the US Festival, the band took the United States by storm. They were known as much for their hedonistic lifestyle, 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 (1983), Theatre of Pain (1985), and Girls, Girls, Girls (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, Razzle Dingley, drummer of Hanoi Rocks, was killed. Vince was charged with a DUI and vehicular manslaughter, and spent 30 days in prison. In 1987, Nikki had a fatal overdose of heroin and passed out. He was picked up in an ambulance, but was declared legally dead on the way to the hospital. But one medic refused to give up. He 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. Shortly after, all the band members underwent rehabilitation, except for Mick, who cleaned up on his own.

After finding sobriety in 1989, Motley Crue reached its peak popularity with the release of their fifth album, Dr. Feelgood, on September 23, 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.

1990'S

Changing trends in music and the temporary departure of Vince from the band in February 1992 caused a decline in M?tley Cr?e's commercial success, although a self-titled 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, Motley Crue, 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 recorded 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, Motley Records.

In the 1990s, Motley Crue 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. However, only Nikki's marriage has endured the test of time.

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, Motley Crue'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 Cr?cial Cr?e. 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 Crue released the DVD Lewd, Crued & Tattooed after a performance in Salt Lake City.

2000'S

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 Motley Crue 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 Motley Crue'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 & Cr?e, 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, & Crue, includes an extra new track titled "I'm a Liar (and That's the Truth). Red, White & Crue charted at #6, and has since gone platinum.

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, Motley Crue along with Motorhead played an encore together onstage of "Anarchy in the U.K.", a worldwide first. On December 31st 2005, Motley Crue played the Crue 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.

ALBUMS:

1982 - Too Fast for Love

1983 - Shout at the Devil

1985 - Theatre of Pain

1987 - Girls, Girls, Girls

1989 - Dr. Feelgood

1994 - Motley Crue

1997 - Generation Swine

2000 - New Tattoo

COMPILATIONS:

1988 - Raw Tracks

1990 - Raw Tracks vol. 2

1991 - Decade of Decadence

1994 - Quaternary

1998 - Greatest Hits

1999 - Supersonic and Demonic Relics

2003 - Music to Crash Your Car To, Vol. 1

2004 - Music to Crash Your Car To, Vol. 2

2004 - Loud as F*@k

2005 - Red, White and Crue