Motley Crue the undisputed Bad boys of the Hard
Rock Scene, have been one of the most popular artist
of that genre of music for over fifteen years.
In 1981 Nikki Sixx joined up with Tommy Lee,
abandoning their current bands, and formed Motley
Crue. They soon added Vince Neil (Wharton)on
Vocals, and Mick Mars (Bob Deal) on lead guitar.
With Sixx as the bassist, and Lee drumming the
foursome struggled to come up with an imaginative
name for their new group. It was Mick Mars who
suggested Mottley Krue. The new name donned
Motley Crue, the boys began to infiltrate the LA music
scene, capturing a wide audience with their
aggressive sound, and stage theatrics.
Here is where Allan Coffman fits into the picture.
Coffman so believed in the band, that he financed
their first record, "Too Fast For Love". The
independent release soon sold out it's initial pressings
of 2000, and they decided to go for broke, and
ordered up almost 30,000 copies for the second
pressing.
Virgin records, and Elektra showed interest, and
offered Motley Crue recording contracts. The Crue
signed with Elektra and released a remixed version of
Too Fast For Love for the label. Touring was on the
agenda next, while the Elekra Version of Too fast For
Love sold well.
The follow up to the debut record Shout at the Devil
landed the band on the Top 20. The band found their
first brush with controversy with this record, when
fundamentalist labeled them Devil Worshipers, siting
the bands pentagram Logo, and lyrics from the Shout
at the Devil Record.
Then tragedy struck, Vince Neil was driving a car
under the influence of alcohol when he smashed into
another car, killing his passenger Nicholas Dingley of
Hanoi Rocks, and critically injuring the people in the
other vehicle. In 1985 Vince was convicted of
Vehicular Manslaughter, and Driving while intoxicated,
and ordered to spend 30 days in jail, serve 200 hours
of community service, and pay a fine of $2.6 million
dollars.
By 1985 The dark sound and leather were replaced
by silk, lace and lip stick. The Crue went Glam with
their Theater of Pain record. The power ballad Home
Sweet Home would become a major crossover hit for
the band. While the record sold well, the band
launched a huge tour, and solidified their status as
first class showmen.
For the follow up to Theater of pain, Girls, Girls, Girls,
the band once again changed their image. Adopting a
outlaw Biker attire, and recapturing the early raw and
aggressive attitude of the band, Girls, Girls, Girls,
became a hit.
Never ones to play it safe, the bands video for the
ballad, "You're all I need" was banned from MTV for
excessive violence. The song tells the story of an
insane person who so loves his girl friend that he kills
her. The execs at MTV, by this time no longer the
revolutionary venue for artist, but yet another
corporate music empire, found the video's subject
matter as too controversial, and refused to play it.
The band most popular record to date, Dr. Feelgood
was released in 1989, and soon captured the number
one slot on the US charts. a Greatest hits was
released two years later called "Decade of
Decadence". Decade reached number 2 on the US
charts.
In Feb. 1992 the band decided to fire Vince Neil, after
he showed up hours late to practice one night.
Feeling that he was no longer committed to the band
as he should be, they parted ways with their front
man. A heated court battle insued, and Vince started
his own band, and the Crue hired John Corabi to take
Neil's place.
1994's Motley Crue with Corabi on Vocals was a
musical experiment for the band, they played with the
industrial rock sound, and the record never really took
off. And the supporting tour was plagued with small
half filled venues.
Lead singer Corabi was on rocky terms with the band
when they began recording Personality #9. The
release date was pushed back, and rumors spread
the the Crue was reuniting with Vince Neil. The
reunion was announced by Tommy Lee's wife Pamela
Anderson on the America Music Awards on Jan 21,
1997.
The reunited Crue headed into the studio to try and
salvage as much of Personality #9 as they could, The
result was the Generation Swine album.
The record proved that the magic of the Crue was
once again present, when the album debuted at
number 4 on the US Charts.
Written by Keavin Wiggins (Managing Editor)
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