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 Mötley
Crüe (pronounced as 'mott-ley crue') is an
American heavy metal/Glam Metal band whose
members include Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Mick
Mars, and Vince Neil.
Mötley
Crüe was formed in 1981, in Los Angeles, after
bassist Nikki Sixx left the band London, which
was a band he and Lizzie Grey started in 1979
after he was fired from Blackie Lawless' band
Sister. The band London is 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 played 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 Tommy).
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 crue." 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 Sixx and
Tommy Lee.
Tommy
and Vince Neil originally knew each other in
high school. They had performed in different
bands in the garage-band circuit. Mick suggested
Mötley Crüe hire Vince after seeing him
perform with the band Rockandi.
At
first Vince rebuffed the band when they asked
him to audition. Then, as fate would have it,
Rockandi dissolved; Vince broke down and agreed
to audition for Mötley Crüe 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, Leathür Records. In November 1981, their
debut album Too Fast for Love was self-produced
and released on Leathür, 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 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. First with Vince's auto
accident in 1984, which had a fatality: Razzle
Dingley, drummer of Hanoi Rocks; then in 1987,
when Nikki clinically died and came back to life
after a heroin overdose. The band's decadent
lifestyle 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, Mötley Crüe 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. Read
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