A Crue Of Pals, Part 1: Poison & Ratt

 Nikki Sixx & Ratt's Robbin Crosby show us what rock stars looked like in 1984. 

 Motley & Ratt were buds in the glory days of the Sunset Strip in the early '80s & both enjoyed early success. Ratt didn't have the second career Motley did but their tunes like 'Round And Round' continue to be played on classic rock radio & used in movies & commercials.

 Nikki & Tommy appeared as cops in Ratt's video for their tune 'Back For More.' 

  They made another appearance alongside Ozzy Osbourne with brief glimpses of Carmine Appice & Jake E. Lee in Ratt's video for 'You Think You're Tough'. Man, what's with Ratt using actors & musicians who are more famous than they are for their videos?!

In the 21st century, Nikki especially liked to distance Motley from cliche' 1980s Hair Metal music. Although it can be argued Crue started the whole fad in 1985 with the release of their commercial Theatre Of Pain album & extreme glam image, probably no other band can be so perfectly labelled 'Hair Metal' as Poison.

The two bands do not seem to have crossed paths very often & the two photos from my collection date from the year 1987. Although Nikki would bad-mouth Poison in the 2000s & insist that Motley was a different creature they still toured with the band in 2011, using openers The New York Dolls to add legitimacy to the bill.

Here's the Poison boys covering Motley's 'Looks That Kill' from an early show before they became Hair Metal superstars.

             
                 More Motley and their Rock Star pals to come at The Sleaze Patrol Files!!