The Best of Motley Crue Vol. 2–December 1991-Part 1

 

This baby came out just before we heard of the Vince split in 1992. The folks at Superstar Special gave us this Motley tribute as well as ‘Other Action Metal’ with Anthrax, G n’ R & L.A. Guns getting in on said action (only the Crue segment is featured here).

Pin-up mania with shots from the Dr. Feelgood era.

We don’t learn much about the tribute from editor Mike Greenblatt’s note but I know one of the main sources for this edition was Metal Edge Magazine. I already had several of the pin-ups & articles from when they were originally published.

The following trip through the Crue years found its way into several Motley tribute magazines.

 

Fun to see the Crue with a bunch of famous & not-so-famous ‘80s figures. The bad boys of Rock knew how to make friends.

With the success of Dr. Feelgood you saw the boys rub shoulders with more famous & iconic celebrities like Sylvester Stallone, Arsenio Hall & Willie Nelson.

Above is a solid block of Sixx. Nikki quotations through the 1980s & then pics of the man from the Feelgood & Shout At The Devil eras from before Nikki learned to eat his food with a fork. 

[Part II can be seen HERE]

Crue Carnival Memorabilia

 

The summer would bring the carnival into our sleepy town & the metal heads would go to the game booths to throw darts, spin wheels, shoot water & pellet guns & sink basketballs just to get our hands on some cheap Rock memorabilia. Pins, posters, mirrors, hats, flags, jewelry, anything with our favorite band’s image or logo would do.

Never mind that this stuff was made cheaply (see above, nice pentagram!), it was some of the only music merchandise available to us poor kids.

The mirrors were always a prized possession. Although most of them were just a plain graphic on some old recycled/cut-up door mirror or something, there were usually ones of slightly higher quality that would cost more to win or buy. Memory tells me that this is where the below Too Fast For Love mirror came from.

Mick Mars 3: Bob’s Deal With The Crue

Let’s start this post off by saying right out of the gate: We love Mick Mars. You may even hear us suggest that Mick is THE sound of Motley and the most important member. Ever hear another guitar player play a Crue song? Just doesn’t sound right. Why does Motley stuff not sound like the rest of the Hair Metal music of the ‘80s? Because at the helm was an older, wiser, more seasoned and complex musician named Robert Deal. 

Harry Clay was a former member of Whitehorse (and, briefly, "Mottley Croo") alongside Bob Deal from roughly 1973-1977. Harry was recently interviewed for the podcast ‘Heavy Metal War Stories’ and reveals an amazing amount of candid and crucial Crue/Mick Mars history that sheds much light on those elusive early Motley years. The interview is over an hour long but worth every second to any Crue head. We thank the host for this essential interview.

Harry Clay Interviewed by Heavy Metal War Stories:

Podcast Powered By Podbean

. . . uploaded to YouTube, 2019

So Mick Mars is responsible for:

1. The band name, Motley Crue.

2. Tommy Lee’s rotating drum set idea (see more about that HERE).

3. The connection to the Coffmans which got the Crue up and running.

4. Himself! Mick Mars (stage name from former band mate Micki Marz) and his taste, experience, and powerful guitar work.  

(Mick Mars’ former band mate, Micki Marz)

It’s obvious Bob Deal was at the end of his rope when he invented the Mick Mars character and I don’t begrudge him for such a desperate move. I’m glad that Mick is more than the cliché hard rock guitarist type from the ‘80s scene. He’s just another element that made this group special. 

There are demos floating around the internet from Mick’s Whitehorse days and what makes them interesting is that he reused ideas and you can hear bits of Motley solos in these old tunes. In "It’s Only Money" Mick starts his solo with a piece that would later pop up in "Take Me To the Top" on Too Fast For Love. 

****Images without watermark are from Harry Clay’s Myspace page and are not part of my collection.

The Crue Chronicles – Rip Magazine, 1990

 

Sylvie Simmons’ Rip Magazine article ‘The Crue Chronicles’ is a classic that traces the Crue career up to 1990. The introduction is the best part as well as the candid pics, some by long-time collaborator Ross Halfin.

(click images to enlarge & READ)

 

Vince Neil Part 4 – 1987-1988

 

We catch up with Vinnie in 1987 on the Girls, Girls, Girls tour. Blast! finds out ‘What Makes Him Really Happy’:

 

Charrie Foglio asks Vince about the road, his new girlfriend (& soon to be wife), his thoughts on the AIDS epidemic & details about his 1986 incarceration in her Hit Parader article ‘Motley Crue: Wild Kingdom’.

Metal Edge’s Gerri Miller has a candid conversation with the Blonde God in 1988 as the band was about to begin rehearsals for the Dr. Feelgood record. Vince is engaged to Sharise by this time & credits Motley’s recent cancellation of their European tour to band exhaustion. Vince also lies & says a bottle of mustard exploded in his hand backstage before a show back in 1987 but I believe the incident is mentioned in The Dirt & we learn Mr. Neil was actually having a temper tantrum!