Dr. Feelgood was released around September 1st, 1989. That’s a pretty darn long break from the Girls record & tour. The Girls record was released in May of 1987 so that’s almost two and a half years between records . . . & with the Dr. tour starting in November of ‘89, this was almost a two-year touring break as well. There must have been a lot of last minute mixing or something with the record because it really should have been released earlier in the year. The ‘straight-jacket’ photos were unleashed on the public earlier in 1989 & can be seen as a way to tide the fans over until some new music was released.
Some slight backtracking here: here’s an early 1989 Circus article with Tommy reporting things Motley from the Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver. The boys are playing Moscow & Feelgood is scheduled to be released in July.
(click to enlarge & READ)
Concert Shots’ Sonya Shelton caught up with Nikki just before the guys headed to Moscow [see Moscow post below] to talk about the new record & the state of Motley in 1989. His still unpublished book of poetry is mentioned as is his childhood penchant for copying-out song lyrics. This is a mature Sixx saying goodbye to the ‘80s & to a new life for Motley that we all now know didn’t happen, unfortunately. It’s great to hear him ‘categorize’ the earlier Crue records & say that Too Fast is a ‘pop-punk’ record. It’s rare to hear punk music cited as an influence as much in those days as it is now after all the faux punk of the ‘90s-‘00s. Also below is a short Circus article with Nikki discussing Motley’s tour plans . . . I love how writer Anne Rasso refers to him as the ‘self-proclaimed “King of Sleaze” . . .
. . . And then, of course, the hard rock masterpiece is released . . .
The reviews & attention were mostly very positive, the audience & media echoing the band’s line that this was the most powerful & stream-lined Crue yet.
The Crue had gained an industry respect that had not been formerly forthcoming. When Dr. would go on to sell 5-6 million (still not in the same league as Bon Jovi or Guns N’ Roses), the Crue were regarded as heavyweights. The following article by Mike Smith of Powerline has him salivating over the album as he is introduced to it at a listening party. There are new Motley photos & an interview with Vince & Nikki.
I’m going to be a little all over the place with the rest of my Dr. Feelgood-era Crue collection. There is a lot of media from the tour & YouTube now has all kinds of 1989-1990 Crue stuff. We’ll leave you with some Sleaze Patrol Files TV: a Tommy Lee interview I taped from back in ‘89 when he made it up to Canada to do press for the record. This is an interview that was aired on The New Music. It was also used for Much Music’s Power Hour & I will upload that vid soon. Also, here’s a interview with Vince & Tommy from ‘89 just after the record came out. They are so pumped to be Motley!
And here’s the third of eight parts of Dr. Feelgood-era video from a Crue fan on YouTube. Stay tuned for more sleaze at the SPFiles . . .
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