Effing Gnarly Classic Crue Photos #1 - World Of Motley Crue

We have our childhood pin-ups and posters, buttons, flags, magazines, LPs . . . but in recent years we have become rabid collectors of digital Motley images we find online. Facebook, Pintrest, Instagram have become veritable libraries of crazy rare and sometimes never-seen-before images. Here are a few we'd like to share:

The bottom shot is the band doing one of their first photo shoots in April, 1981 at Goodman's Music (with owner). This was taken by Don Adkins.

10 Year Anniversary of The Sleaze Patrol Files 2010-2020

We somehow forgot that this blog turned ten years old last month!

So much has happened in Motley Land in the last ten years . . . seriously, do these guys ever stop?
And, yes (knock on wood), they're all still with us.

From 2010-2020 Motley retired, had a successful biography movie released about their career, reformed and then had to halt their activity like everyone else due to the semi-global shutdown caused by the Corona-virus in 2020.

Mick still hasn't released a solo album; Nikki moved from California to Wyoming and is doing his best impression of a soccer mom on his Instagram account; Tommy released an album in 2020 and is a social media celebrity with his wife Brittany; Vince is battling weight issues and preparing for the potential reunion tour in 2021-2022 and is doing some solo shows, as always.

Here's an unpopular opinion: we hope this co-tour with Def Leppard and Poison and whoever else doesn't happen. We hope, if they must tour again (and they really shouldn't), they do it headlining alone in arenas like they're supposed to. We MIGHT go see that reunion.

Mick Funz is not a real person and over the last ten years has been the pseudonym of several people. Motley Crue are interesting as a subject of nostalgia and vicarious entertainment. In our real lives we enjoy and produce and partake in many other styles of music and culture: The Sleaze Patrol Files is an attempt to make something meaningful out of our childhood collections of 1980s Rock Culture. We still love the old Motley music, we even think the true character of the band has not been represented by any movie, book or documentary. The "phenomenon" of Motley Crue has yet to be shown accurately and can only be done by writers, researchers and publishers not associated with the band.

Motley Crue will turn 40 years old on April 1st, 2021. Although the band often cites January 1981 as their birthday, it was actually just the date Nikki decided he was going to create a band like Motley Crue . . . Vince didn't join the band until April 1st with Tommy and Mick being recruited months earlier. Too Fast for Love was released in November of 1981. What an opportunity for an amazing 40th anniversary boxset next year! But all the good stuff is owned by private collectors that Nikki hates so there goes that legacy.

As we stated 10 years ago in our introduction to this blog: This is Not A Fan-Boy site.
Let's be frank: Motley Crue, in 2020, suck.
They haven't put out really good music since the 1990s; the bio movie was a cheapo straight-to-Netflix campy romp with no substance; they put on bloated, poorly-executed concerts in the 2010s; Vince Neil has become the subject of endless parody videos showing the atrocious state of his live vocal . . . it is what it is. We stick around to get more of the old days. More and more photos and stories and info are revealed as the years pass, this is the best part about the ease of sharing on social media. Uber Crue fans and collectors and folks formerly associated with the band are talking and sharing their memories and collections and it's been a bit of a Crue fans' dream since the movie came out in 2019 when the band got that much more popular.

Thanks to those who have visited over the years. We'll try to keep the ship afloat. We do have more Crue collectibles to share. Have a Motley Christmas and a Happy Crue Year!

Crue Clippings #1 - Nikki In Hustler Magazine, c. 1990

I got this clipping (and many more) from a school friend.
"Hey Mick, look what I found in one of my dad's porn mags!"

1981-04-24, 25 - Live at The Starwood (Opening for Y&T) - VIDEO - Crue Boots

Fitting that Motley's very first show at the Starwood on April 24th and 25th is the first post in a series on the live bootlegs of the band. This first "project" will deal with the Too Fast For Love era shows (1981-1983). There are only around 12 video and audio boots of the band from these years.

The Starwood boot has been floating around collector's circles since the 1980s. I remember seeing it advertised for sale in the back of Hit Parader and Circus Magazines. I finally got a copy in the late '80s and could hardly believe what I was seeing and hearing. I had only heard Too Fast For Love in 1987 and had no idea the band had such a humble beginning. Motley Crue were always superhero big when I saw them in the mid to late 1980s. This young band bashing it out on a club stage was a revelation.

This is the only Too Fast For Love era show on video. Only a few brief clips survive otherwise. The rest of our 1981-1983 boot journey will will be almost exclusively in the land of Audio. 

The Crue would have played a total of four sets over the two nights, early and late shows. What is represented on the bootleg is patchy and a mess! A complete and HQ copy of the show does currently exist in a collector's hands but Nikki is so litigious when it comes to the band's early history that this fan fears we will never see the whole show properly released. 2021 will be the 40th anniversary of the show and the band's beginning. What an opportunity to release this concert in a box set along with audio the band has never officially remastered or released at all. It won't happen, though.

Friday, April 24th, 1981 - Early Set
1. Mick Mars solo into Stick To Your Guns
2. Nobody Knows What It's Like to Be Lonely
3. Public Enemy#1 [Vince says "Goodnight" at song's end]

Friday, April 24th, 1981 - Late Set
4. starts in the middle of Toast Of The Town ["That's the b-side of our new single!"]
5. Too Fast For Love
6. ballad announced but cuts to end of Paperback Writer (The Beatles)
Vince says "We're Motley Crue! We're gonna be back tomorrow night!"

Saturday, April 25th, 1981
7. cuts into unreleased song Why You Killin' Yourself?
This is the only known recording of this song.
8. Tonight (The Raspberries)
9. Mick solo into Stick To Your Guns ["This is the A-side of our single"]
10. Public Enemy #1 ["Good night!"]

11. Eliteworks shared a complete HQ performance of the band playing Paperback Writer back in 2011. I do not know what night or set it's supposed to be from.

The Crue and the BLM Movement - Some Fun

Here's an "essay" I recently wrote at a chat-board. It was a tongue-in-cheek response to trolls wondering why T-Bone and the Sixxster have had nothing to say about the 2020 BLM movement. Anyone who knows Motley knows that their history with race relations is complicated.
Copyright 2020, Mick Funz.


THE MOTLEYS AND THE BLM MOVEMENT

Motley Pin-Ups #2

Here are some more random Motley pin-ups and images from my childhood collection. Check out the wear and tear on a few of these, ha ha. In the 1980s, Motley Crue pictures from magazines would sometimes pass into several hands before they found a home in fans like me or, more often, thrown in the garbage!
Here's Pin-Ups Part 1

 

Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars in Guitar Magazine, January 1990

"The bass player claims he's really just a songwriter. The guitarist can only solo on one chord. Both say they ought to practice more often, but then admit too much practice could lead the band to ruination. They wouldn't be motley anymore. But, wait a minute: the guitarist spends his off hours composing classical themes for cello and violin. The bass player is about to release a book of poetry. What is going on here?" 

John Stix's Guitar Magazine interview with Nikki and Mick is one of the most detailed accounts from the 1980s of the Motley string men as working, creative musicians. Both frankly admit their limitations while showing a deep awareness of their talents and how they approached their roles in one of the world's then biggest Rock bands.  

Mick speaks of creating out-of-character Rock instrumental music with a combination of his Blues Rock sensibilities and Classical music touches. He also talks in depth about key and position preference and reveals he is not overly comfortable in E or A which is surprising as they are often the most native, popular keys and positions for Blues Rock players.

Nikki discusses a book of poetry and lyrics he was planning on publishing but never saw the light of day. The book was to be a mix of Motley lyrics with as many new songs and poems and was later titled "An Education In Rebellion."  

Among the more fascinating details in this interview is Nikki's walk-through of Motley's songwriting process. From writing on acoustic guitars to Mick's electric guitar additions to having Vince mumble melody ideas, Nikki lays out the process which yielded such classics as "Don't Go Away Mad" and "Dr. Feelgood". This is the type of information that was not often asked of or offered from the Crue and it is a welcomed change.

Mick says he will soon be working on a solo record . . . which, in 2020, is still unreleased but has been teased and may be released in the next few years. He ends the interview by admitting that though perhaps more accomplished players may criticize his technique, they know his sound which is original and recognizable. Amen, Mr. Mars.

Guitar Magazine offered guitar and bass transcriptions for "Dr. Feelgood" and the back cover of the edition has a Kramer Guitars ad that features Nikki and Mick among Rock cohorts who had taken part in the Moscow Music Peace Festival months prior in August, 1989, around when this interview would have taken place. 

The Sleaze Patrol Teen Bedroom, 1991

The walls of the Sleaze Patrol Files Blog have been decorated with vintage Motley pin-ups, posters, shirts, mirrors and assorted memorabilia since the mid 1980s. Here we are in the year 2020 with the original members all still alive and with a recently postponed tour (until summer 2021). It seems unreal. No one thought the Crue would be alive let alone performing and recording music this late in the game. 2021 is their 40th anniversary! Here is a video of the Sleaze Patrol Files headquarters back in the year 1991 when the Motleys were still in their original Decade Of Decadence heyday and before Vince would leave in 1992.

"THE DIRT" Movie/Motley's Music and Fame - World Of Motley Crue

This post was originally published in March of 2019 when the movie had just come out. Although I still pretty much believe today what I wrote at that time I would say that if I enjoy the movie at all it's as a cheesy, guilty-pleasure romp. I was hoping for something more along the lines of "Boogie Nights" but the director and the scriptwriters for THE DIRT were not at that level of awareness or talent.
For comparison, I only recently watched the Queen bio movie, Bohemian Rhapsody, and I can see why "The Dirt" did so well: the Queen movie is only marginally better. What a cheesy, dishonest, vapid film. The Live Aid ending was strong and Queen's music is great but it was only a step above the Crue movie. I'm very surprised it's been so successful.

*******************************

THE DIRT (2019) - Netflix

This is what happens when you spend the last 20 years of your career celebrating your bad behaviour and not your music.
They did an autobiography with a director and a cast and, probably, a whole production team who aren't even fans of the band's music.

Out of their nine studio albums they've released you could make the argument that only four of them are strong. They would be 1981's TOO FAST FOR LOVE, 1983's SHOUT AT THE DEVIL, 1989's DR. FEELGOOD and 1994's MOTLEY CRUE. I've been reading and discussing Motley online for almost 20 years, have watched thousands of hours of concerts and interviews and media and in my "research" (cough) these four albums are passionately and consistently celebrated at chat boards and in the comments at YouTube and other video streaming services. The 1994 album has John Corabi on vocals and many 1980s Crue Heads don't like it but its cult popularity continues to grow over the years.

"The Dirt" is a bad movie. The positive reviews from music fans (most critics are panning the film) shows perhaps a low expectation from a band they see as a joke anyway. But the movie is a cheap and artless reproduction of cardboard cut-out readings of lurid events from the book. The songs are performed periodically and pop up on the soundtrack but they are barely broached. No band is this famous simply for their reputation. Before documentaries and books they had to write five to seven albums' worth of material and some of it even had to be good. It had to sell millions and kick the asses of millions of mostly immature kids and continue to bring them joy into their middle ages to become a movie on a popular platform that many will watch 30 plus years after the fact.

Or at least you need the perfect songs to carry the narrative and sell the story. "The Dirt," with the same stories and fates as presented in that book, but, with, say, Poison songs as the soundtrack? Or even WASP or Dokken or Quiet Riot or Twisted Sister or Ratt? That book doesn't sell as much and Netflix doesn't commit it to celluloid. Motley are a truly 3D band.

Ever since the success, first, of the bands' VH1 "Behind The Music" special in 1998, then the autobiography in 2001, Motley have been playing out the third and fourth acts of their career. They have not had a creative relationship, the four of them, since 1997's GENERATION SWINE and that was mostly between the "Terror Twins," Nikki and Tommy. Vince and Mick were alienated and almost ousted in those years. 2000's almost parody of Hard Rock and other assorted songs, NEW TATTOO, showed the band forging ahead without Tommy. 2008's SAINTS OF LOS ANGELES and all the singles since are Nikki songs written and partly informed by his SIXX AM crew or friends who do approximations of a Modern Hard Rock sound. Factory assembled-sounding Rock even if some of the tunes are pretty catchy.

But there's four strong albums, by vote. I personally like songs from other albums more than songs off these strong four, but in the end, the point is that Motley Crue have a respectable amount of good music. This is why we are fans. Google "Motley Crue tribute bands." Many more than any other band from their scene. See the many fan-curated pages there are dedicated to, say, Poison or Warrant as compared to Crue. Even bands who sold twice as much as Motley like Bon Jovi or Def Leppard do not have the following that Crue have. Back in the 1980s, Crue would routinely win the popularity contests in Hard Rock magazines. They have always been something of a "people's band" and have received an almost rabid fan base. I recently listened to a 2014 interview Mick Mars did with Eddie Trunk on Trunk's radio show. Fans called in to talk to him and the reverence the fans had for the Man from Mars was touching and impressive. "You are the reason I play guitar." "I think you are the most underrated Rock guitarist EVER" I'm not sure a C. C. Deville or even a Ritchie Sambora or the Def Leppard guys would necessarily draw such a response from the public.

Anyway, we'll always have 1981-1991.

Alternate Universe Crue Albums - World Of Motley Crue

Hardcore Cruehead Fantasy talk ahead, be warned and have fun!

I'm cherry-picking the catalogue to make better albums. Every song Crue recorded or demoed that exist from 1981-1991 will be included. Did I miss anything?
Play along and make your own Motley Ideal Albums.

In this alternate universe, Motley's early years don't change much, natch.

1981 - LEATHUR
(Let's say the Crue released this EP album before Too Fast For Love.
It includes songs they demoed and some of the tunes from the
November 1981 Leathur full length record.)

1. Nobody Knows What It's Like To Be Lonely
2. Tonight (Raspberries cover)
3. Toast of The Town
4. Stick To Your Guns (TOO FAST Leathur version)
5. Public Enemy #1 (demo version)
6. Take Me To The Top (demo version)
7. Come On And Dance (TOO FAST Leathur version)
8. Too Fast For Love (TOO FAST Leathur version)

1982 - TOO FAST FOR LOVE
(Elektra version)

1. Live Wire
2. Come On And Dance
3. Public Enemy #1
4. Merry-Go-Round
5. Take Me To The Top
6. Piece Of Your Action
7. Starry Eyes
8. Too Fast For Love
9. On With The Show

1983 - SHOUT AT THE DEVIL
(All the same except you could add "Black Widow" to "God Bless The Children")

1. In The Beginning
2. Shout At The Devil
3. Looks That Kill
4. Bastard
5. God Bless The Children of the Beast/Black Widow
6. Helter Skelter
7. Red Hot
8. Too Young To Fall In Love
9. Knock 'Em Dead, Kid
10. Ten Seconds To Love
11. Danger

I personally do not think the other demoed songs from 1982 that didn't make any records are strong enough tunes for inclusion. These songs are "Run For Your Life," "I Will Survive," and "Runnin' Wild In The Night." They're good but sound too much like a Dokken or RATT B-Side and just don't cut it for a Motley record, in my opinion. Another song recorded sometime in these years, "Sinners and Saints," is cool but the demo recording that exists could be stronger.

Theatre of Pain and Girls Girls Girls are the two least popular of the band's 1981-1991 career.
Some weak B-sides and generic Hard Rock music.
So, make one great record out of the two.

Imagine if the first song we'd heard from Crue after the Shout at the Devil album was . . . WILD SIDE?
That would have been amazing.

In this alternate universe, Motley are riding high from the success of Shout At The Devil. Vince has his accident in December, 1984. The Crue are shook and it takes them until the Fall of 1985 to put out an album, "Entertainment Or Death".

There are several tunes from these years that are indisputably awesome and essential. B-side preferences are all over the place as far as I've gleaned from talking Motley online now for over a decade. I have personal favourites that will be represented here but if you're playing along, you can pick "Sumthin' For Nuthin" over "Dancin' on Glass" or "Louder Than Hell" over "City Boy Blues" or whatever. I personally like all of Motley's songs from 1981-1991 (except I think the Sex Pistols cover from 1991 is lame . . . although they did a good job. Philosophically it don't work for me) but I like some more than others.

1985 - Entertainment Or Death

1. Wild Side
2. Smokin' In the Boys Room
3. All In the Name Of . . .
4. Use It Or Lose It
5. Home Sweet Home
6. Girls, Girls, Girls
7. Save Our Souls
8. Dancin' On Glass
9. You're All I Need
10. City Boy Blues
11. Nona

The tour ends with addiction and near death experiences at the first of 1987. They spend 1987-1989 getting sober and making Dr. Feelgood. In the alternate universe Decade Of Decadence is a rarities release and "Primal" and "Angela" are on Dr. Feelgood and I prefer a few of the singles they recorded at the time over some of the DR F songs:

1989 - DR. FEELGOOD

1.TNT
2. Dr. Feelgood
3. Slice of Your Pie
4. Angela
5. Kickstart My Heart
6. Without You
7. Same Old Situation
8. Rock N Roll Junkie
9. Sticky Sweet
10. Don't Go Away Mad
11. Primal Scream

Unreleased songs from Crue demos in these years are not strong enough. "Rodeo," (AOR tripe) "Get It For Free," "Say Yeah" etc just don't cut it, in my opinion. In this alternate universe, songs like "Time For Change," "Rattlesnake Shake" and "Tonight (We Need A Lover)" and etc. were recorded but relegated to unreleased/demo/rarity status. The Crue release a rarities album in 1991 . . .

1991 - Decade Of Decadence (Rarities, Unreleased and Demos)(double album)

1. Sinners and Saints
2. Keep Your Eye On The Money
3. Bad Boy Boogie
4. Rattlesnake Shake
5. Five Years Dead
6. She Goes Down
7. Raise Your Hands to Rock
8. Sumthin' for Nuthin'
9. Fight For Your Rights
10. Jailhouse Rock (Live)
11. Tonight (We Need A Lover)
12. Teaser
13. Rodeo
14. Anarchy In The UK
15. Time For Change
16. I Will Survive
17. Runnin' Wild In The Night
18. Hotter Than Hell
19. Say Yeah/Monstrous
20. Get It For Free
21. Run For Your Life
22. So Good, So Bad
23. Louder Than Hell

In the 1990s Vince leaves and they still make the MC94 album with Corabi. I would personally switch out a few songs off the record for a few on Quarternary (an EP released at the same time). No matter how you slice it, this would be another strong record. Imagine Mick's "Bittersuite" on MC94? Fuck yeah.

1994 - MOTLEY CRUE

1. Power To The Music
2. Father
3. Hooligan's Holiday
4. Misunderstood
5. Bittersuite
6. Poison Apples
7. Hammered
8. Til Death Do Us Part
9. Welcome To The Numb
10. Smoke The Sky
11. Droppin' Like Flies
12. Baby Kills
(Anniversary/deluxe editions would add the songs I switched out here and other songs demoed at the time that came out later on singles and anniversary editions.)

1997 - GENERATION SWINE
(All the songs except the last three and replace them with the two strong singles from 1998's Greatest Hits. I think this is a good record despite its reputation. The songs are legit catchy and you can tell they worked hard on the record despite the results.)

I. Find Myself
2. Afraid
3. Flush
4. Generation Swine
5. Confessions
6. Beauty
7. Glitter
8. Anybody Out There?
9. Let Us Prey
10. Rocket Ship
11. Bitter Pill
12. Enslaved

Now, ONE strong record made out of New Tattoo, SOLA and all the singles. This album would be the last thing they recorded and released (so far) in our Alternate Crue Universe. Maybe it wasn't released til recently or . . . whenever. We'll say 2010. I seem to like the two Final Tour singles better than most. Perhaps you like other songs off of SOLA more or some of the recent "The Dirt" Soundtrack new tunes. Change accordingly.

2010 - SAINTS OF LOS ANGELES

1. If I Die Tomorrow
2. Saints of Los Angeles
3. Punched in the Teeth by Love
4. Mutherfucker of the Year
5. New Tattoo
6. Animal In Me
7. Sex
8. The Dirt
9. She Needs Rock N Roll
10. Hollywood Ending
11. All Bad Things Must End

So that's SEVEN full length albums, one EP and a deluxe rarities double album. The songs I didn't include are only found on bootlegs or singles and were never officially released by the band. 
To me, that's FIVE strong, classic albums, one strong EP, an interesting rarities release with some cool tunes and two debatable quality albums that I enjoy but think are not great.

In an upcoming post we switch band body parts to make the Motleyest Crueman of them all!

The Pornographic Motley Crue, Part 1 - World Of Motley Crue

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Motley Crue's Songs, 1981 - World Of Motley Crue

The first Motley Crue set-list included originals Nikki wrote before the formation of the band in April 1981, new songs the band worked on together and cover songs they performed at their shows.

The first four original Motley Crue songs were

Nobody Knows What It's Like To Be Lonely [aka I Got the Power]
Public Enemy #1 [co-written with Lizzie Grey]
Stick To Your Guns
Toast Of The Town

Nikki made a home recording of some of these tunes for vocalist Odean Peterson to hear sometime in February-March of 1981. By the end of March Nikki, Mick and Tommy spent three days in Crystal Sound Studio recording these tunes as well as a cover of the Raspberries song "Tonight." Odean recorded vocals for all the songs. In a 1984 testimonial he states that his vocals were erased from the 24 track master when Vince Neil joined the band and recorded his own vocals in early April. Friends told the band they thought "Toast Of The Town" and "Stick To Your Guns" sounded good so by the April 24-25th shows at the Starwood they had a 45 single of the tunes for sale ["That's the B-Side of our new single!"].

A choppy and very incomplete video bootleg exists of the first shows and gives us an idea of what they sounded like early on and what they played. It is the only live recording of the band that exists from their first six month existence. There are complete and incomplete versions of

Stick to Your Guns
Nobody Knows What It's Like To Be Lonely
Public Enemy #1
Toast Of The Town
Too Fast For Love
Paperback Writer [The Beatles]
Why You Killin' Yourself?
Tonight [The Raspberries]

"Why You Killin' Yourself?" is the only surviving version of this song. It sounds like it morphed into "Starry Eyes."
"Public Enemy #1" was co-written with Nikki's ex-London cohort Lizzie Grey. Here is a version of the song by one of Lizzie's bands from the 2010s. He died in August of 2019.

A circa May-June return to Crystal Studios yielded a recording of "Take Me To The Top." Odean stated he worked on all the aforementioned songs in March, except "Top" so it was possibly not recorded until this second session. The actual recording order and details of these early sessions is murky. "Public" and "Top" sound particularly rough and amateurish while the apparently first two recorded in April, "Nobody Knows" and "Tonight" sound more cohesive. Whatever they may have rerecorded on the other songs at this time is not known and may never be clarified.



Circa June they put together a four song demo to give to record labels. "Public Enemy #1," "Take Me To The Top," [these two had videos made by the band around this time] "Stick To Your Guns" and "Toast Of The Town."

The next surviving audio of the band is from October 2nd, live at The Country Club in Hollywood, California. They performed

Take Me To The Top
Two-Timer [Herman Rarebell]
Come On And Dance
Piece Of Your Action
Merry-Go-Round
Too Fast For Love
Toast Of The Town
Stick To Your Guns
Starry Eyes
Live Wire
Helter Skelter [The Beatles]
Jailhouse Rock [Leiber and Stoller-Elvis]

We hear tunes that will be recorded for the independently-produced Leathur "Too Fast For Love" LP in the next month and a few covers, two of which would make it to future Motley records. "Two-Timer" is actually "Hard Sensation" from Herman Rarebell's 1981 album "Nip In The Bud." There is no other Motley recording of this tune.
"Live Wire" makes its first appearance on a recording. The story was told (and filmed for the 2019 bio "The Dirt") that "Live Wire" was the first song the band worked on when they first jammed in April. Either that was a made up story or it took a while for the song to develop. It is a particularly more Heavy Metal-sounding tune, unlike their earliest material, so perhaps it wasn't actually written til later in the year.



MTV News caught up with the band at their November 12th performance at the Roxy where a brief clip of the band playing "Too Fast For Love" is shared. They had just finished recording and manufacturing their debut album on their own label and would sign a distribution deal with Greenworld who would soon have the album in stores and available through mail-order. The Leathur "Too Fast For Love" LP has the songs

Live Wire
Public Enemy #1
Take Me To The Top
Merry-Go-Round
Piece Of Your Action
Starry Eyes
Stick To Your Guns
Come On And Dance
Too Fast For Love
On With The Show

"Public Enemy #1," "Take Me To The Top" and "Stick To Your Guns" are recorded for a second time in 1981. All of these tunes would be performed and recorded live by the band in these years except "On With The Show" which wouldn't be played live for another 25 years!

On December 11th [Nikki's birthday] the band played The Whisky A Go-Go. They performed

Take Me To The Top
Running Wild In The Night
I Will Survive
Toast Of The Town
Starry Eyes
Piece Of Your Action
Come On And Dance
Too Fast For Love [without the intro]
Merry-Go-Round
Live Wire

Vince at the Whisky, 1981

Two new songs are performed: "Running Wild In The Night and "I Will Survive." Crue fans know these tunes from the "Shout At The Devil Demos" that have floated around bootleg circles since the 1980s and were recorded circa December 1982. With their first album completed the band must have been anxious to write and perform some new material. It would be almost two more years before the next album was released.

LOST SONGS

Nikki had songs written, rehearsed and perhaps even performed by the band that are only now represented by a mention on a surviving set-list or a lyric sheet. Odean recalled a tune called "Can't Stop The Music" that has never materialized ["Toast Of The Town" was titled "Talk Of The Town" in these early days]. "Why You Killin' Yourself?" seems to have become "Starry Eyes."
Crue collector Ryan Anderson adds "Breakdown Your Heart," "On My Video" "I'm In Hell"/"Welcome to Hell" and "TV and Violence." The last title had legs: it was considered for the title to albums that became known as "Shout At The Devil" and "Girls, Girls, Girls."

This article and research copyright Mick Funz, 2020

1981 Discography - World Of Motley Crue

Nikki, Tommy and Mick were demoing tunes in circa March 1981 and were working with a vocalist named O'Dean Peterson. At the same time they were looking for other singers and Tommy gave Vince a demo tape. Vince joined the band and recorded his own vocals in April. By their first shows at The Starwood on April 24th-25th they had pressed a single 45 of the tunes "Toast Of The Town" and "Stick To Your Guns." In the next few months the band put together four songs on a cassette for promotional purposes. The two songs from the 45 as well as "Public Enemy #1" and "Take Me To The Top." These last two tunes were possibly demoed in circa May and the band made video performances of the songs. In the 21st century fans were treated with the discovery and release of two songs from Motley's first April sessions: "Nobody Knows What It's Like to Be Lonely" and a cover of the Raspberries song, "Tonight." Some Crue fans had already heard these songs back in the day as they are performed on the April 24-25th Starwood video bootleg.
 
Recorded March-April, 1981 at Crystal Sound Studios at 1014 Vine St, Hollywood with engineer Laura Livingston.

 1. Nobody Knows What It's Like To Be Lonely
    [aka "I Got The Power"]
     -First and only official release in 2001 on the Lewd, Crued and Tattooed DVD. This song was not even in bootleg circles previous to this release. The only other surviving performance of this song is from the April 24-25th Starwood bootleg. The song sounds to be playing back at a slow speed and could be tweaked to play slightly faster. This is also the longest song the band ever recorded (approx. 7 minutes).
2. Tonight [originally recorded by The Raspberries]
     -First officially released in 1999 on the "Crucial Crue" [Motley Records] "Too Fast For Love." This was not even in bootleg circles previously. The only other Motley performance of this song is from the April 24-25th The Starwood bootleg. It is also included on the 2003 Motley/Hip-O Records "Music To Crash Your Car To Vol. 1" box set (Disc 2).
3. Toast of the Town    
     -First released on the April 1981 "Leather Records" 45 rpm single. Side B to Side A's "Stick To Your Guns." Then on the c. June 1981 "Coffman & Coffman" promo cassette along with "Stick To Your Guns," "Public Enemy #1," and "Take Me To The Top." In 1999 it was re-released/remastered on the "Crucial Crue" "Too Fast For Love" (bonus track) as well as 2003's "Music To Crash Your Car To Vol. 1" Box Set (Disc 2) and 2005's "Red, White And Crue" (Disc 1). "Toast" was remastered in the digital age and is slightly different than previous versions but it is all from the single original recording from early 1981.
  4. Stick To Your Guns
     -First released on the April 1981 "Leather Records" 45 rpm single. Side A to Side B's "Toast Of The Town." Then in June 1981 on the "Coffman & Coffman" promo cassette along with "Toast Of The Town," "Public Enemy #1," and "Take Me To The Top."


Recorded circa May, 1981 at Crystal Sound Studios at 1014
Vine St, Hollywood with engineer Laura Livingston.

5. Public Enemy #1
     -only official release on the June "Coffman & Coffman" promotional cassette.
6. Take Me To The Top
     -only official release on the June "Coffman & Coffman" promotional cassette.

[Motley filmed promotional videos for both songs at International Rehearsal Studios circa May, 1981.] 


*****The above information for Motley's first six recordings is as close to accurate as I've been able to estimate what with the skimpy info they've provided regarding their early recording sessions. The often told story that Vince was so new to the band that you can hear the pages turning on the recording as he sings along to lyric sheets is funny but I've never heard those pages. "Public Enemy #1" and "Take Me To The Top" do sound like Vince is new to the material and the band. He's out of tune periodically and seems to not know lyrics despite the cheat sheets! "Nobody Knows" and "Tonight" are supposed to be the first two songs the band recorded and they sound surprisingly competent, considering, so I wonder what the actual order and state of these tracks is. Their first singer, Odean Peterson, stated in 1984 that he demoed all of the aforementioned tunes with them in March, except "Take Me To The Top" so it could be from the second session in May. *****

Paul Miles gives a circa October-November 1981 date for the Leathur "Too Fast For Love" recording session "over a drunken four days at Hit City West Studios on the corner of Pico and La Cienega boulevards." Wikipedia says it happened in October. "German producer Michael Wagener is brought to the helm of the brand-new Soundcraft 2400 series console board."
The following photo of Wagener with Vince comes from the amazing Crue collection of Ryan Anderson. 
 

October-November, 1981, Hill City West Studios, L. A., CA

Too Fast For Love [Leathur Records]

1. Live Wire
2. Public Enemy #1
3. Take Me To The Top
4. Merry-Go-Round
5. Piece Of Your Action
6. Starry Eyes
7. Stick To Your Guns
     -1999 "Crucial Crue" "Too Fast For Love" (bonus track).
8. Come On And Dance
9. Too Fast For Love    
     -1999 "Crucial Crue" "Too Fast For Love" (bonus track).
     -2003 "Music To Crash Your Car To Vol. 1" box set (Disc 2). 
10. On With The Show

-The album was released November 10th. See below for more versions and later releases.
-2003's "Music To Crash Your Car To Vol. 1" has a needle-drop of the full Leathur LP (Disc 1).

Before the band signed with Elektra in 1982 and the album was edited and re-released there were several printings of the Leathur version. An Italian Cruehead made a page explaining the different pressings.

****************************

The Vince and Michael Wagener photo is from Motley fan Ryan Anderson who has a Facebook group called "The Leathur Lair - Motley Crue Collection" where he shares his one-of-a-kind images and memorabilia from the 1981-1982 era. Ryan's collection is a stunning gathering of Coffman-era Crue collectibles and the group has become a kind of meeting place for fans and early Motley associates who share memories and their own rare memorabilia. Ryan is very open with his rarities and he has graciously allowed me to share some of his watermarked images at this blog. If you want to see the amazing Crue memories at his group just search and join at Facebook.