Which Song Made Mötley Crüe Popular?

For those of you who absolutely love Mötley Crüe, I’m with you! Even after hearing about all the crazy charades they got themselves into (and that’s putting it extremely lightly), they are the perfect example of “sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll”. Why was this so popular? For that answer you might want to check out my blog on why the 80s were so weird.

According to their manager, Doc McGhee, they were the most outrageous and insane group he had managed. And yet, they could pay for it all since they are worth millions, selling over 100 million albums worldwide. Here are some of their greatest accomplishments:

• 7 platinum or multi-platinum certifications
• 9 Top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 chart
• 22 Top 40 mainstream rock hits
• 6 Top 20 pop singles

They hit a few bumps in the road, such as Nikki Sixx with his heroine addiction and Vince Neil leaving from 1992-1996 and Tommy Lee leaving from 1999-2004. But this was over the course of 40 years! Can you imagine working with the same people for that long? The group was so tight knit that someone might need space at some point right?

Anyways, how did they become famous? Which one of their record-breaking songs was responsible for launching them into fame?

Which Song Made Mötley Crüe Famous?

The song “Live Wire” was what made Mötley Crüe famous, which was included in their first album Too Fast for Love (1981), released in November 1981 and sold over 20,000 copies. Did you also know they recorded the whole album in three days while being drunk?

But their very first single recorded together was “Stick to Your Guns/Toast of the Town”, which was released on its own record label Leathür Records.

After seeing the big success in LA clubs, Mötley Crüe’s first band manager, Allan Coffman, and their assistant, Eric Greif, set up a tour in Canada while they negotiated with several record labels. They landed a contract with Elektra Records in early 1982 and producer Roy Thomas Baker re-mixed their debut album and re-released it on August 20, 1982.

Early History of Mötley Crüe

Mötley Crüe was first formed on January 17, 1981 when the bassist Nikki Sixx left a band called London and met and rehearsed with drummer Tommy Lee with vocalist/guitarist Greg Leon. Tommy knew Greg after working with him in a band called Suite 19, but Leon eventually decided to do something else and left.

Both Nikki and Tommy were searching for new members when they met guitarists Robin Moore (Jeff Gill) and Bob Deal, most well known as Mick Mars after finding his newspaper ad in The Recycler with the ad description “Loud, rude and aggressive guitar player available”. While auditioning for Sixx, Moore and Lee, he was hired before firing Moore.

Tommy then looked for Vince Neil, who he had known since high school and had performed with him in several bands on the garage band circuit.

The group watched Vince perform with the band called Rock Candy at the Starwood in Hollywood, CA and Mars suggested that Neil join. While at first Neil refused, he grew anxious to try something else after the members of Rock Candy became involved with outside projects. After Lee asked once more, Neil was hired in on April 1, 1981 and the group played their very first gig at the Starwood nightclub on April 24.

Finding a Name

As for their name, Sixx was thinking of calling themselves “Christmas”, but of course it didn’t sound right. Then Mars remembered an incident that occurred while he was in the band White Horse, when one of the band members called them “a motley looking crew”. He remembered the name and copied it down as “Mottley Cru”. The rest of the group modified it into “Mötley Crüe” with the two sets of metal umlauts inspired by the German beer Löwenbräu, which was what the group was drinking at the time.

“Crüesing Through Canada Tour ’82″

The “Crüesing Through Canada Tour ’82” should have been a memorable one since what happened was absolutely crazy, but with the amount of drugs and alcohol in their system, they probably don’t remember much.

First, they were arrested and then released at the Edmonton International Airport for wearing their spiked stage wardrobe (it was considered dangerous weapons) through customs, as well as for Neil arriving with a carry-on filled with porn magazines, although both events were staged PR stunts. But customs still destroyed these items after they were confiscated.

Then while playing Scandals Disco in Edmonton, there was a “bomb threat” which made the front page of the Edmonton Journal on June 9, 1982; both they and the assistant band manager were interviewed by the police afterwards, although this was also a PR stunt pulled off by Greif.

Finally, Tommy Lee threw a television out the window at the Sheraton Caravan Hotel shortly before they were “banned for life” from the city, according to Canadian rock magazine Music Express.

After the tour resulted in thousands of dollars in disaster damages, it was also the basis for their international press. In 1983, the band changed their management from Allan Coffman to Doc McGhee and Doug Thaler. Doc was best known for managing Bon Jovi and Kiss, starting their reunion tour in 1996. Although Greif sued all parties in a Los Angeles Superior Court that went on for several years and even re-surfaced as the the manager of Sixx’s previous band, London. But Coffman was eventually sued by various investors to whom he had sold “stock in the band”, including Bill Larson. Allan Coffman eventually declared bankruptcy and had to mortgage his home at a minimum of three times to cover the band expenses.

Growing Success and Drug Addictions

As Mötley Crüe grew more famous, their addiction to drugs and erratic behavior became more extreme. Here are just a few of their crazy stunts:

• Urinating in public and the floors in their bedrooms
• Throwing furniture and beds out of hotel windows in Hamburg Germany
• Nikki Sixx being arrested while selling “chocolate” mescaline at a Rolling Stones concert in 1973.

Despite their animal behavior, they became incredibly successful in the US after playing at the US Festival in May 1983 as well as from MTV.

Their 2nd album, Shout at the Devil, was released in September 1983. It represented their biggest breakthrough and was eventually certified 4x platinum. It also sparked controversy for the title track and album image, supposedly invoking Satanism. Then heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne became interested in the group and invited them to conduct his opening act on his 1984 Bark at the Moon tour. They had some wild clothing while performing on stage, including:

• Extreme high-heeled boots
• Heavy makeup
• Huge hair
• Leather pants and jackets
• Spiked shoulder pads

This was in addition to their crazy backstage antics and drug abuse of course.

Death of Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley

During one of their many drunken nights on December 8, 1984, Neil was driving home from a liquor run in his De Tomaso Pantera with Hanoi Rock drummer Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley when they ended up in a head-on collision. Razzle was killed immediately while Neil survived but with a DUI and vehicular manslaughter charge, serving 19 days of a 30 day sentence and paying $2,500,000.

Theatre of Pain

Mötley Crüe’s third album, Theatre of Pain was released in June 1985 and was dedicated to Razzle’s honor, which started a new glam metal phase in their style. It was another hugely successful album that reached number 6 on the Billboard album charts and even certified quadruple platinum. But despite its success, the group was traumatized and had a lot of tension from Neil’s accident and Sixx’s addiction to heroine.

The group spent the majority of 1986 on a world tour to support Theatre of Pain, but in February 1986 in London, England, Nikki Sixx almost died from a heroin overdose, shortly after his dealer dumped his unconscious body in a dumpster. The whole incident inspired Nikki  to write the song “Dancing on Glass” for their next album.

Girls, Girls, Girls

After spending so much time with girls, specifically having sex with them they dedicated a whole album to them. Girls, Girls, Girls was released in May 1987 and debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200. Nikki said it would have even reached number one if it weren’t for Whitney Houston’s record label.

But again, they changed their look for the following tour, exchanging the glam look for that of a biker band. They still battled many of the same issues from the previous Theatre of Pain tour, which Nikki complained they compromised the album’s quality, although he has mentioned more positive things about it in later years.

On December 27, 1987 Nikki suffered yet another heroin overdose and was declared legally dead on the way to the hospital. But the paramedic, who was a huge fan, revived him with two shots of adrenaline. These two minutes of death were his inspiration for the song “Kickstart My Heart” which peaked at No. 16 on the Mainstream US chart and was also featured on the 1989 US number one (their first) album Dr. Feelgood. But Nikki still continued with his heroine addiction and eventually entered rehab in January 1988.

In 1988, Matthew Trippe sued Mötley Crüe, claiming that Nikki was hospitalized in 1983 after a car crash that involved drugs and he was hired as Sixx’s doppelgänger. The lawsuit was regarding the loss of royalties from his time in Mötley Crüe and the case wasn’t closed until 1993 when Trippe finally dropped the charges and disappeared from the public.

At that point, band managers Thaler and Doc McGhee decided to pull them from tour in Europe as they thought the group would “come back in bodybags”. Just afterwards, the whole group jointly entered drug rehab to improve their situation as a band.

Journey to Sobriety

After making the commitment to sobriety in 1989, Mötley Crüe reached the peak of their fame with the release of their 5th album, Dr. Feelgood, which was produced by Bob Rock on September 1, 1989. Both Rock and Mötley Crüe recorded the album in Vancouver with the members recording in separate rooms to avoid fights and focus on individual performance. Aerosmith member Steven Tyler was also coincidentally recording their album Pump in the same studio and provided backing vocal.

On October 14, 1989,  Dr. Feelgood became a No. 1 album as each of the band members stated in interview that because of their push for sobriety, this was their most solid album musically. “Dr. Feelgood” and “Kickstart My Heart” were both nominated for Grammy in the Best Hard Rock Category in 1990 and 1991, but lost both years to songs by Living Colour. The album was also nominated twice for Favorite Hard Rock/Metal Award at the American Music Awards, losing once to Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction, but winning against Aerosmith’s Pump and Poison’s Flesh & Blood. Mötley Crüe was also nominated twice for Favorite Hard Rock/Metal Artist.

In 1989, Doc McGhee was fired after the band said he had broken several promised that he made in to the Moscow Music Peace Festival, including giving the other band, Bon Jovi, advantages in slot placement. Thaler continued on as the sole band manager.

Largest World Tour

In late 1989 and the majority of 1990, Mötley Crüe went on their biggest world tour to date. While it was also a major financial success, they were left feeling burnt out. In April 1990, Tommy Lee had a concussion during an accident involving with his rappelling drum kit stunt during a live concert in New Haven, CT.

On October 1, 1991, the band’s first compilation album, Decade of Decadence 81-91, was released. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It was also designed as “just something for the fans” while they worked on then new “all new” album.

90s and Onward

With 40+ years on tour, recording new songs and albums and never settling down with their families, Mötley Crüe had several more spats. These included Neil quitting from 1992-96 when his daughter died from cancer as well as 1999-2004 when Tommy Lee left and returned. They also suffered some major turmoil in the 90s when Vince Neil was replaced by John Corabi and the first album they produced with him as the lead singer was the first that didn’t go platinum.

It wasn’t too long before Vince Neil rejoined in 1997 when Mötley Crüe’s manager, Allen Kovac, and Neil’s manager, Bert Stein, set up a meeting between Vince, Tommy and Nikki. They all agreed to “leave their egos at the door” and released Generation Swine, which was still a commercial failure due to their lack of support from their label.

What Do You Think of Mötley Crüe?

There’s so much history to Mötley Crüe. But I just wanted to cover the early history of their commercial success in the 80s. Like all successful bands, they have their highs and lows, but they will still remain one of the most popular bands from the 80s.

What do you think of Mötley Crüe? What do you think of their crazy antics? Does it affect your impression of them as a heavy metal band? Please feel free to share in the comments below!

As for me, I think they are absolutely amazing. While I would never do the same things they did, I still respect them as a heavy metal band and give them credit for living the lives they way they wanted to, even at the expense of numerous hotels.