I just finished reading a very fucked up book.
How accurate it is, I dunno.
How embellished it is, I dunno.
But I think it’s safe to say that the original members of Motley Crue have lived some truly fucked up lives.

I have to say, when I was in high school, I liked the Crue. I outgrew them pretty quickly though…they had pretty much lost me by the time Girls, Girls, Girls came out. But to this day I still like all of their breakthrough album,Shout At The Devil, and most of what I can remember of their debut, Too Fast For Love. I remember though being in my guitar class ( a joke of a class in high school that I was able to take for all three years- easy A’s, and a great way too learn a lot of cool riffs). Most of the “real” musicians hated Motley Crue. They called them cheap metal. I think cheap metal is what’s now known mostly as hair metal, though it’s not all that cheap. I mean you have to at least have a modicum of talent to get it right.
But why would I buy the autobiography of Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, and Vince Neil?
Shit, I don’t rightly know.
It MAY be because I liked the cover…
A mocked up Jack Daniels bottle. I’m sure I was very into the Crue when I received a bottle of Jack Daniels for my 15th birthday, and my friends and I walked around the neighborhood sharing it. Jesus, what can pass as a good time to misfit youth.
Or it can be because of the cover blurbs…it sounded like a very cool read for a Hard Rock / Heavy Metal fan.
Or it may have been that the VH1 - Behind The Music on Motley was a very interesting episode.
But what may be the biggest influence was Nikki Sixx himself.
While Metallica’s James Hetfield remains my biggest musical idol overall (despite’s his band’s consistent decline, unfortunately) Nikki Sixx has always seemed like an uber-cool “rock star”. I must admit, after reading his exploits I’m less than thrilled with him as a role model, but somehow, despite my best intentions, still have some respect for him.
But back in the day, he just seemed like he was cooler than anyone else out there.

Anyway, sorry for the lack of umlauts. I’m just not that fucking dedicated.

The Dirt is told by the individuals, but I’m sure journalist Neil Strauss helped with some of storytelling styles. These four guys are crazy.
Their sexual exploits are frightening, and their absolute descent into drug filled, drunken debauchery is absolutely revolting. Anybody who knows me knows I hate drugs, but these guys seemed to live for them. They were on top of the world for a while, but they were so fucked up, all they cared about was getting even more fucked up.
Absolutely disgusting, but at least they all SEEM to have grown for it.
When all is said and done, surprisingly, Mick Mars has emerged as my favorite. I say surprisingly because I never really appreciated his guitar playing all that much, and because he’s the least known of the lot, so there was more to learn about.
I already mentioned that I ended up still having some respect for Sixx, but aside for feeling terrible about the death of his daughter, I can’t say I have all that much respect left for Vince Neil. He just sorta rubbed me the wrong way.

The most famous member of Motley Crue actually hasn’t been with the band for a while, but Tommy Lee almost comes off as the sentimental favorite. I didn’t buy it completely, and I’m sure Heather Locklear and Pamela Anderson have very different versions of how life was during their relationships.
Still, I have to admit that he and Sixx have similar personalities and even though on the surface I’m nothing like them (well, except for all those damn Playmates I’m always banging), I feel a certain kinship to them. Good thing I’m such a coward or maybe I woulda ended up in jail too! Or dead even?

Ironically somebody who definitely comes out of this book smelling like roses is John Corabi, a singer–guitarist who actually replaced Vince Neil for one album, the self titled Motley Crue, and it’s tour.
(I looked everywhere for that cassette, which I know I had, but don’t remember liking. Reading what they were thinking when they wrote it makes me think I would like it more now.) Anyway, Corabi basically comes across as somebody who got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I don’t know if anybody who doesn’t either love Motley Crue or hard rock in general can appreciate the book. But even though it’s revolting, it’s kind of fascinating, and it’s definitely entertaining.