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This page
also available in the book: Chronological Crue Vol.2 - The Nineties

early ‘96
The March release date of Mötley Crüe’s Personality #9 album is pushed
back one year, with mixing now due for completion by July. Nikki Sixx
and Scott Humphrey write a song called Bang. Not totally happy with it,
they forward a tape of it to friend Bryan Adams, who takes it into a
London studio and sings his interpretation before sending it back.
Nikki and Scott decide to keep their original chorus and use Bryan’s
verse and some of his lyrics. The song’s name changes to Glitter.
Vince Neil moves to Las
Vegas to live for a while to help him escape painful memories of his
late daughter in his Malibu house. He also grows tired of altercations
with his Pacific Coast Highway neighbour Greg Cassidy. They place each
other under citizen’s arrest after Cassidy throws a rock through the
windscreen of Vince’s white convertible Rolls Royce. Vince subsequently
chases him and kicks down his front door. When the police arrive, Vince
is sitting on top of him punching him in the face. Both of them are
charged with vandalism. Vince had previously delivered a one-punch
knockout to him in the front yard, after he said it was best that
Skylar died because she would’ve ended up like him.
2/96
A reunited Mötley Crüe is rumoured to support the Kiss reunion tour.
Nikki is emphatic with his no. The Crüe has Elektra issue a press
release to underline that they haven’t been asked to open for Kiss and
that work on their Personality #9 album would have precluded them from
touring anyway.
Tommy Lee and Pam sue the
building contractor renovating their home saying they’ll have to pay
half-a-million dollars to undo his work on their dream home, which is
also being readied for the birth of their first child.
3/96
Unhappy with his label because of a lack of album promotion and staff
changes, Vince asks to be released from Warner Brothers records. He
parts company, planning a summer tour without record label support. In
Manhattan doing press for the tour, Vince’s manager Burt Stein takes
him to meet new Mötley manager Allen Kovac in his hotel room, where he
plants the seed in Vince’s mind that the original Mötley Crüe needs to
get back together. As he has done with the other three members of
Mötley Crüe, Kovac presents his business-orientated vision of how they
can all make much more money together, rather than apart, and letting
go of past events and grudges for the sake of it.
Recording continues on the
new Mötley album with Scott Humphrey, who is unsatisfied with the
guitar playing of Mick Mars. In time, he convinces Nikki and Tommy that
Mick’s blues and classic rock style is outdated and holding them back.
At night, Humphrey replaces Mick’s recorded riffs by adding loops and
noise filters to them, and Mick is ‘brainwashed’ into believing he is
not contributing anything to the band anymore. Nikki and Tommy try too
hard to make a great album and they take it out on John Corabi by
constantly changing stylistic direction and changing their minds about
everything.
23/3/96
After the passing of his daughter Skylar last year, Vince is finally
able to visit her grave for the first time and he decorates it with
flowers and confetti
on what would have been her fifth birthday.
29/3/96
Tommy and Pam have a ten-million-dollar lawsuit filed in the Los
Angeles Superior Court against Penthouse magazine and its executives,
claiming photos about to be published of the couple engaged in explicit
sexual and intimate relations came from a home-video of their five-day
houseboat trip on Lake Mead last year that was stolen from their
five-hundred-pound home safe as big as a fridge, hidden behind a
carpeted wall. It was allegedly stolen by construction workers Guerin
Alex Swing and Dominique and Troy Thompkins from Tommy’s home studio
between last October and January. They seek the return of all copies of
the video, plus general and special damages, and ten million dollars in
exemplary and punitive damages. Along with the video tape, the safe
contained the couple’s mementos, watches, jewellrey, cameras, knives,
guns, ammunition, money, and pictures. Tommy’s Neve recording console
was blocking the wall that hid the safe, so it must have taken a gang
of guys to move it, as well as a few racks of outboard gear. There
would also have been a crane required to lift it onto a flatbed truck.
5/4/96
The Vince Neil Band completes their last show of a ten-week tour in Springfield, Missouri and head back to Hollywood. 7/4/96
Drummer Vikki Foxx loads keyboards, amps, racks and guitars into a
truck from the Vince Neil Band’s storage and rehearsal studio Third
Encore in North Hollywood, telling the studio worker he was borrowing
it all for some home recording and had got the OK from Vince. However,
Vince is livid when he finds out the gear was taken. 9/4/96
A report is filed with the LAPD against Vikki Foxx for the theft of
music equipment. According to Robbie Crane, Vikki told him he took the
gear because “Vince owed him, and that he never got what he thought he
deserved, and Vince promised him he would take care of him and didn’t
live up to what he promised.” Crane also let Vince listen-in on a call
to Vikki where he admitted it, before Vince went off at him. Police go
to Vik’s apartment but the gear is not found. The band members later
find out he had it stored in his mother-in-law’s garage.
29/4/96
The Barb Wire soundtrack is released on Polygram’s London Records
featuring a remix titled Welcome To Planet Boom of Tommy’s original
Planet Boom track on the Crüe’s Quaternary EP. Amongst the other
artists featured on the soundtrack are Michael Hutchence from INXS,
Gun, Shampoo, Die Cheerleader and Salt ‘n’ Pepa.
30/4/96
John signs a Second Amendment to his contract that waives all of his
rights to back payment of compensation from Mötley Crüe, in exchange
for future compensation of three thousand dollars per month, plus the
payment of his trainer and vocal coach. Tired of the other band members
changing their minds in terms of direction for the new album, he soon
tells them he is fed up and just can’t do it anymore. He sarcastically
remarks that he should be a guitar player instead of the singer, after
coming up with some chords for Tommy’s new song Confessions one day.
Although stepping down, he feels they have wanted him to quit for a
long time now. He continues to work with them in the studio to get the
album completed.
5/96
Mick contributes the song Happenings Ten Years Time Ago to the Jeff
Beck tribute album titled Jeffology: A Guitar Chronicle. The old
Yardbirds song is sung by John Corabi and also features his former
band-mates from The Scream in John Alderete and Bruce Bouillet.
Nikki works on a side
project called 1958 with Dave Darling and Nikki’s mother-in-law Bree
Darling, both from the band Boxing Ghandis. Alvino Bennet’s drumming
for the album is completed in five hours. Bennet has previously worked
with Bryan Ferry. The songs are recorded in twenty six days, producing
a demo of seven songs with Nikki sharing lead vocal duties. His
first-ever lead vocal work is on the track Stormy (Brown Eyes) – a song
about his daughter. Nikki wrote ten songs in two days with Dave, then
played, mixed and edited the recording, doing everything until the
mastering stage. Other tracks recorded include a cover of the T-Rex
song Planet Queen with Nikki on lead vocals, and another original
titled Heaven Below. Song To Slit Your Wrists By is written at the
height of Nikki’s depression following his separation from wife Brandi.
He also writes a song called Killing Joke with Dave for submission to a
production company for an Oliver Stone movie but John convinces him to
keep the song instead. Nikki also has new tattoos across his knuckles,
depicting his year of birth 1958 on his right hand and SIXX on his left.
5/6/96
The first child for Tommy and Pamela is born at 3:02am and named
Brandon Thomas Lee, following Pam’s seventeen hour drug-free birth in
the bathtub of their master bedroom of their Malibu home. Tommy pulls
him out once his head comes through and then cuts his umbilical cord.
Brandon weighs in at 7lbs 7oz (3.5kgs) and measures 20¾ inches. Half an
hour after he’s born, Tommy feels inspired, so he goes downstairs and
sits at his grand piano; he writes a song called Brandon. Tommy feels
the song just flow out of him so effortlessly that it feels as though a
higher power is creating it and he is just the vehicle. Three weeks
after Brandon’s birth, he is slated for at least one appearance
alongside his mum in the TV series Baywatch. He also has a drum kit at
home next to his Dad’s for when he’s ready or able to pick up the
sticks. Brandon is named after actor Marlon Brando. If they were to
have a girl, Tommy wanted to call her China.
6/96 Vince
hits the road on a co-headlining Ménage a Trois U.S. tour with Warrant
and Slaughter. Former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo is behind
the drum kit on the tour, after the firing of Vikki Foxx. Eric Singer,
most recently the drummer in Kiss, was asked to replace Vikki for the
tour but declined.
Several photo stills from
the stolen home-video of Tommy and Pamela are published in this month’s
issue of Penthouse magazine. The couple still has to deal with constant
harassment from the paparazzi.
7/96
Pamela is said to be working on a new home-video movie called
Tommyland. Footage for the movie was shot at Tommy’s thirty-third
birthday circus party last October.
Vince’s outstanding lawsuit
against Mötley Crüe for wrongful termination, as well as contending
that as a Mötley co-founder he’s entitled to a percentage of monies
generated by future projects, comes to a final stage when lawyers and
managers of both parties arrange a meeting between Tommy, Nikki and
Vince. It’s seen as an effort to finalise the lawsuit but management
has every intention of getting the original line-up of the Crüe back
together. They meet in a suite of the Continental Hyatt Hotel and Nikki
wears a
t-shirt with John written on it. After some initial aggravation between
the band members who are ready to call it all off, their managers get
their points across over the next couple of hours. Before they leave
the suite, they schedule a time for Vince to come to the studio to hear
the new songs for the album that is almost complete. They agree that
their legal bills for Vince’s lawsuit are getting out of hand and by
the end of the meeting Vince instructs his lawyer to do whatever he
needs to get the band back together again.
10/7/96
On the Canadian TV show Fax, Vince states he’s been talking with Nikki
about an album and a tour. Nikki publicly claims he has no idea what
Vince is talking about. This comes as strong public rumours allege John
has been sacked and Mötley will re-enter the studio with Vince as
vocalist, after his current U.S. tour ends.
18/7/96
On tour in Milwaukee, Vince gets hit with something thrown from the
crowd during his set, so he leaves the stage and doesn’t return. He
ends many shows on the tour by walking off stage before the scheduled
close.
29/7/96
At 12:30pm, Nikki rides through the front doors of the Hard Rock Café in Beverly Hills, California, on his first Harley Davidson motorbike
with his son Gunner sitting on the tank. The bike is one featured on
the album cover and video of Mötley Crüe’s Girls, Girls, Girls. He
donates the hog for display in the café. Another of his Harley’s was
previously donated to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
8/8/96
The Vince Neil Band plays their final Carved in Stone show in Detroit,
as the remaining dates are cancelled and the band falls apart. Recent
shows have seen Warrant keyboardist Danny Wagner replace Robbie Crane
on bass after he brawled with Vince and quit. The previous night, Vince
fired his Production Manager and Sound Engineer as he was unhappy with
their performance on the tour. After the incident, Robbie says, “The
only thing I look down on him for is that he can’t handle his alcohol.
I’m a drinker too, and I’ll drink my ass off, but I don’t get violent
and I don’t take my problems out on other people. He does, and that’s
not fair.” Robbie Crane is the last original band member from the
Exposed album days to leave the Vince Neil Band.
9/8/96
In the Tommy and Pam ten-million-dollar invasion of privacy lawsuit
against Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione, claiming Penthouse intends to
sell copies of the videotape stolen from their home, Judge Ronald
Sohigian denies their motion to bar Penthouse from distributing a
videotape of them having sex. The judge writes in his ruling that while
they have not consented to public or commercial use of the videotape,
“the tape was, however, evidently made, in part, in settings which are
not truly private” since the tape shows the couple having sex in a car
on a public highway and in a boat on Lake Mead. The ruling adds
frustration and stress to Tommy and Pam’s marriage, causing Tommy to
drink more vodka, more regularly.
30/8/96
Nikki says heaps of tunes are ready for Mötley’s Personality #9 album
with a chance of it being released as a double-album. A Christmas song
and an EP are also possibilities as he promises lots of extra goodies
to go with the new songs. Some new song titles are I Gotta Find Myself,
Confessions, We Belong, Falling Up, 57 and She’s A Beauty that Nikki
wrote for his 1958 project.
In the evening, Nikki meets
Baywatch star Donna D’Errico, as a blind date arranged by Pamela
Anderson. They leave the ocean-side Baywatch set where she plays the
character Donna Marco, and they dine at the Opium Den before heading to
The Dragonfly club. On the rebound from his marriage with Brandi, and
cautious after a recent blind-date gone wrong, Nikki feels very nervous
and embarrassed. After talking about their kids all night, towards the
end of the date, Donna asks him what his name is. Back at his home
afterwards, a lonely Nikki calls Donna and asks her to dinner the next
night, surprised at how much he likes her and how well they get along.
31/8/96
Nikki takes his kids to the Malibu Fair in the morning before dropping
them at Brandi’s house. He dines with Donna D’Errico at the Bambu
restaurant in Malibu and finds he has a lot in common with her. Born in
the small town of Colombus, Georgia, Donna gained international
recognition when she appeared in Playboy magazine as Miss September
1995. She was discovered by a Playboy talent scout while grocery
shopping in Las Vegas, where she owned and operated a limousine
service. Nikki invites her to come back to his mansion afterwards and
she stays the night.
1/9/96
After sleeping together for the first time, Nikki awakes and finds
Donna smoking a cigarette on his verandah. She soon leaves and Nikki
feels he has blown his chances of being with her again. He picks up his
guitar and starts to write a song about their insecurities called
Afraid Of This. He calls her after sleeping for a couple of hours and
she apologises to him, saying she couldn’t remember what had happened
the night before as she had drunk too much wine.
9/9/96
Vince's personal manager Burt Stein enters into an agreement with
Mötley Crüe's management company Left Bank. The agreement states Stein
is to receive one-sixth of the total of management commissions to be
paid by Mötley Crüe for all income received by the band. Stein is
entitled to his share of management commissions for so long as Vince is
the lead singer of Mötley Crüe and Stein's written personal management
agreement with Vince is in effect, plus for so long as Left Bank is
entitled to receive their share both during and after the tenure of its
management agreements with Mötley Crüe.
13/9/96
On Friday the Thirteenth, Mötley Crüe’s manager Allen Kovac informs
John at Nikki’s home studio that he is fired as the Crüe’s vocalist,
sure that the record company will not promote a release from the band
unless it’s the original line-up. This further paves the way for Vince
to reunite as the singer of Mötley Crüe. At this stage, fourteen to
fifteen songs are ready for the new album; eleven of which John has
co-written.
15/9/96
Tommy,
Nikki, Mick and Vince meet at Nikki’s home studio as arranged at
their recent meeting at the Hyatt hotel. Vince begins to re-sing the
Personality #9 songs already written, after they remove John’s vocal
tracks. Vince and Nikki get along fine, while things between Tommy and
Vince are really strained, especially when Tommy tells Vince how he
should be singing these songs. Vince thinks the songs are bad, and
walks out after about an hour. The band members feel they are in a
forced marriage. That evening, Tommy goes to John’s house
and takes him out for some Japanese dinner and he cries, realising
John’s days in the band are numbered, but vows to try and keep him on
as a rhythm guitarist.
Mick sees producer Scott
Humphrey as ‘The Great Invalidator’ since every new part Mick comes up
with he rejects outright without giving any reason. Not a musician
himself, Humphrey makes Mick look bad to his other producers in Nikki
and Tommy. He even tells Tommy that he is a better guitarist than Mick,
while having Nikki play some of Mick’s guitar parts instead.
17/9/96
John meets with Crüe management and is told he will have six or seven
songs on the new record and he will be able to make more money being
out of the band than in the band. He is asked to continue his presence
in the studio to help them finish the record, to which he agrees, since
they say they are unable to get the required work out of Mick. He comes
into the studio about three days a week where they have him re-work
Mick’s guitar parts, unbeknown to Mick who gets furious with the
producers when he finds out. Mick is at the point where he is ready to
quit the band, and thinks he might get a blues band together with John,
who is also asked to show Vince his vocals on the songs as they are
re-recorded, acting as his vocal coach. Vince and John have a few beers
together in Nikki’s studio the first time they meet each other and they
get along really well with no hard feelings towards one another. The
home studio is rearranged by putting Nikki’s equipment in an upstairs
room above his garage, with Tommy’s recording equipment downstairs in
Nikki’s bedroom.
24/9/96
Elektra allows Nikki to release his 1958 debut album. Atlantic records,
the label Dave Darling is signed to, is persuaded by the band to also
allow its release.
Mick performs a guest solo
with George Lynch on the song XYZ for the new Rush tribute CD Working
Man but the track unfortunately isn’t included in the final release.
29/9/96
Celebrating his sister’s wedding the following day, Tommy and some
friends party at Hollywood’s Viper Room, the Johnny Depp-owned
nightclub where River Phoenix spent his last hours. Tommy scuffles with
a video cameraman, Henry Trappler of Paparazzi TV, as he films Tommy
and Pam leaving the club, shining his bright light in their faces and
hassling them by saying, “It’s two o’clock in the morning. Why aren’t
you home with your child?” Pamela starts abusing him and Tommy grabs
his camera and throws him out of the way. Trappler files a misdemeanour
battery report against Tommy, claiming he was assaulted by Tommy,
suffering a fractured rib and pelvis when Tommy knocked him to the
ground. Tommy says he was just pushing the camera away. While Tommy was
being restrained a policeman sprays a quick shot of mace into Tommy's
face from about a foot away.
30/9/96
Tommy’s sister Athena Bass marries Scorpions drummer James Kottak in a
ceremony at Tommy’s Malibu home with a few friends and family members.
10/96
John realises his services aren’t required in Mötley anymore as they
stop calling him in to the studio. Nikki suggests he could work with
his friend of six years, former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick, so he
introduces John to him at a party. John recalls his former wife Valerie
occasionally cut Bruce’s hair.
Mick's frustration with
Scott Humphrey continues and he tells the band that this is the last
album with them as he can’t handle working with them anymore. He lets
off steam most days by going shooting with John after returning from
Nikki’s studio.
When not working in the
studio, Vince gets more helicopter hours under his belt with his
instructor. One day, he hovers over Nikki’s house in Westlake Village
and calls his phone. They land in his backyard and spend some time in
the studio before flying off again.
14/10/96
Unable to secure a record deal, 1958 decide to make their songs
available on bootleg CD via the official Mötley Crüe website.
John is devastated when his
girlfriend of three years Robin, leaves him. He finds out that she has
married a video director four days after she left him. Madly in love
with her, John had previously asked Robin to marry him. John has now
recently lost his mother, band and girlfriend. He moves
into Mick’s guest house again.
22/10/96
Tommy and Nikki’s Malibu homes are threatened by out of control fires,
but they narrowly escape unscathed. Nikki is now engaged to Baywatch
star Donna D’Errico who has been living with him for the last few
weeks. They play a proposal game with each other several times that is
finalised when Donna takes a label gun, types a proposal and sticks it
under the toilet seat where Nikki soon discovers it when he lifts the
seat.
29/10/96
A Henry Trappler v. Tommy Lee lawsuit is filed in the Los Angeles
Superior Court. Trappler’s attorney Gloria Allred plays a videotape
taken by another cameraman showing Tommy grabbing Trappler and flinging
him to the ground, while twice yelling, “Get the f@ck out of here.”
Police previously charged Tommy with misdemeanour battery for attacking
the cameraman a month ago as he left The Viper Room with Pamela. The
cameraman says he suffered a fractured rib and multiple fractures of
his pelvis as a result. Trappler is suing for assault and battery, as
well as negligence. His further claim that Tommy has also violated his
civil rights to “pursue his occupation as video photographer” is
dismissed by the Superior Court judge.
31/10/96
Nikki receives a ten-million-dollar lawsuit from estranged wife Brandi
Brandt, who claims he walked out on her, leaving her to raise their
three children. Brandt says the suit amounts to half of what Nikki made
during their seven-year relationship. Nikki says he left Brandi and the
kids in their home after they split, so they wouldn’t have to relocate.
13/11/96
After Tommy announced a week ago that Personality #9 will not be
released until February next year, promising again that it’ll be worth
the wait, Nikki adds that they are still in the studio. The album will
be ready for pressing by December 15, while a U.S. tour starting in
March after a February release is touted. There’s still no public
confirmation from the band as to who will be singing.
19/11/96
Pamela Anderson Lee files for divorce from Tommy, after twenty one
months of marriage. The petition filed in the Los Angeles Superior
Court cites irreconcilable differences as the reason for their
break-up. According to the divorce papers, they separated four days
ago. Infidelity is also listed as one of the reasons why Pamela decides
to call it quits. Tommy files for joint custody of five-month-old
Brandon, but Pamela files for full physical custody. Pam also requests
her current legal name be changed back to her maiden name of Anderson.
Tommy is charged with
vandalism after throwing a rock through a side window of a paparazzi
photographer’s car.
26/11/96
Rolling Stone magazine publicly reports that Tracy Blackburn from the
Crüe’s management company Left Bank has stated Vince is back in the
band and John will not be leaving to make room for him. They report the
original members have all recently been seen together in the same
rehearsal studio, and Vince has been telling audiences on his solo tour
that they will be seeing him back with his old band soon. Meanwhile
Vince’s publicist, Jeff Albright of Albright Entertainment Group, also
tells Rolling Stone the two parties are still involved in litigation
and have not been speaking. In Perth, Western Australia for his Unholy
Downunder tour, Bruce Kulick tells Chronological Crue that Vince is
back in the band, but he doesn’t mention he’s currently working with
John.
Elektra begins a teaser
campaign by booking ads featuring a lettering-style similar to the
Crüe’s logo that simply states, “They’re Back” and “The American Music
Awards – Jan. 27, 1997.”
27/11/96
Pamela and Brandon return home to Tommy, who seeks rehabilitation for
his alcohol addiction – vodka being his vice. Tommy has some purple dye
run through his hair.
9/12/96
The title for the Personality #9 album changes to Generation Swine with
a release now likely on March 10 next year, and a tour commencing in
April. In the studio, Vince suggests the new name for the album, after
Nikki talks about a book he just read by Hunter S. Thompson called
Generation of Swine. The rest of the band agrees the new title is great.
10/12/96
The Crüe records three new songs live off the floor that were written
the previous week. One song called Anybody Out There, previously titled
57 and then Punk 57, is recorded with only one take of Vince’s vocals,
whose range is now wider with better control. The album cover photo
shoot is now finished, after the photographer buys four pig masks on
the way to the session and shoots a few photos with them on the Crüe.
Producer Scott Humphrey feels the band does not have a hit single
amongst the album’s tracks.
It’s publicly announced that
Bruce Kulick has been writing and demoing songs with John. They both
play guitar, and Bruce plays bass on the songs, while a friend of their
co-producer and collaborator Curt Cuomo is laying down the drums. They
plan to get a band together soon and say the music will appeal to fans
of both Kiss and Mötley Crüe, but will not specifically be like either
band. John gives Bruce an acoustic guitar for his birthday the next day.
14/12/96
The divorce of Nikki Sixx and Brandi Brandt is finalised with a rushed
settlement on her ten-million-dollar lawsuit. Nikki hands her six
million dollars, two luxury homes including his Scarface Mansion, and a
Mercedes Benz, after she
vilifies him in court. They agree to joint custody of their children.
Nikki and Donna move into a small rental home in Malibu.
16/12/96
Tommy confirms Mötley Crüe will perform one song live at the American
Music Awards in Los Angeles on January 27. The first single from
Generation Swine is scheduled for release the following day.
20/12/96
Gerri Miller from Metal Edge magazine says Vince is back in the Crüe
for a tour and an album, then that’s it. This comes as Tommy states the
world tour will start in Detroit, Michigan in mid-March, when
Generation Swine is now scheduled for release. Rising stars on the
music scene and long-time Mötley Crüe fans, Marilyn Manson, are touted
to open the dates on the new tour. Nikki is also a big fan of their
latest Antichrist Superstar album.
23/12/96
With lots of candles and incense burning, Nikki and Donna D’Errico get
married the day before Christmas Eve in their Malibu home. Donnas
three-year-old son Rhyan and Nikki’s three children are present. Nikki
wears a sky blue glitter shirt with dark blue velvet pants and
gun-metal toenail polish. Donna is barefooted in a tight blue long
flowing dress. George Winstin’s song December plays on the stereo with
the sound of the fireplace crackling at their backs.
24/12/96
Tommy and Pam renew their marriage vows with another marriage ceremony
at their home. Tommy dresses in a suit of armour and rides up to their
house on horseback, before flipping up his visor and reading from a
scroll, telling Pamela that he wants to be her knight in shining
armour. He then rides off with Pamela on his horse.
25/12/96
John’s son Ian is given a bead lettering set for Christmas by John’s
ex-girlfriend Robin. He makes a necklace for John with it that reads “I
love my daddy crab”. John doesn’t take the necklace off. Ian also
continues to improve his drumming talents on his small DW kit that
Tommy gave him for his birthday and is the same as his. He also
requires insulin shots two-to-three times a day for his Diabetes.
27/12/96
After spending five hours with Bruce Kulick and John, Gerri Miller
reports, “I got to hear five songs in various stages of completion,
ranging from an acoustic tune called Do You Think About Me to a couple
of untitled rock songs with heavy grooves. John sang along to these
with Curt Cuomo harmonising so I could get the melody lines. They have
some great stuff and will continue to write more before going for a
deal and getting the rest of the band and a name. John and I talked
in-depth about the Mötley Crüe situation and how it all went down. He
harbours no ill feelings toward them and is actually relieved that it’s
over now so he can get on with his life and career. He was growing
increasingly uncomfortable about his situation, and had clues that
something was up, but wasn’t told until mid-September that he was out
and Vince was coming back. He had co-written several songs and played
rhythm guitar on a lot of them but has no idea what will end up on the
Mötley album since more material was written since he left.” There is
still no official word from the Crüe camp that Vince is back in the
band.
31/12/96
Nikki spends New Years Eve at the Viper Room nightclub with his new
wife Donna, who does the countdown to 1997 in her rubber Catwoman
outfit. Tommy spends his New Years Eve in London's Ministry of Sound
club. The DJ puts on a new record by Josh Wink called higher State of
Consciousness that makes Tommy feel like he’s never felt before. Tommy
says, “It was like a frequency assault. I had to duck from these big
filter sweeps that were coming through the speakers. I felt like I was
on ecstasy, and I was completely sober. I thought this is where I need
to be. This is what I want to make. I want to do shit that freaks
people out sonically!” This night is later seen as the moment when his
future band Methods of Mayhem is born.
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Choose the
year: The Eighties: pre-'81 / '81 / '82 / '83
/ '84
/ 85 / '86 / '87 / '88 / '89 The Nineties: '90 / '91 / '92 / '93
/ '94
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