How did he almost replace Bon Scott? Who’s asses were on fire? What stemmed from the Hustler mansion’s piano? Why did Sixx get upset with him?

At 2:30pm on the 1^st May 1999, the day after Tommy Lee announced his departure from Mötley, Chronological Crue caught up with his old friend, Heaven front man Allan Fryer. Read on for an insight into his Shout At The Devil tour with the Crüe, and so much more.

Chronological Crue: How did it all begin? How did you get into the music business as such?

Allan Fryer: Well, my family emigrated from Scotland to Australia when I was like thirteen or fourteen. I always wanted to be a rock'n'roll star.

CC: What inspired that?

AF: I didn’t believe that anybody should have to work for forty years of their life and then retire. There had to be an easier way that was more fun. I started off with an apprenticeship. A cabinet maker restoring antiques, but was always doing the ‘weekend warrior’ stuff. Just going out in different 60:40 bands… original outfits and all that sort of thing.

CC: So this was in Sydney?

AF: No this was in Adelaide.

CC: Oh OK.

AF: So yeh, I was just going on to bigger and better things and the more I learnt, the better musicians came together. One of the last line-ups back in the ‘70’s was when we ended up playing the Adelaide Festival Theatre, which was probably the biggest highlight of any young guy’s career. That was with Sherbet and those sorts of bands. We were all original then. I can’t remember the name of the band. Umm... Oh yeh! It was Chumalucy! Chumalucy. That was the name of the band.

CC: [laughs]

AF: Yeh God! So we ended up getting the support for Sherbet in their big heyday and that was like three or four thousand people. One thing led from one band to another. Then we started off a band called Fat Lip which was with three out of five of the original Heaven guys and that took us to Sydney.

CC: Right, OK.

AF: We went there and we started touring from Sydney to Melbourne back to Adelaide etc. and we were getting a pretty big following everywhere.

CC: So how did Fat Lip turn in to Heaven?

AF: When Bon Scott passed away back in 1980 or so, I had spoken with Alberts and they were interested in trying me out. I just dropped everything and tried out for AC/DC.

CC: I can imagine.

AF: They took Bon’s voice out of the tapes on songs like Whole Lotta Rosie, Shot Down In Flames, Sin City, and all that stuff. They shoved me in them. I went back to Adelaide and found out from George [Young] and Harry [Vanda] that I had gotten the gig. Then it came on a TV show that local boy Allan Fryer is the new singer for AC/DC. I said, "What the hell?"’ because nobody was supposed to know anything like this. So George and Harry wanted me in the band but meanwhile the boys [AC/DC] were in London at the time and they were trying out Brian [Johnson] from Geordie. So to cut a long story short, he ended up getting the gig.

CC: Yeh Wow.

AF: Peter Mensch was managing the band at the time along with David Krebs and Steve Leber in New York. Brian got the gig. I decided to establish a band in Sydney and stay there. Some of the guys stayed, some of the guys didn’t. That’s where I joined up with Kelly, Laurie Marlow and John Hayes. Michael Browning ended up coming to a show and making us an offer, so we ended up changing the name of the band to Heaven. Browning signed us to Deluxe Records along with INXS and we were release through Deluxe, which was RCA in Australia.

CC: I’ve got a song on video called In The Beginning.

AF: Yeh that was the second video.

CC: Right OK, because I was going to say it looks very early.

AF: The first one was one of the tracks called Fantasy.

CC: So what was the first album called?

AF: It started off here in Australia called Twilight Of Mischief. That’s what it was originally called here, but then in the States… John was out of the band and we got Mick Cocks in, so we then had the photo taken for the American market. It was just supposed to be called Heaven but some band in Yonkers, New York had copyrighted the name so we had to put Heaven Bent on it, just to get it released there. Then we had to go after them and buy the name and that sort of thing, in order to get the name registered federally across the States.

CC: Sure. So this is what ’81… ’82?

AF: ’82 that was, yeh.

CC: So then the follow up album after that Where Angels Fear To Tread was 1983?

AF: ’83 - ’84. Yeh Angels. Actually Mick had come back to Australia and we ended up getting Mark Evans.

CC: From AC/DC?

AF: Yeh from AC/DC. He was playing rhythm guitar for us.

CC: So Mick [Cocks] came from Rose Tattoo. He was one of the original members of the Rosie Tatts [Rose Tattoo] and was certainly responsible for co-writing some of their classics.

AF: That’s right. Shit happened and that sort of thing... Mick went back to Australia. Mark Evans and JL, John Layland the drummer at the time, replaced Joe Turtur. That was the band line up in the States.

CC: So you were spending most of your time in the States then?

AF: Yeh. We recorded that album at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles.

CC: That was in the summer of ’83. I also notice Lita Ford’s name on that album.

AF: Yeh. Lita Ford was doing back up vocals. Ronnie James Dio also. He just put down Evil Eyes on that one.

CC: No way! That was Dio?

AF: Yeh Ronnie James did the backups there, and Glenn Hughes.

CC: Yes from Deep Purple.

AF: That’s right. The sax player Jimmy Z [Zazla] was out of Rod Stewart’s band and played the sax solo on Rock School.

CC: And he also played on the track Madness as well, which is the first track on the second side that Lita Ford also sang backup vocals on.

AF: Yep you got it.

CC: Was Lita Ford with Nikki Sixx at that time?

AF: Ah Lita was with everybody. [laughs] I shouldn’t say that. She was a lovely girl. She was hanging out with Mick. With Cocksy. Yeh, so she was a regular of the Heaven House there in North Hollywood. Everybody used to come over there. We had some hell parties there in its day. Yeh Lita was hanging out there at the house and any of the bands that were in town at the time. You know, acts like Def Leppard.

CC: I notice on that second album there’s a thanks to "Robin the Ratt & Blotzer."

AF: Oh yeh. We used to hang out with them and we’d do shows with them. You know, Kelly would get guitars from Robin and bits and pieces like that. So yeh, it was a little close outfit at that point in time. That’s when I started hanging out with Tommy Lee and Vince Neil.

CC: So how did that come to be? From just seeing them around at the Roxy?

AF: Yeh we’d play the Roxy, right next door to the Rainbow, and we came to talk. They were actually going through a hard time in their career at that point as well. There was even talk about Tommy joining up with Heaven.

CC: Serious?

AF: Yeh. In the middle of doing our second album.

CC: So that’s mid ’83?

AF: Yeh they were going through changes and Tommy wasn’t happy.

CC: They were recording at Cherokee as well with Tom Werman.

AF: Yeh that’s right. We were all in the same studios at the same time. I can’t remember which room they were in, but yeh, we were both recording in the same studio. That’s where the friendship grew up. We’d hang out together. Nikki and Mick virtually kept to themselves. It was mainly Tommy and Vince that used to hang out and come to our house and drink and everything. Me and Tommy used to hang out together and try and bop the same women.

CC: Well it was not long after that in ’84 that Tommy actually got married for the first time to Elaine Starchuk. Did you ever meet her?

AF: I don’t think so. When we were hangin’ out we were going to parties and that, like at Larry Flynt’s Hustler Mansion. Yeh we had a blast. Actually it was on Larry Flynt’s piano that we actually started playing Home Sweet Home. It was the very incarnation of that song... that we sat down and Tommy was playing the piano.

CC: So that’s before the song was written? That’s how it first started?

AF: Yeh! Yeh! So that was funny. I don’t think I met his first wife. Oh boy! He was also in the Jacuzzi with two or three women at the same time. Nothing changes.

CC: [laughing]

AF: Yeh, so that’s how we all hung out. You know, at the Country Club. Vince would come along to the show and drink, and get up and have a sing with the band.

CC: He’d sing with Heaven?

AF: Yeh Yeh. We’d do AC/DC stuff, pieces like that. The old classic stuff. Everybody knew that. At The Roxy as well. We did some benefits there with everybody from Autograph to Mötley Crüe… Bruce Kulick from Kiss at the time... and me and Mitch [Perry]… and have a big jam.

CC: Well it was the next album that Mitch Perry played on, playing guitars and keyboards. That was the album Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door. This time you recorded over at the Record Plant in New York. What brought about that change, from one side of the States to the other?

AF: After the second album, the shit hit the fan and we went back to Australia. We had quite a few run-ins with Michael Browning who was AC/DC’s management. Everybody in the band had disagreements, so we came back to Australia. After a while I said, "Who wants to come back? I’m not staying." I got in touch with Mitch [Perry] and asked him if he wanted to join the band, and he agreed. I ended up bringing back Tommy Dimitroff from Adelaide and this other guitarist Bruno; we called him Boz. The three of us went back to the States and stayed at the Hollywood Inn in Hollywood. Hanging out down at the Rainbow we bumped into Paul O’Neill, who at the time was working with David Krebs and Steve Leber in New York. They were trying to get in touch with me and my plan was to go to New York and meet with the guys, because of the AC/DC connection, and to get a deal. Boz had to come back to Australia in the end, so we went off to New York with Mitch and Tommy. We ended up getting Mark Cunningham who was in a band called Cathedral with John Corabi at the time.

CC: You’re joking!

AF: Nah! So with all these Heaven avenues, we’ve all passed in the night.

CC: So Cathedral was a band based in the Pennsylvania area?

AF: They were actually out in New York. John was in the band at the time working with Mark Cunningham and Dennis Feldman, who worked with Michael Schenker and [Michael] Bolton. So we said we had Heaven going and asked if they’d like to join, which they did. John went back to Los Angeles after a while and then later did The Scream. So that’s how the American line up originated. We did that album Knockin' On Heaven’s Door at the Record Plant and then toured extensively. We did a lot of touring through the first, second and third albums. Everybody from [Iron] Maiden, Dio, [Judas] Priest, [Mötley] Crüe. The Crüe was a good one. We did the Shout At The Devil tour with the Crüe.

CC: So that would have been 1984?

AF: Yeh ’84 for that one.

CC: So what sorts of stories can you tell us about the days on the road touring with Mötley?

AF: Oh man! Wow! One time we played Salt Lake City at a venue there called the Rainbow, which was like a 2,000 seater. The shows went great. We hit it off. Both bands were a bunch of sluts, you know?

CC: [laughing] Yep.

AF: We had a tally going, where we were marking how many women the guys had had in the month. Laurie Marlow had something like 39 women, and I came in second with something like 27 or something. Anyway, after the Salt Lake City show we did an overnighter across the Rockies into Denver. The two band buses made it across but the equipment gear got snowed in because a blizzard came across. So the two bands and their crew were staying at the Holiday Inn in Denver. We were on the sixth floor of the nine floor hotel. Well, the debauchery there… between Tommy Lee and Laurie Marlow… they were having bloody ‘push-pulls’ in the corridors with these women. They were waking everyone up. There was a lot of debauchery goin’ on there. At one time, there was this old couple who actually phoned up and started complaining about the noise and women, and everybody in and out of doors, slamming them. Rocky [Stephen Murray], our lighting guy at the time, went down to the bus and pulled out one of the fog machines. He goes up and warms up this smoke machine, shoves it under the door, then bangs on the door and shouts FIRE. This old couple, I swear to God, they came out of there and I thought we were going to be up for murder. Everybody was freaked out, this old couple... they were holding their hearts. So they ended up shoving both bands up to the top floor and nobody was allowed out.

CC: So this would have been Nov - Dec ’83 on Mötley’s Shout At The Devil headlining tour, before they toured with Ozzy.

AF: Yeh that was it.

CC: Yeh because I think it was actually in Denver where Tommy was running down the hallway of the hotel in his G-string…

AF: Oh yeh. We used to have a thing called Flamin’ Asses where you’d roll up a piece of newspaper and put it in the chief of your ass. Set that alight, then you’d have to run from one end of the hallway to the other and get back before it burns your ass!

CC: [laughing too much]

AF: So yeh we got in quite a bit of trouble with that thing, but it was great. So that’s all the shit that was happening there. We had a blast. Wow! My God!

CC: Well the final show of that tour was in December, down in Arizona. Vince and Tommy then headed off to the Cayman Islands on a two week break, but guess it probably wasn’t a break. It was more of the same. I guess that indicates that those two were hanging out together more in those days.

AF: Yeh they always hung out together. They were more accessible than the other guys in the band. Mick never really went out that much, or said that much. Nikki kept to himself. I caught up with them on the Theatre Of Pain tour at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. A funny thing there; I went there with my girlfriend at the time to the Four Seasons Hotel. Actually Vince wasn’t allowed to drink at the time as part of his probation, so maybe I shouldn’t say any shit about that. [laughs] Yeh, so back at the hotel there that night after the gig, I always remember planting my ass down on a chair and Nikki comes up and tells me to get up. I was sittin’ on his friggin’ silk jacket that he left there. That got all crunched up so he was pretty pissed off with me for that one. So Vince at the time asks me if I’d like to go to the bathroom, you know, just to use the bathroom.

CC: Yeh.

AF: So we were like, "we don’t like cocaine, just it’s smell." So we went there and were having a laugh about ‘using’ the bathroom. I turned around and said, "Goh, maybe we shouldn’t be using all this stuff" and Vince turns around and says, "Oh don’t worry about it. It‘s Nikki’s!"

CC: [laughing]

AF: Yeh so we were in the bathroom there, doing all that, and it was Nikki’s gear. He was pissed off at me for crunching his jacket, so I was like, "Well I’ll just keep outta his sight."

CC: So that was back in ’85 which was when the third Heaven album Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door was out. The title track of course was a cover of the Bob Dylan song which Guns 'N Roses them covered a few years later.

AF: Yeh, tellin’ me. They made all the money out of that one. If you watch their Rock In Rio video, they ripped off the lead solo and everything to pat. So yeh, shit happens. What can you do, you know?

CC: Yeh sure. So 1987 was the Girls, Girls, Girls album and I believe you also played with Mötley on that tour, right?

AF: Yeh Whitesnake were supporting as well. I think that was at the Spectrum in Philly again.

CC: They had the Nasty Habits on tour for the first time then… and I’m not talking about more cocaine.

AF: [laughing] That’s right… the girls up on stage.

CC: Yeh Donna and Emi. What were they like?

AF: Ah they were cool. Yeh. They were great. I don’t know if anything ever happened with them and the band in the end.

CC: Well Emi married Mick Mars later on.

AF: She did?

CC: Yeh and then they got divorced. But after quite a few years together I might add.

AF: Well it’s the same old thing. Just don’t get married in L.A. or they’ll take everything you know.

CC: Sure. So what happened with Heaven after that third album?

AF: After the third album, management was breaking up there in New York... David and Steve Leber. Heaven was the last act that they signed up. They had AC/DC, Def Leppard, Scorpions and [Michael] Schenker. We were actually the last act and the shit in the middle of the sandwich between the record company. Michael Klenfner, whose label we were on at the time, Brighton Records from Columbia, didn’t like David Krebs and David didn’t like him so there were disagreements. We kept on delivering more songs, more songs, then they wanted more songs. So it just got to the point where we said no more and let it expire. Everybody kind of went off on their own way. Mitch went back to L.A. Tommy went to L.A. with some girl because he fell in love but she was just a slut. Dennis was still up there doing session stuff. I don’t know what Mark was doing. I moved down to South Jersey on the Delaware border, just putting line-ups together to keep my chops up and doing the Heaven shows.

CC: Excellent.

AF: Yeh. I’d pop in and see the guys when they came to town and reminisce. That pissed me off because there’s nothing worse than going to a show and not playing. I kept busy for the next five to eight years with different line-ups living in different places. I moved to Texas in 1990. I was on tour down there and everything was happening with management. Hell, Texas is good. I like Texas. Settled down there and bang, next thing I had a daughter born in Dallas, so I’ve spent my last eight years in Dallas, Fort Worth. I had different managers and different friends. I actually recorded another album which never ever got released because of the producer guy, named Barry Dickie. We did some great tracks and spent a lot of money on it, but it never got released.

CC: That’s a shame.

AF: So I kept on going out doing shows, playing with different people. It was getting pretty frustrating there, as far as players. The American guys have a different attitude than the Aussie guys. They think they’re in a name band and they’re superstars straight away but they haven’t even paid their dues yet. It got pretty frustrating, as it was all different. So I kept busy doing jingles and kept within the industry. I’ve never worked a day gig in the last 25 years. That kept me happy, gave me peace of mind without committing suicide. [laughs]

CC: Sure.

AF: I came back to Australia last year to virtually visit the family. I broke the ice with some of the old Heaven guys and they said, "Hey, why don’t we do a couple of shows." They said, "Yep OK."

CC: So this was guys like Kelly?

AF: Yeh Kelly, Laurie Marlow and Theo. Actually Joe Turtur, the original drummer, only played like a couple of songs. Theo is another Sydney drummer who has played with us off and on for years. He’s virtually part of the band going way back to the 80’s anyway. He ended up playing with BB Steel and Boss. So we all got together and decided to do some shows. The two shows we did in Sydney were sold out. It was fantastic.

CC: So how many people would that have been?

AF: It was like 1,100 one night at the Bridge Hotel and 1,250 the second at the Collector up in Parramatta in the Western suburbs. The Western suburbs have always been good. It was great seeing a lot of old faces. After fourteen years I was looking to see if anyone looked like me. I was shittin’ myself, hoping there was no kids that looked like Allan Fryer. [laughs]

CC: So the band gets back together with most of the original line up…

AF: Yes. That’s it. We did that. I had a bit of trouble with Kelly. We’ve always had trouble with Kelly. He totally refused to play anything off the American guy’s album. So I just rolled with the punches and said OK. So when I came back to the States, I had been talking with Pulse Records up in Chicago. I was talking with a few people, even in Japan, before Pulse. I got together with those guys through Mitch [Perry] because he had done an album with them, and put this together. So virtually the deal was more of a development thing to come down to Australia and pull a band together. So I ended up using another old Adelaide guy by the name of Kevin Pratt, who was also in BB Steel and Boss. Everybody all grew up together, so it was only natural. The guys, Theo, Laurie and Kevin... we never worried about the rhythm player and gave John Hayes the opportunity. You know, everybody was like, "OK! Let’s start writing." The boys in Australia started and I started in the States and we sent tapes to each other. Then on the 13^th of April… thirteenth?

CC: Yeh… that’s when you came down to Sydney to record the album.

AF: What started out at Alberts Studios changed about a week ago. We got in touch with Billy Thorpe.

CC: The old Aztecs singer.

AF: Yeh. Billy had brought his whole studio from L.A. and set it up here in Sydney. It’s called Electric Mountain and it’s just great. We’re using his producer/engineer Greg Clark. He’s also done The Poor.

CC: Cool. I love that band. What are they doing?

AF: They’re doing a new album as well. Same time as us. We’ve been in the studio the last couple of weeks now, getting all the tracks down and they’re bigger than life. They’re great!

CC: Unreal. I can’t wait to hear it.

AF: We’re going to be finishing off the guitar tracks probably tomorrow, then the vocals will start getting in there. So hopefully in the next two weeks we should have some mixes done pretty good and hopefully it will fly. Pulse are pretty excited about it. Everybody’s excited.

CC: Yeh well, Steve [Freiss] from Pulse is a great guy, and as you know, the Mötley Crüe Tribute CD I’ve been putting together is going to be out through Pulse Records soon too. You’ve actually done a version of Home Sweet Home for that Tribute as well.

AF: Home Sweet Home. Yep That’s the one. The old thing with Tommy at the Hustler mansion. [laughs]

CC: Yeh, definitely. So how was recording that version for you?

AF: Man, that was fun! Everybody donated their time. From the studio, to the guys... the players in Austin: Nye Jones, Scott Cothran, Todd Frizzel and Roger Weiss. We went in there and it was a bit strange. We wanted to make it a bit different. We never put any of the dive bomb guitars, that sort of thing, but wanted to give it a little touch of the Heaven feel. So we were really happy with the way that turned out. I’m looking forward to hearing the final CD very much.

CC: There’s certainly a lot of Mötley Crüe fans looking forward to it’s release, and a lot of Heaven fans as well I’m sure. Are there any tour plans then for Heaven?

AF: Yeh we would love to tour Australia. First things first though. The plan is to get the product out there so people can hear it.

CC: How would you describe the new tracks?

AF: It’s varied. We’ve got a real great 90’s sound, but if you put a little bit of AC/DC, a little bit of Def Leppard and [Led] Zeppelin together, you’d come up with it. It’s also got the honesty of the way Heaven was, with great hooks and no bullshit. Straight ahead hard rock’n’roll that nobody much is doing today.

CC: Excellent.

AF: I just feel that back in the 80’s when metal and hard rock was so big… and now today you don’t hear it. There has to be the punters out there that want this kind of music. Has to be. So we’re really looking forward to getting the new stuff out. The new songs are great.

CC: Awesome. Just a final question then Allan. Have you ever caught up with the Mötley guys since those early days?

AF: No. I tried to get in touch with them on the Internet. The last time I caught up with Tommy was when he was married to Heather and it was down at The Rainbow. With Heather, he had the big entourage, all the security and bullshit. I think they’ve changed. They get kind of alienated from the public when they have these women with the same kind of stardom as them, which is kind of a shame. The Crüe were just down to earth. They were just guys. Drinking buddies. You just told me that the shit’s hit the fan again with Tommy. It’s a pity that it has to come to that.

CC: That’s right. When I spoke with you briefly yesterday it was only hours after the band’s management had announced officially that Tommy had handed in his notice to leave the band and he won’t be touring on this forthcoming tour. So that was certainly a shock to fans. But I guess a lot of time has gone by as well and everyone matures. Having kids also makes a difference.

AF: Yeh, keeping the family together and that, but it seems a pity that there needs to be ultimatums. You’ll usually find that if there is an ultimatum then it’s not going to work. He’s such an intricate part of the band.

CC: That’s right. He’s been in the band since he was a teenager, so it’s been for a major part of his life. But anyway, only time will tell and maybe he’ll be back.

AF: OK. Well if I pop into him, I’ll definitely say Hi.

CC: Hey have you caught up with John Corabi since those earlier days?

AF: I spoke with John about two and a half weeks ago. He was telling me that him and Bruce [Kulick] are working on this project for Spitfire Records out in New York.

CC: That’s right. That will be Union’s second album, after it seems they ran into some major problems with Mayhem Records.

AF: Yeh, well hopefully this time around it’ll be better. I’ll be speaking with John when I get back to the States. He’ll be putting in two bobs worth for us, and I’m keen to check out that situation for Heaven as well. So hopefully we can get a major licensing deal around the world with our new music. See if we can get Metal and Hard Rock happening again. I think we’ll start ‘F@ck Disco, Let’s Rock’n’Roll’ gigs like we used to do with the Tatts [Rose Tattoo] back in the 80’s you know?

CC: OK. Cool. Well thanks for your time Allan.

AF: Yeh Paul. Thank you. I appreciate it, and look forward to having a drink with you one day. Maybe if we can tour Australia.

CC: That’d be really cool. Thanks again. I appreciate it.

AF: I appreciate it too. We’ll get this cracking and you’ll be the first to hear the new Heaven stuff.

CC: Sounds great mate, and let’s hope we can move quite a few copies of the Tribute CD as well, and help the kids.

AF: That’d be great. Alright mate, you take care. Love to the family and say Hi to all the Crüe fans.

CC: Yep. Keep kickin’ ass.

AF: Will do buddy. See ya.

CC: See ya. Rock on.

Heaven toured Australia in December 2001 as the support for Judas Priest, and I got the chance to catch up with Allan Fryer and the rest of the guys backstage at their Melbourne show.

R.I.P. Allan Fryer - June 2015

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