On Monday 21st January 1998, Chronological Crue hooked up with former bassist of Pretty Boy Floyd, Vinnie Chas, in Los Angeles and chatted about his Mötley Crüe perspective.

Chronological Crue: Tell me about the time you first came across Mötley Crüe.

Vinnie Chas: The first time I came across the Crüe was back when Shout At The Devil first came out. I was at Tower Records in Seattle with some friends and was checking out the new release section. I saw the album and thought it looked pretty cool, so I stuck it under my jacket and we walked out. Back then I used to buy or steal albums 'cause the cover looked cool or if a picture of the band looked cool. Once it was put on the turntable, my friends and I were blown away. We then pursued to get all the info we could on this 'new band.' We had no idea this band had released an album before and once we found out, we had to have it! The only way we could get it was to order it through Tower. Once I heard Too Fast for Love, they became my favourite band next to Kiss and Iron Maiden.

CC: Cool. So when was it that Pretty Boy Floyd formed?

VC: Pretty Boy Floyd was formed in 1987 with Steve, Kari, Aeriel and myself. Aeriel then left the band and we got Kristy in the Spring of 1988.

CC: How did it come to be that Pretty Boy Floyd covered Toast of the Town on your Electric Boyz With Electric Toyz album? Who's idea was it?

VC: Back when we first got together for the first time we played covers from our favourite bands: Kiss, Mötley, Cheap Trick. It was while Kristy was in the band, we started to think about doing a cover song for our shows. Now, we didn't want to do something that had been done before. We had gotten a hold of some Mötley bootlegs and demos and tried a few different songs. When we tried Toast Of The Town, we knew we had our cover! Steve sounded great singing it. When it came down to the album, we had recorded two cover songs - Alice Cooper's Department Of Youth and Toast [Of The Town]. Department of Youth was supposed to go on the Shocker soundtrack and Toast went on our record. Our producer Howard Benson called Nikki in Vancouver, where they were recording Dr. Feelgood, and he gave his blessings for us to cover the song. He said he was honoured for us to do it and was wondering if someone would ever cover any of the songs from their demos. We were thrilled!

CC: Did anyone in the band own the original 7" single of Toast Of The Town?

VC: Aeriel, I believe, has it and a lot of other things from Mötley. From fliers to demos. He used to sneak into clubs to see them play. I was jealous.

CC: What was the first Crüe cover song that you ever learnt?

VC: Shout At The Devil and Live Wire were the first two.

CC: How do you recall the reaction to its inclusion generally, once it was released?

VC: Like I said, we were thrilled to have it on the record, but you know a lot of our fans had no idea that it was a cover.

CC: So have you ever met the Crüe?

VC: I remember meeting Tommy Lee with Kari at the Roxy one night. Tommy was checking out his sister's band play. We saw him and introduced ourselves. Tommy was so cool and Kari got a picture with him taken by Ruben Blue of Rock City News. I believe this was before the band was signed. You know, Tommy had a lot on influence on Kari's playing style.

CC: What projects are you currently involved with?

VC: I'm playing with some guys called tHe MoSs BrOtHeRs. We've been working on some songs for an independent film and for our demo. I'll keep you posted on this.

CC: Sure. It seems Mötley are doing a CD of covers for release this year. Do you think there's a chance they'll include a Pretty Boy Floyd song?

VC: That would be the coolest thing if that would happen. You know Paul, I would be thrilled if any of our songs ended up on another CD. I think I would feel like how Nikki felt!

CC: Thanks for you time Vinnie. It was great to get an insight.

VC: I got to tell you, you've got a cool site Paul. Keep up the great work!! I apologise for this taking so long. I'm glad you're a patient man. Feel free to contact any of the other Pretty Boy Floyd guys at the hotline 1-818-380-3401. Steve checks the messages and usually returns all calls. Well, that's all. I'll be looking for you on the net!

CC: Thanks and good luck with your new project.

R.I.P. Vinnie
On 6 April 2010, Vinnie passed away at home after a sudden illness.

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