Mötley Crüe Were Wild In The 1980s, And Here Are The Photos To Prove It
When the pop culture catchphrase of a decade is “greed is good,” you know things were decadent. So it’s fair to say that the 1980s were… well, they were a different time. And no one proved this more than the era’s biggest and wildest heavy metal band: Mötley Crüe. Seriously, the things they got up to in their first ten years have to be seen to be believed.
From the horses’ mouths
We don’t need to rely on rumors or gossip from hangers-on, either. In 2001 Mötley Crüe released an incredibly — perhaps even insanely — revealing memoir called The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band. Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, and Mick Mars let loose stories so wild that the book company insisted on one clause before they would even publish the thing.
Putting themselves at risk
According to Mötley Crüe’s manager Allen Kovac, HarperCollins didn’t want to put out the tell-all book at first. Apparently, as Kovac said to Virgin Radio, this was because it was “very concerned about lawsuits.” To get around this, the band had to take personal financial responsibility for any future legal proceedings. And once you hear the kind of stories involved, you’ll understand why.
Rocking with “Bullwinkle”
The very first chapter explains the early days of Mötley Crüe, who formed in 1981. Back then, Lee had a girlfriend the rest of the band called “Bullwinkle.” You can probably guess the not-very-nice reason why they named her that. But aside from anything else, Neil said in The Dirt that she had quite the attitude and would often throw “dishes, clothes, chairs [and] fists” around their apartment. Then, one night, “Bullwinkle” took it to another level.
Heart of glass
Lee had apparently blocked “Bullwinkle” from getting into their place — but that wasn’t enough to stop her. “She grabbed a fire extinguisher and threw it through the plate-glass window to get inside,” Neil said. So, armed police officers showed up at the house while two members of the Crüe cowered in a bathroom. And this was before the band were even famous!
