43
Motley Crue is going out on top
By John Benson
For more than three decades, Motley Crue has been the “Live Wire” of rock ‘n’ roll.
It’s an apropos title, as well as the lead track from its 1981 debut effort, “Too Fast For Love,” for the Sunset Boulevard rockers — Vince Neil, Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars — that boast a debauched cowbell-friendly history of addiction, excess, sex tapes and infighting.
Now the hard-rock act, which has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide, has announced it’s going to go out on top, sort of. Considering groups in the past have played the farewell tour card before returning a few years later (Cher and KISS come to mind), Motley Crue has signed a legal document stating its current jaunt “The Final Tour” will be its last.
The goodbye tour, including opener Alice Cooper, comes to Blossom on Tuesday and First Niagara Pavilion on Wednesday. It should be noted, while the band says its current tour is its last, the group will be on the road for the next year or so, meaning a return to the Rock Hall City is more than likely.
Nevertheless, The Vindicator talked to Neil about the decision behind the band’s last tour, his future plans and Motley Crue’s legacy.
Q. How long has the band been thinking about retiring from the road, and why was now the right time to pull the plug?
A. We started talking about it probably six or seven years ago. We were in Japan and Nikki kind of brought it up. We thought we’d do a five-year plan and basically end it in 2015 or 2016, so it’s been thought about for a while now. We don’t want to be that band that you go see Motley Crue and there are only two guys in the band left playing in some club. We wanted to be known as going out on top. By the end of this tour, it will be 35 years. That’s a good run.
Q. The idea of having Alice Cooper open the tour was a great choice. Why is he a good fit with Motley Crue?
A. We’ve always looked up to Alice, and he’s been one of our inspirations since the beginning of our career. We took his theatrics and went another way with it. And, he’s one of the last people we’ve never been on stage with. So it’s a great way to end our career saying, “Yeah, we’ve been on stage with just about everybody in the business.”
Q. The other news regarding the band right now is the release of the country music tribute album to Motley Crue featuring Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line, Rascal Flatts and more. But using the Eagles as an example, isn’t this backward? Shouldn’t the Motley Crue tribute album be the catalyst that gets the group to reunite in the future?
A. That’s kind of a stupid way to look at it. We’re doing it our way. The country thing is just for the fans, not a catalyst to get us back together. We’re just honored to have these great artists redoing our songs and maybe getting a new generation of not just rock fans but country fans discovering Motley Crue.
Q. What is it about Motley Crue’s music that fits in the country genre?
A. It’s all about the songs and the story the songs tell. That’s one thing about Motley’s songs. When you listen to Motley playing it — the guitars are loud and everything is loud — sometimes the message gets lost. But when you have a country singer doing it, there’s a story first and the music second, so I think that was kind of a cool thing for them.
Q. How binding is this legal contract? Any chance there’s a loophole?
A. Everybody says, “What if?” But it doesn’t work that way. We don’t want to keep leaving, coming back, leaving and coming back. That’s not what we want to do. The only way I think you’ll ever see Motley Crue perform on stage would be maybe the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [induction]. We’d probably get back together for that. What we said is we’re not touring together. Motley Crue will still be making music together. We’re not breaking up. We’re just not touring anymore. People don’t understand that.
Q. Finally, what’s the legacy of Motley Crue?
A. We’ve never been a critics’ band. We’ve always been hated by the critics but loved by the public. That’s all that matters. We never won any major award, and that’s OK. We still sold out arenas all over the world and brought a lot of joy to people.