Chronological Crue - The History of Motley Crue in 1991

1/91
Mötley Crüe manager Doug Thaler wants the band to take a long time working on their next studio album as it will be a big challenge to write an album to top the hugely successful Dr. Feelgood. The opportunity of renegotiating a larger record contract given more time is also in mind, after the band’s attorney David Rudich suggests to the band members, management and their business manager that he feels the time is right to renegotiate based on their tremendous success; to which they agree. Despite the fact the band has at least two albums to deliver on its current record contract signed in September 1986, Elektra is approached with a proposal, without threat that the Crüe will go to another label.

16/1/91
Dr. Feelgood becomes Mötley’s highest selling album, now reaching quadruple-Platinum status. Brokum release a series of trading cards called RockCards, featuring Mötley Crüe and other popular hard rock bands.

25/1/91
Nikki Sixx and Brandi’s first child is born and named Gunner Nicholas Sixx. He measures fifty two centimeters long.

28/1/91
Tommy Lee and Vince Neil accept an American Music Award on behalf of the band for Favourite Heavy Metal / Hard Rock Album. Dr. Feelgood is chosen ahead of Poison’s Flesh & Blood and Aerosmith’s Pump albums.

2/91
Tommy and Heather move into their new three-million dollar home, fifteen minutes away from their previous home. The five-bedroom, six-bathroom Mediterranean-style mansion at 4970 Summit View Drive, Thousand Oaks, California is in the gated community of North Ranch. Decorated in a Victorian Country style, their single-storey hilltop home includes a twenty-one-foot-long underground wine cellar, a master suite with his-and-her baths opening onto a courtyard with a fountain, a sauna, a forty-foot long 'Great Room,' and a gym. It also has a recording studio for Tommy in a guest room. This 8,115 square foot house with panoramic views was newly built for them on a 3.88 acre lot adjacent a golf course, to which Tommy pays a once-off $60,000 for exclusive club membership. With not enough room to park their cars, including Tommy’s new Ferrari Testarossa, he buys the vacant lot next door for $900,000 so he can park them there. Tommy is keen to make a family of his own with Heather, now being the only Crüe member not to have a child.

At an L.A. Kings game, Richard Marx asks Tommy to play on a heavy track he has written called Streets of Pain and Tommy accepts.

With a lull in Crüe activities, Vince gets involved with car racing. He starts out by buying a go-kart and racing it at a track in Oxnard, before going to racing school in Sebring, Florida. He then progresses to racing Formula Fords and then moves into Indy Lights.

Vince also collects model cars from all over the world, as well as specialty license plates. He also collects art, including some works by Dali, but he is also starting to drink heavily again, often coming to album rehearsals drunk and leaving early to make out with girls on his way home, including young Californian groupie and porn star Savannah (real name Shannon Wilsey), even though his wife is pregnant at home.

20/2/91
For the second year in a row, Mötley Crüe is nominated in the Best Hard Rock Performance category of the Grammy Awards and beaten by Living Colour: their Time's Up album beats Kickstart My Heart. Other nominees are AC/DC for The Razor's Edge, Faith No More for their song Epic, and Jane's Addiction for their Ritual de lo Habitual album.

2/3/91
The band members update Kerrang magazine on some of their anticipated projects for the year, following the long Dr. Feelgood tour. Nikki says he plans on forming a blues outfit with Mick called the Budget Blues Band and they'll tour clubs for something to do - and perhaps make an album. Mick also wants to record an experimental album at his home studio, assisted by Nikki, and release it independently. He already has lots of material for it, including concerto pieces that have shredding guitar over the top. Tommy says he is thinking about forming a heavy rock funk band, as well as wanting to take saxophone and piano lessons. Vince wants to record an all-star solo album, likely co-produced by Nikki and Tommy and perhaps released on Geffen records. It's expected to be ten cover versions of his all-time favourite songs, and feature friend Randy Castillo on drums.

26/3/91
A daughter for Vince and Sharise is born and named Skylar Lynnae Neil. They recently moved into a mansion in Simi Valley, which they feel will be more appropriate to raise her. That night at the hospital, Vince tells Sharise that he’s going home to sleep since he can't sleep in the hospital bed in her room, but he goes to porn star Savannah's apartment on Laurel Canyon Avenue instead.

4/91
The Crüe forms their own record label called Mötley Records, which is affiliated with Elektra. The Crüe can sign people and produce artists on Mötley Records, but it’s distributed by Elektra, which is in turn internationally distributed by WEA. Mötley Crüe is the first band on the new label.

Word gets out that Mötley is keen to renegotiate their record deal with Elektra and other labels express interest, including Geffen, the new place of employ for A&R executive Tom Zutaut who first signed the Crüe to Elektra almost nine years ago in 1982.

30/4/91
Indiana security guard Mark Elrod is awarded nine thousand dollars in damages after filing suit against Vince Neil and Mötley Crüe a year ago, shortly after he was hit in the back of the head when Vince hurled a cowbell off the front of the stage while he was working at the band’s Fort Wayne Memorial Coliseum concert on March 21. Vince claimed he thought he threw the cowbell to a stage-hand like he did in all the band’s shows on the tour, while Elrod claimed lighting was sufficient for Vince to be able to determine that he wasn’t the stage-hand ready to catch the three pound metal bell and acted recklessly instead.

5/91
Doug Thaler phones Vince and tells him that he is not welcome at band rehearsals until he finds sobriety again. Without telling anyone, Vince flies to Hawaii with a porn star until he has to return when his credit cards reach their limit. After calming wife Sharise, he checks himself into a rehab facility in Tucson, Arizona where the band soon visits and encourages him to make the Crüe his priority again, to which Vince agrees. Sharise says in years to come that this cheating is when their relationship really started to fall apart.

4/6/91
Tommy drums on the title track The Urge from Stu Hamm’s third solo album released today. He also contributes backing vocals to the track If You’re Scared, Stay Home. The liner notes of the album reads, “Tommy Lee appears courtesy of Elektra Records and Heather Locklear.”

7/91
Nikki and Mick Mars co-write the song Die For You on Alice Cooper’s Hey Stoopid album. Mick plays guitar on the track, while Nikki plays bass on the track Feed My Frankenstein and is really pleased to work with one of his heroes. He even phones Alice to ask if he was thinking of doing a video for Feed My Frankenstein. Alice says he is thinking about it and if he does then Nikki will be the bass player in it. Other guests on the album are Slash from Guns N’ Roses, Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani.

3/8/91
A video for the forthcoming Mötley single Primal Scream is shot in three hours from 1pm, the fastest of their videos to date. Another version of the video is made for a future home-video release, featuring naked girls dancing around, some covered in mud, some with blood and others with water. The band and actors are lit with only a light bulb on a stick, creating a dark and eerie feel to the video.

14/8/91
Mötley plays a warm-up show at the Marquee in London, once again under the name The Foreskins, in the lead up to their second Donnington Monsters Of Rock Festival appearance. The English press misspells the name and advertise The Fourskins, which punters think is a return of the defunct English skinhead/punk band. This is Mötley Crüe’s second club gig in ten years. They play Primal Scream live for the first time and also perform a cover of the Sex Pistols’ classic anthem Anarchy In The U.K.

17/8/91
The Crüe plays Donnington for the second time, going on stage after the Black Crowes and Queensryche, and being followed by Metallica and AC/DC. Mötley’s stage set includes a huge backdrop portrait of the famous Mona Lisa painting that has been modified so she is showing her middle finger to the crowd. While in Europe, Nikki slips up briefly with drugs again.

22/8/91
Mötley commences a further run of seven European Monsters of Rock shows in Budapest, Hungary. Pre-recorded tapes are used to replace the Mötley back-up singers, the Nasty Habits.

9/91
Primal Scream is released as a single, backed with Dancing On Glass and live versions of Red Hot and Dr. Feelgood. Tommy wrote the chorus of the new song that hits number sixty three during its five weeks on the U.S. charts.

After the Monsters of Rock tour through Europe, Nikki stays two weeks longer until the end of the month, enjoying a family holiday in the South of France where he sits in the sun, writes songs on guitar, and swims naked in the Mediterranean. He also has some conceptual ideas for an animated video for the song Angela, which is planned to be included on a forthcoming Decade of Decadence home-video. The song was written by Nikki about his wife, Brandi Angela Brandt. However, on return to the U.S., the couple soon begins to fight and Nikki spends half of his nights at hotels.

Vince spends some time charity fundraising in Australia and promoting the forthcoming Crüe compilation album. His new car-racing hobby gets more serious when he becomes the co-owner of an Indy Car Racing Team in Long Beach California, with former Formula 1 driver Eddie Chiva. He spends many weekends at race meets and Crüe management hears he is often up drinking all night at them. Vince uses his racing as an escape from problems he is having at home with wife Sharise, plus him feeling like he’s becoming an aging rock star now that he is thirty years old. He tells Crüe manager Doug Thaler of his issues and pleads with him for assistance.

19/10/91
Mötley’s Decade of Decadence album is released. It enters the Billboard charts at number two behind Garth Brooks who jumps from number four to number one with his Roping The Wind album, and Guns N Roses at number three and six with their Use Your Illusion releases. Decade of Decadence celebrates Mötley’s tenth anniversary with remastered versions of Crüe classics and three new songs recorded at A&M Studios, once again with producer Bob Rock. It ends with the Sex Pistols cover Anarchy In The U.K. that sports the first take of Vince’s vocal recording. Mick Mars started playing the riff one day in rehearsals and everyone joined in, thinking it sounded great. Nikki then obtained the lyrics from Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, who likes the Crüe’s version. Johnny Rotten calls Vince to tell him that he loves it. The song is included as preference over a new track Punched In The Teeth By Love. The album also features a live version of Kickstart My Heart recorded in July last year at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. It also includes a cover of ex-Deep Purple member Tommy Bolin’s song Teaser. The album cover is a collage of Mötley images, conceptualised and put together by a Crüehead, Mark Jackson. A small picture of him is also included on the cover.

28/10/91
Richard Marx releases his third album titled Rush Street that features Tommy drumming on the album’s ninth track called Streets of Pain. Steve Lukather of Toto and Randy Jackson also play on the track and Tommy is thrilled to have worked with them in the studio.

11/91
Mötley releases their new Home Sweet Home ‘91 version and it peaks at number thirty seven. It spends seventeen weeks on the Billboard singles chart, the longest of any Mötley single to date, equal with Without You. The new video clip, directed by Matt Mahurin, differs from the original version in 1985. It contains a lot of scenes that can’t be shown on MTV, including a shot of an eccentric multi-billionaire lady at her home rubbing her cheeks on a statue of a man urinating. Tommy re-recorded his signature intro and outro on a grand piano for this new ‘91 Remix version, having never been satisfied with the Roland keyboard sound on the original track.

The Crüe insists that MTV plays the Primal Scream video during their daytime rotation and the Anarchy In The U.K. video at night. It’s the first time in history that MTV plays two videos from the same artist in their rotation. The Anarchy video is directed by Brian Lockwood and features a blend of backstage and live footage of the band during their recent European Monsters of Rock tour.

Tommy produces two tracks with Mark Dodson, titled Sittin’ Pretty and Just Another Day, on the debut album released by the Electric Love Hogs. Tommy is also pictured on the album sleeve, riding a hog. The relationship came to be after Tom Zutaut, now at Geffen Records, heard that Tommy was looking to produce a band and encouraged him to see one of their shows at the China Club in Hollywood to check them out. If Electric Love Hogs didn’t sign to London Records, they were to be signed on the new Mötley Records label.

Vince says he would like to record and release his own solo album one day. The album would probably be cover versions of his all time favourite rock songs.

22/11/91
Decade of Decadence goes Platinum, as have all of Mötley Crüe’s previous five albums. The song Angela from Decade of Decadence is released to radio as a promo single for airplay.

12/91
Mötley signs a new five-album deal with Bob Krasnow at Elektra Records, bearing a twenty-five-million-dollar advance. In addition, the band will receive a royalty rate in excess of $2.18 per unit for CD sales, and $1.50 per unit for cassette and LP sales, on both their existing catalogue and any new material. Should the band continue to perform in line with its track record, the deal could be worth in excess of thirty five million dollars. Mötley Crüe management has been in negotiations on the deal with Elektra since January.

Rehearsals begin in a Californian warehouse for a new Mötley Crüe studio album, with a two-weeks-on, two-weeks-off schedule for band members, especially since Bob Rock is too busy to produce at this time. One new song is titled I’m a Victim of a Psycho Bitch, while others include Try This One, New Blooze and Bittersweet. They plan on recording seventeen to twenty tracks for the new album. Nikki says the songs are very dark and lyrically profound, dealing with current and critical subject matter, while musically they are extremely aggressive with complex arrangements; some are in the vein of old Black Sabbath. Whenever Doug Thaler visits the studio, Vince is never there, often claiming he is too tired to sing. The rest of the band members are also annoyed with his apparent lack of commitment to the new work and it’s not too long before he starts taking Thursdays and Fridays off to go to car race meets.

25/12/91
Heather buys Tommy a thirty-thousand-dollar guitar for Christmas, having been inlaid with mother of pearl when it was custom made for Jimi Hendrix.

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