Mötley Crüe, Tesla, und Extreme

Formed in 1981, bassist Nikki Six met drummer Tommy Lee through a mutual friend, and decided to form a band together. The two set out to find other members and met guitarist Mick Mars (real name Bob Deal) who was immediately auditioned and hired. Lee then recruited his high school mate Vince Neil, who was still a part of the band Rockandi, to be their lead vocalist. After a bit of apprehension, Neil gave in and joined the trio to form the band you know and love as Mötley Crüe today.

In November 1981 they released their first album “Too Fast For Love” which was entirely produced and released by their own record label Leathür Records and set out on a Canadian tour. Using this forward movement of cult popularity in Los Angeles, their manager at the time, Allan Coffman, helped them obtain a record deal with Elektra Records; which they signed in Spring 1982. The signing meant a re-mastered mix of the album “Too Fast For Love” as well as a new album entitled “Shout At The Devil” in the works, which was consequently released in 1983. A mere two years later, they released a third album, “Theatre of Pain.”

Their quick success was not without consequence however. Their party hard mentalities meant a few run-ins with the law, reaching their first breaking point when Vince Neil crashed his car, resulting in death and severe injury to other passengers. While “Theatre of Pain” was sitting atop the music charts, Neil was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence and served time in 1986. If that wasn’t enough, following the release of their fourth album “Girls Girls Girls,” their 1987 tour had to be canceled due to Sixx being found dead from heroin overdose; however, he was revived back to life. Eventually their new managers Doug Thaler and Doc McGhee convinced them to attend rehab and the band took a step out of the spotlight.

A clean and sober band, Mötley Crüe recorded and released “Dr. Feelgood” in 1989 and it shot straight to the charts and stayed for weeks. By October 1991, the band released their first compilation album “Decade of Decadence” which also shot straight to the Billboard charts; however, the 90s was generally not a strong decade for the band. Neil left, was shortly replaced by John Corabi for the release of “Motley Crue” which didn’t meet the commercial expectation as their previous albums. With contractual obligations lived out in 1998, the band took back their catalog, but tensions were still high resulting solo projects by Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx and Vince Neil.

Luckily things picked back up in the 2000s resulting in a reunion, and release of the “New Tattoo” and “Saints of Los Angeles” (2008). However, this also meant the announcement of their retirement and final tour.

After bassist Brian Wheat and guitarist Frank Hannon spent a few years unsuccessfully trying to get their hard rock career of the ground during the pop orientated under the name “City Kidd”, they decided to go in a different direction, when they a hired Grammy award winning producer, Duane Hitchings.

Whilst recording their debut album, they changed their name to Tesla, in homage to the legendary scientist. Their first release “Mechanical Resonance” came out in 1986, during this time the original members were joined by Jeff Keith on vocals, Tommy Skeoch on guitar and Troy Luccketta on drums. They were often lumped in with the popular glam rock bands at the time, such as Alice Cooper, which they begrudged.

It wasn’t until the release of their second album, 1989’s “The Great Radio Controversy” that the band cemented their fan base and sound. The band went on a national tour following the release of their sophomore project, before returning in 1991 with their very hard rock effort, “Psychotic Supper”.

After 1994’s “Bust A Nut” and subsequent world tour, Tesla went on hiatus, after Skeoch left due to substance abuse. Various members of the band attempted solo careers and worked on other musical projects and bands.

Six years later, they reformed for an intimate one off show in Sacramento. The success of the concert led to the permanent return of the band, and in 2004 they released their comeback album “Into The Now” which charted at number 30 in the US. They also performed on national TV for “Jimmy Kimmel Live”

Tesla have toured all over the world, and enjoyed incredible popularity and album sales, having collectively sold over 14 million records around the globe.

You know you’ve made it when you create a cliché, and Boston’s very own Extreme are perfect examples of this. The band had their fans back in the day, with some small radio hits and a decent selling debut album. However, might have remained nothing more than a surprisingly awesome curio had they not inadvertently perfected the longstanding tradition of hard rock bands releasing a preposterous, over the top acoustic ballad that can still get you singing along no matter what the occasion might be. Yes, they are partially responsible for “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”, “November Rain”, and “To Be With You”, and let’s be honest, is the world not a brighter place with them in it?

Of course it is, and in a spectacular display of good things coming from insane pettiness, the band began with three different hard rock groups arguing about sharing a dressing room. Singer Gary Cherone and drummer Paul Geary both played in The Dream, guitarist Nuno Bettencourt was playing in a group called Sinful and bassist Pat Badger (not a stage name) played in “In The Pink”. These four men were the first four people in all three groups to get over themselves and struck up a friendship with each other, they started jamming together soon afterwards and decided to form a new group together.

Since Geary and Cherone both were late of the band The Dream, that obviously made the two men “Ex-Dream”, and in a stunning display of punning ability (pundamentalism? Sorry.), they named their new group Extreme as a result. The new group started writing, rehearsing and gigging soon after that, building a strong enough following around the Boston rock scene to with the “Outstanding Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Act” at the Boston Music Awards two years running before they’d even released their first album or signed to a record label. Their label deal would come in 1988 when they signed to A&M Records, and their self-titled debut album was released one year later, in1989.

All things considered it was an ideal first release, big enough to make a name for themselves, strong selling enough to secure a second album, but not so big that they had nowhere else to go but down. In hindsight, no-one at all could have predicted what happened next. Come August 1990, their second album, the preposterously titled “Extreme II: Pornograffiti” was released. Like their first effort, it sold modestly but unlike their second effort, the band had an ace up their sleeve. At first the album’s third single, “More Than Words” charted at number 81. However, then it started to climb, and climb and climb the charts until the band realized they had a bona-fide smash hit on their hands, hitting number one in June 1991.

In the dying days of hair metal, Extreme were the biggest deal of them all. They even had a second top five hit with the other acoustic ballad on their second album “Hole Hearted”, and ever since then they might not have ever been able to emulate that kind of success but then again, who has? What other rock band has had that kind of chart success ever since for that matter? The band split in 1996 but got back together in 2004, and their reunion shows have been a must see for any fan of 80’s metal. Yes it’s silly, yes it’s cheesy and yes, there are probably more tasteful ways of spending your time and money but the fact remains that no-one can deny Extreme’s charms, no matter how cool you might be. And twenty years after their heyday, they still come highly recommended.