36
. . .
40 per cent [sic], but if the band has a good deal with the merchandiser, the hall's
percentage doesn't affect their cut. Many bands, says Jaffe, may make 50 per cent [sic] of
their income from merchandise. Not unusual was one band, without a current
record out, who returned home from a 83-date tour in medium-sized (average
audience under 10,000) halls with $350,000 in T-shirt and novelty proceeds.
It's sometime in California. After a while the days all run together and don't
make too much difference. Mötley Crüe are attempting to practice in a rehearsal
room in Hollywood.
Oh, I want to bone Trace right now, says Mick Mars to one of the roadies, clenching
his fists and making a little sort of forward thrust as if he really means it. He is
wearing red women's spindly highheeled boots and black eyeliner, without which he
looks a lot like Don Rickles in a Morticia Addams wig. There is no trace of any
Trace, but there are two girls the roadies found hanging around the parking lot
when they went out for a couple of six-packs. They work at an Arby's across the
way, which is why the road manager insists they must be 16, even though they look
at least two years younger. One has braces on her teeth. Both giggle a lot. Everybody
knows you have to be 16 to work at Arby's, that's what the road manager says.
These guys have heads on their shoulders, you know. Even on the road they don't go
around pulling 14-year-old chicks. We have some very strict rules about that. What
if some cop came back to the bus and took a look at what was going on?
And there are other
Yeah, Red. Didn't Vince bone her? I only boned her 'cause she was buggin' me,
then she wouldn't leave, says Vince.
Lead singer Vince Neil doesn't stick around too long himself. Rehearsals take too
much out of his voice. Anyway, this is supposed to be a "creative rehearsal" to work
out new material. The only thing that really gets worked out is a cover of the old
Mountain hit "Mississippi Queen." They go through two other songs. "Raise Your
Hand to Rock" sounds like a cross between BTO's "Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet"
(melody) and "Down in the Valley, Valley So Low" (guitar part), but maybe it'll
come together when their producers get hold of it. Nikki is working on something
else, the gist of which is that even presidents and heads of state can be lonely.
For maybe 10 minutes,
When Nikki comes out of the closet, he takes a stroll over to the soundstage
around the corner where WASP, the latest heavies from L.A., are doing a video for
their metal underground hit "(Animal) Fuck Like a Beast." Only on the soundtrack
they are miming vigorously to it's "(Animal) Bleep like a Beast."
The three front guys in WASP look like they're about seven feet tall, even without
their platform stilts. Leather shorts, latex pants, and fashion accessories like
over-the-shoulder exhaust pipes and beneath-the-crotch rotary blades add to the
effect. Skulls and torches glow and burn on the walls behind them.
"Smoke it up! Smoke it up!" shouts the director. Gray, billowing smoke clouds
offer a sneak preview of hell as cameraman on a crane moves in on the lead
creature's grimace.
"You know what's wrong with those guys?" asks Nikki, walking off the sound-
stage shaking his Revlon Blue/Black head sadly. "They have no sense of humor."
In [sic] December 8, 6:38 p.m., a 1972 Pantera driven by Mötley Crüe's lead singer
Vince Neil skidded into a lane of oncoming traffic in Redondo Beach, hitting a
Volkswagen containing a 20-year old man and an 18-year-old woman. Both suffered
severe injuries. Neil's passenger, Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas Dingley, was
pronounced dead en route to the hospital. Neil, who was not hurt in the accident, was
arrested on charges of drunken driving and vehicular homicide. He is currently free
on $2500 bail.
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