Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue) birthday - TIMH

Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna, Jr. was born today in 1958. Frank has made some very bad decisions over the years, from fashion faux pas to heavy drug use that killed him dead in 1987. Frank has also made some very good decisions in his life, including changing his name to Nikki Sixx, marrying multiple Playboy models and joining with Mick Mars, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil in starting the band Motley Crue.

Before the Crue became international rock stars in the 1980s, Sixx played in bands in L.A. in the late 1970s. He played with Blackie Lawless, who would go on to fame with W.A.S.P., in a band called Sister then later played in a band called London. In 1980, Sixx left London and began playing with drummer Tommy Lee. With the rhythm section in place, Sixx and Lee went looking for a guitarist and a singer.

Guitarist Mick Mars put an ad in the L.A. classified newspaper The Recycler that read, “Loud, rude and aggressive guitar player available”, and Sixx and Lee knew they had found their man. It may seem odd to hire a guitarist from a newspaper but this same paper was responsible for getting Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield together as well as helping to birth Guns n Roses by introducing Duff McKagan to Slash and Steven Adler.

Tommy Lee knew singer Vince Neil from high school and he recruited Neil into the band. With the four members in place, the band now needed a name. They were on the verge of calling themselves Christmas before they wised up and chose the name Motley Crue. There are multiple stories as to how they came upon that name, but the two most popular say it was a comment made about the look of the band and was uttered by either an old man at a bar or members of another band. They added umlauts above the “o” and the “u” in Motley Crue, as was the custom of the day, and they claim they were inspired by the umlauts from the Lowenbrau beer they drank (but Motorhead fans know better).

With all the pieces in place, the Crue set out to conquer the world. Lacking a record contract, they released their debut album, “Too Fast For Love”, on their own in 1981. From the opening riff the Crue established themselves as a band that demanded to be heard and heard loudly. With absolutely no radio play and no distribution the album sold 20,000 copies. Elektra Records took notice and signed the band in 1982. “Too Fast For Love” was re-recorded, given a proper release in 1982 and four years later had sold over a million copies.

With Sixx continuing as the primary writer of lyrics and music, Motley Crue released their second album, “Shout at the Devil” in 1983. It reached the Top 20 and announced the Crue as a major player on the metal/hard rock scene. The title of the album coupled with the adoption of a pentagram as a band logo fostered speculation that the band was into devil worship, which freaked out parents and fueled album sales. (Your humble narrator’s mother confiscated this album on multiple occasions. Replacing the album was an expensive endeavor for an eight or nine year old kid.)

By 1984 Motley Crue was opening for Ozzy Osbourne and doing their best to keep up with Ozzy’s bottomless appetite for boozing and drugging. It was on this tour that one of Nikki Sixx’s greatest legends was born. Allegedly, Sixx and Ozzy were engaged in some sort of macho, drug-fueled game of one-upmanship. In an attempt to outdo Ozzy, Nikki snorted a line of ants. Ozzy would not be bested, however, and he also snorted some ants before upping the ante considerably.

In December of ’84, singer Vince Neil was involved in a DUI-related car accident that killed his friend, Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley. The band dedicated their 1985 album “Theatre of Pain” to Dingley but Sixx and the Crue didn’t learn any real lessons. In May of 1987 they released “Girls Girls Girls” which would reach all the way to #2 on the album chart. Seven months later Sixx would overdose on heroin and die.

Truth be told, Sixx was only dead for two minutes. His heart stopped while being taken to the hospital to be treated for the overdose. He was revived by adrenaline shots to his heart. Upon regaining consciousness, Sixx hightailed it out of the ambulance, bummed a ride home and did some more heroin before going to sleep. This incident inspired one of the Crue’s most popular songs, “Kickstart My Heart”.

In 1988, Sixx was sued by a man named Matthew Trippe who said that he was hired to be Sixx’s doppelganger but wasn’t properly compensated. Trippe claimed that Sixx was seriously injured in an auto accident in 1983 and Trippe was hired to be Sixx’s body double. Trippe further claimed that he in fact wrote songs for the band in addition to impersonating Sixx in concerts and public appearances. The case dragged on until 1993 before it was dropped.

The craziness didn’t stop there for Sixx. Motley Crue’s manager, Doc McGhee, was convicted of smuggling 40,000 pounds of marijuana into the United States. As part of his plea deal McGhee was sentenced to music-related community service. To help satisfy his court mandated responsibilities, McGhee organized the Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989. The list of performers included teetotalers Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, Skid Row and Cinderella.

Also in 1989, Motley Crue released their biggest album, “Dr. Feelgood”. The album went to #1 and remained on the chart for over two years. Depending on how you feel about Metallica’s “Black” album, you can either thank or curse Motley Crue for helping Metallica make their polarizing musical transition. On “Dr. Feelgood” Motley Crue used Bob Rock as a producer and after Lars Ulrich heard the album he reached out to Rock to work with Metallica. A case can be made that if not for “Dr. Feelgood” there would be no “Black” album.

Sixx finally got clean but the end was near for Motley Crue. The band had long since changed their musical style from metal/hard rockl to a hair metal sound. With the onset of grunge the hair metal bands were largely swept away. Motley Crue hung for a while through some lineup changes but their glory years were behind them. Sixx wrote the vast majority of the material on Motley Crue’s records, which have sold over 100 million copies. He has also written songs for Alice Cooper, Lita Ford, Meatloaf, Drowning Pool and country music duo Big & Rich.

Sixx has been involved with a number of side projects including Brides of Destruction and Sixx:A.M. He also hosts a syndicated radio show called Sixx Sense and is currently touring with Motley Crue. The Crue have signed a contract promising this will be their last tour and they will play their last show on December 31 at the Staples Center in the city where it all began 35 years ago.

Here’s “Live Wire”, the song that started it all. Track one, side one from the album “Too Fast For Love” 1981: