A new semester means a re-do of my article styles, again. I promise this will be the last, and final, type of article. I had the whole summer to perfect it so it’s going to be great. Anyway, to kick off my sophomore year we’re going to be focusing on my favorite band of all time: Mötley Crüe.
Mötley Crüe is a band that was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles, CA, and originally consisted of founder, Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, and Vince Neil. Now, Mars has left the band due to personal and professional reasons and has been replaced by John 5. Some their greatest hits include “Home Sweet Home,” “Dr. Feelgood,” “Kickstart My Heart,” and “Girls, Girls, Girls.” But what are the stories behind these songs? Well, lucky for you, I’m going to tell you (that’s the new format: song stories 😊)
Crüe’s first album, Too Fast For Love, was released in 1981 and is their best album, in my personal opinion. One of the songs on that album is “On With The Show.” The song is based on the story of Nikki Sixx. You see, before Sixx was Sixx, he was Frank Ferrana Jr. Because his dad walked out on him and his mom as a young boy, he resented his father and wanted his name changed. So, when he was eighteen, he went and legally got his name changed to Nikki Sixx. He originally wanted it to byNykki Syxx, but another rock star already had that name, leaving Ferrana to choose the name we know today.
In the song “On With The Show,” there’s a lyric that says,
“Frankie died just the other night
Some say it was suicide
But we know how the story goes”
That lyric pays homage to Frank Ferrana Jr. and how he became Nikki Sixx. Yes, Frank died, but the man himself didn’t die; he just became a different version of himself.
Girls, Girls, Girls, Crüe’s fourth studio album came out right after Nikki’s grandmother, Nona, passed away. Growing up, Sixx was taken care of by his grandparents instead of his mom and dad, and because of that they were very influential in who he became. Even though he was a wild child, they supported him in everything they did, especially his music passion. So, when the opportunity arose, Nikki wrote a song called “Nona” for the album. Although it’s a short song, the lyrics representthe pain that Nikki was feeling at that time and was done in a fashion that represented her. A beautiful tribute to a beautiful woman. There’s an instrumental as well.
One of Mötley Crüe’s most famous songs is “Kickstart My Heart.” It came out on their best-selling album, Dr. Feelgood, and is played at every one of their concerts to this day. As their main songwriter, Nikki was the one who wrote the song and he was the perfect one to do so because the basis of the song actually happened to him.
While on tour in 1987 to promote the Girls, Girls, Girls album, Nikki went to a party. An avid heroin addict, Sixx overdosed. Unlike the multiple times before though, he didn’t wake up when his friends tried to rouse him awake. He just laid there limp and eventually stopped breathing entirely, dying. His friends called the paramedics, and they arrived on the scene to just shake their heads and look at their watches to pronounce the time of death. But the one paramedic was a huge Crüe fan and wasn’t going to let “Nikki f—ing Sixx” die on him.
Taking out two syringes of pure adrenaline, the paramedic shot one into his chest right above his heart and waited. As the precious seconds ticked away, nothing happened and the other paramedics looked at their watches. Just as they were about to write down what the time of death was the man shoved another syringe into Sixx’s heart, and this one took. Sixx gasped and sat bolt upright, looked around, and said, “ow,” before falling back down.
Because of the state of how he was brought back to life, the name of the song “Kickstart My Heart” is a tribute to how Nikki Sixx died and lived to tell the tale.
There are so many more stories to tell about Mötley Crüe and their songs, but those three are the most profound. You can find all three songs listed above in the below playlist, and I hope you enjoy listening to them, now that you know the stories behind them.
Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/59BzuO2NSZc51FRoj6fk5o
Want to share your thoughts? Have a band/artist you want to be featured? Email Brooke at johnpibl23@bonaventure.edu!
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