The members of the band Mötley Crüe have, for decades, proven themselves to be the “baddest of the bad boys” in rock and roll, and when they played Augusta 30 years ago, authorities were not amused.
The “Shout at the Devil” band, which formed in California in 1981, pretty much singularly ushered in the Hair Metal Era in popular music, and members were notorious for their campy outfits, admitted drug use and eye-popping concert productions.
The Parents Music Resource Center, headed by then-Senator AL Gore’s wife Tipper Gore, placed the rock act on its “Filthy Fifteen” list; however, that designation and the demand that warning labels be placed on their albums only caused more Mötley Crüe records to fly off the shelf.
Even when hair metal fell out of favor and was replaced by grunge, the Crüe managed to remain in the spotlight with their outrageous antics.
In the mid-1990s, the band’s drummer, Tommy Lee, and his wife at the time, actress Pamela Anderson, filmed themselves having an intimate moment while on their honeymoon and the tape eventually made its way onto the internet. According to Men’s Health magazine, the couple claimed to be the victims of theft, but people still believe the tape’s “theft” and subsequent release on the internet was a publicity stunt by cooked up by the couple.
No matter how it made its way onto the internet, the sex tape started a trend of other wanna-be celebrities having their sex tapes “stolen” and released on the internet.
Even after decades, people are still talking about the tape, and in particular, ahem, Lee’s manhood. Rocker Glenn Danzig was quoted as saying, “It’s not fair. Def Leppard’s drummer only has one arm, but apparently, Tommy Lee has three.”
Even when most bands from the Hair Metal Era had shorn their Aquanetted locks and played mostly county fairs, Mötley Crüe remained in the spotlight despite the fact that the band had not had a bone fide hit record in a decade.
The band rang in New Years 2005 on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno where singer Vince Neil dropped an f-bomb, but the FCC declined to issue a fine.
According to the Radio Business Report, the incident happened at midnight when the rules on language are not as stringent. Also, Neil was not found to be describing a sex act but rather used the word as an adjective.
Mötley Crüe successfully sued NBC after being banned from the network, and now, salty language on broadcast TV, while not common, is not really rare.
NBC was not alone in banning Mötley Crüe, the James Brown Arena (then known as the Civic Center) had banned the group for life 15 years earlier.
In 1990 when the Mötley Crüe tour came to Augusta, the band’s encore happened at the Augusta Police Station. According to Ed Turner, writing at the time in The Augusta Chronicle, the incident occurred during Lee’s drum solo, in which the drum kit was suspended upside down over the audience.
When the solo ended, Lee jumped off his kit, turned, dropped his pants and mooned the audience, then ran offstage wearing only a g-string.
Police immediately interrupted the show to the dismay of 6,000 screaming fans as police escorted Lee out of the building.
The next morning, headlines across the nation screamed “Tommy Lee arrested in Augusta!”
Only, he wasn’t really arrested.
According to Turner, the police were asked ahead of time by Mötley Crüe’s management what would happen if Lee mooned the audience, something Ozzy Osbourne had been doing for years. They were told it would result in a small fine.
Lee was neither arrested nor booked but was issued a citation for indecent exposure, after which he dutifully drove down to the Law Enforcement Center and paid the fine.
So, a fine of $1,647 netted the band millions of dollars of free publicity.
Nowadays, Grammy nominated pop lyrics make “Shout at the Devil” seem quaint. Performers are criticized for actually wearing clothes on stage, and the headlines that now feature Mötley Crüe are all about how the aging rock group allegedly lip syncs and mimes to prerecorded music.
Back in 1990, the band was banned from playing the Civic Center for life; however, Tyler Gambrell, director of marketing for the James Brown Arena, says the group has been paroled after over 30 years.
“They are welcome to play here, but they have to follow the rules. We don’t allow smoking in the boys room,” Gambrell said.
…And that is something you may not have known.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
