Tommy Lee - drums, vocals; Mick Mars - guitar, vocals; Vince Neil - vocals; Nikki Sixx - bass, vocals
Mötley Crüe only took a few years to single-handedly overtake the LA club scene with their raucous brand of pop metal. Originally released on the small indie label, Lethur Records, the band's 1982 Too Fast For Love debut sold a whopping 25,000 copies in the LA area alone. That was enough to get them a deal on Elektra, and in 1983, Mötley Crüe issued Shout At The Devil, which went gold within the year.
Originally formed by guitarist Frank Ferrana (soon to be Nikk Sixx) and drummer Tommy Lee Bass, Mötley Crüe was determined to become a band that was noticed. Upon the completion of the lineup, with vocalist Vince Neil and guitarist Mick Mars, Mötley Crüe wasted no time in capturing the support of a loyal teenage fan base that grew from the LA club scene. The band was one of the first of the "hair metal" groups that merged the androgynous glitter look of the Bowie/T-Rex era with a black leather mentality of the underground metal scene. Musically, they did the same thing.
But from the very start, the band would be more known for their celebrity bad boy antics than their music, which was also very controversial. This recording, when they were virtually unknown to the mainstream music public, came weeks after singer Vince Neil crashed his car in an alcohol related accident that took the life of his friend and passenger, Nick "Razzle" Dingley of the band, Hanoi Rocks.
Look back to the early days of Mötley Crüe with this amazing show from the King Biscuit archives. The highlights include "Shout At The Devil," "Bastard," "Take Me To The Top," "Ten Seconds To Love," "Too Young To Fall In Love," "Red Hot," "Live Wire" and a rockin' cover of The Beatles classic, "Helter Skelter."