So long as rockers old and new are worried about the public’s perception, no one’s going to go broke writing trend pieces about “selling out.” This New York Times article looking at the marketing moves of former GNR bassist (and “business school graduate”…who knew?) Duff McKagan is another case in point, as musicians and biz folks alike are trotted out to defend their shilling and make their aging audience comfortable when “rockers are eagerly plastering their names everywhere.” In fact, rockers are now so comfy with “plastering their names everywhere” that advertisers are starting to get nervous that audiences are ignoring the stuff those names being used to sell.
Apparently some Time story got killed at the last minute, because this barely copyedited piece on the recent resurgence of hard-rock bands that can only be described as “odd” for a lot of reasons somehow made it to the magazine’s site. Not only is Don Dokken referred to as “Dan” in the story’s second sentence (ouch!), and not only does Vince Neil’s assertion that Motley Crue is in its heyday right now go unquestioned, and not only was the Rocklahoma festival–which, if anything, was the moment that hard rock could have been claimed as ruling the roost during the just-completed summer concert season–completely ignored (as was the fact that many of these touring bands were full of reshuffled hired guns), the numbers that were presented as evidence of writer/CNN Headline News personality Kris Osborn’s “rock is back!” thesis were subject to some curious inflation:
Make up your damn mind! Five days after the “Kid Pebble” dick-measuring contest and one day after it was announced Mr. Lee would be leaving Motley Crue (this time…forever!), Tommy’s biggest publicity week in eons closes out with him claiming that he doesn’t really wanna break up with his common-law wives of almost three decades after all:
File this under: Stuff I’m going to presume against hope is just a vicious Internet rumor because my ailing heart just couldn’t take it. But yes, Tommy Lee has apparently departed Motley Crue amidst lawsuits against the band’s former manager and claims that reality TV has rendered Lee even more of a lovable dolt than he was before. According to a press release from the band, said former manager, Carl Stubner, was playing fast and loose with the band’s money, even going so far as to hawk the band’s tickets at inflated rates that went right into his own pocket. But moreover, they claim that Stubner’s stewardship of Lee’s career has sullied the good name of the Crue itself:
Sorry, suckas: Vince Neil’s cruise is sold out. If you didn’t get tickets to this once-in-a-lifetime event where the sad inhabitants of Behind The Music get drunk on a boat and wonder what happened to the good old days man, you can think of me in January when you’re freezing and I’m sucking back… More »
Squeaky clean American Idol winner, grandma-friendly country star, and fan of cherry pie Carrie Underwood is turning out to be as much of an ’80s metalhead as my co-editor. After affirming the universality of Skid Row and Guns N’ Roses for the benefit of YouTube viewers, she’s now kickstarted Vince Neil’s heart, performing with the Crue singer at a Nashville tour stop this week. If Carrie records an album of shlocky, pop-countrified hair metal covers, well, I won’t want to listen to it necessarily, but its existence will at least warm my heart. Because the Internet is wonderful, magical place where kids can eat candy as soon as they want, there’s already a clip of the duet, and we’ve got it after the jump:
In a heartfelt plea to the music industry to change its venal ways, Nikki Sixx takes a bold stand, asserting that too many world-famous, incomprehensibly wealthy musicians are pushed to the point of depression (or at least ennui) by their fabulous lifestyles and turned into addicts, something he even claims isn’t “a new story, or refreshing at all.” Still, he’s mad as hell and he’s gently urging the music industry to not take it anymore.
“People die from this shit and record sales go up,” Sixx writes. “Oh, wait, there’s a good motive. It’s a business after all. Cruel, sad and true. I’ve seen it, I lived it. So why bring it up?…I think we need to stop enabling artists before the blood hits the floor for humans’ sake, not for gross ticket sales’ sake and not for commissions, but because we care.” The new, humanitarian Sixx also has a book about his drinking and drugging misadventures due in a little over a month. Not that one has anything to do with the other.
Rock Star has already been blamed for scuttling the Jane’s Addiction reunion, and now Motley Crue has decided that they want to get in on the blame-reality-TV game, filing a lawsuit claiming that Tommy Lee’s involvement in the show–as well as the Tommy Lee Goes To College project–caused damage to the band’s bottom line:
Plaintiffs Lee, Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil and Mick Mars allege that Stubner and his company, Sanctuary Management Group, over-promoted Lee’s unsuccessful side projects while dropping the ball with Mötley Crüe, which, per the complaint, grossed more than $30 million on its worldwide Red, White & Crüe tour but sustained damages because Lee was not available at the band’s disposal, causing them to perform fewer dates.
– McFarlane Toys has announced that it will make action figures in the likenesses of Bon Jovi members Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. Once again, Tico Torres fans get the shaft. [spawn.com] – Panic! More »
The popularity of the rock cruise, where you and a handful of your favorite band’s fans shell out a bunch of money for the opportunity to cram into overpriced cabins and catch some shows, mystifies us a bit–when we want to get away from it all, we tend to go to venues where the only music is made by crickets, or wind, or our teeth grinding while we sleep. But more bands seem to be getting on board with this waterlogged trend, so we figured we’d look at four of the intentionally rocking boats that will set sail over the next few months.
