Sex: Tommy Lee

Mötley Crüe put the XXX in sex, especially early on. Were you just a bunch of sex maniacs?

I think it’s one of those things that just stuck in the early days. We were just four single dudes being exactly that, being maniacs with kind of an ‘anything goes’ attitude at all times. We’ve definitely evolved as people and as musicians and as songwriters and all that stuff, but for some reason some of that stuff is like duct tape – it just gets stuck on your shoe and it’s with you forever. The good stuff and the bad shit.

_On recent tours it seems like you’ve treated the sexual side of the band with a bit of a tongue-in-cheek attitude. _

Yeah, you’re absolutely right about that. Nobody else seems to really be doing that, y’know? I guess it’s kind of our thing. Maybe everyone just leaves that to us.

Do you think people are scared to get as far into it as the Crüe?

I guess. I’m a little too close to all this, so I really don’t know.

On the flip side, of course, the Crüe members’ own personal/sexual lives became fair game and open targets – you and Pamela Anderson certainly. What was that like?

I guess whenever you think about people’s relationships, that comes into play, especially when they’re public and everybody knows your business. That all seems to spill over into the big picture, doesn’t it? But that’s cool. That’s part of it. That goes all the way back to some Elvis Presley shit. When I meet new bands, I always tell them that if there’s not anything scary or sexual or something disturbing or odd about you, if it’s just plain ol’ generic rock’n’roll, it’s boring as hell.

I think people like that. They like to be a little bit scared of something. That’s what draws you in, not knowing if the guy is gonna make it through the show or if he did too much heroin the night before or if he’s gonna wake up tomorrow. There’s something about that that’s intriguing, and people like it – not even just with music, but with anybody, from political people who are caught either fucking around or taking drugs, or musicians or actors and actresses. That’s stuff people thrive on, for some reason. I call it the ‘deconstruction zone’ – people just build you up to actually enjoy watching you fall, and there’s definitely been a lot of that in this camp, y’know?

Will some of the Crüe’s more lascivious moments make it into the film adaptation of the band’s book, The Dirt?

Nikki [Sixx] and I just went to a first table read through the script. And I can tell you, that was probably the most fucking insanely surrealistic experience I’ve ever had. This movie is insane, even just the way it starts. I’m like: “How the hell are we gonna rate this thing triple-R?” So, yeah, it’s gonna be in there for sure.

Gary Graff is an award-winning veteran music journalist based in metro Detroit, writing regularly for Billboard, Ultimate Classic Rock, Media News Group, Music Connection, United Stations Radio Networks and others. Graff’s work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, Guitar World, Classic Rock, Revolver, the San Francisco Chronicle, AARP magazine, the Detroit Jewish News, The Forward and others. Graff has co-written and edited books about Bob Seger, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen. A professional voter for the Grammy Awards and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Graff co-founded the Detroit Music Awards in 1989 and continues as the organisation’s chief producer.