5.24.13 Life Ball Eve

VINCE NEIL: If you look at the Mötley Crüe progression of looks, they are all different. When we did [1981’s] “Too Fast for Love,” we just wore what we could because we didn’t have any money. We basically shopped at the hardware store, got chains and made our own stuff. Then for [1983’s] “Shout at the Devil,” it was a theatrical leather look, not a biker leather look. Then we completely went to the other end and did the glam thing with [1985’s] “Theatre of Pain”; there was no leather at all. Then, when everybody started doing that, we changed to the motorcycle look for [1987’s] “Girls Girls Girls.” We never pigeonholed ourselves into any look. Entertainment is supposed to be an escape. It’s not supposed to let you know how miserable you are.

TOMMY LEE (Mötley Crüe): A lot of bands recently seem to have been there to make the crowd depressed. I could never figure that out. That, to me, is like sitting down at a bar and drinking to remember. In the early days of hair metal, new bands had to be resourceful to look good onstage even though their wallets were usually empty. For most, gigging and merch sales didn’t pay the bills, especially after pay-to-play became widespread. Girlfriends, strippers, or parents sometimes supported the rock star hopefuls. Often, however, musicians sold drugs or toiled at day jobs. One of the most common part-time gigs for aspiring rock stars was telemarketing — boiler rooms of musicians with fake names selling equally questionable goods and services. Tower Records Sunset and Aaron’s Records were other spots where Los Angeles’s long-haired and hungover could be found trying to earn a buck. The ubiquitous scenario spawned a standard joke. Q: “What do you call a musician in L.A. without a girlfriend?” A: “Homeless.”