Nightmare Before Christmas and Bon Jovi

I needed a holiday posting for my blog, and I found the coolest video to end the year 2009. There is a YouTube video posted by "shaddow999999999music" with the Bon Jovi ballad "These Open Arms" to the movie animation of "The Nightmare Before Christmas". This is a beautiful song from 2007 by Bon Jovi. Just to clarify "The Nightmare Before Christmas" movie was released back in 1993 and this is not on the soundtrack. What a beautiful ballad with great lyrics. Please enjoy the video and lyrics below. Happy Holidays Everyone!! - Kenny Leibow

The Nightmare Before Christmas and Bon Jovi - These Open Arms


These Open Arms - Lyrics by Bon Jovi

What if everything you always took for granted was gone
And everything you ever thought was right was wrong
And what if everyone you ever loved just torn from the pages of your life
Would you reach out for tomorrow or try to turn back time ?

These open arms will wait for you
These open arms can pull us through
Between what's left and left to do
These open arms
These open arms
These open arms will wait for you

Did you even love the one you said you loved, that's right
Did you make a tender difference in somebody else's life ?
Tell me, is a song you can count on when you need a friend ?
Can you see I need a friend...

These open arms will wait for you
These open arms can pull us through
Between what's left and left to do
These open arms
These open arms
These open arms will wait for you

Can you lean me your skin ?
Walk in your own shoes !
You can't win if you don't know how to lose
Crawl, fall, try to get out of the learner, fly !

These open arms will wait for you
These open arms can pull us through
Between what's left and left to do
These open arms
These open arms
These open arms
These open arms
These open arms will wait for you

Source - www.stlyrics.com

Happy Thanksgiving; Let's Be Thankful for Ronnie James Dio

I remember Ronnie James Dio as Ozzy Osbourne's replacement in Black Sabbath from 1979-1982. I did buy the "Heaven and Hell" album, which became a classic. I am a huge Ozzy fan as you can read in my previous posts; however Ronnie James Dio has made his mark in Heavy Metal history. Let's remember his contribution. - Kenny Leibow

By now, you've probably heard the sad news that Ronnie James Dio has stomach cancer. Cancer is a nasty beast, but all accounts say Dio's doctors caught the disease early. As such, the metal master will undergo treatment immediately. I don't know how long it takes to go through treatment for stomach cancer, but I imagine it's not exactly quick. Still, here's hoping Ronnie James Dio will be back singing on stage very soon.

Can you believe I've never seen Dio live? A shame, I know. He's definitely been on my must see list for awhile now...it just hasn't happened.

So, while you Americans enjoy Thanksgiving and the rest of the world goes about its collective business, maybe we should all pause and remember those people that are important to us. We should also give thanks for Ronnie and Metal -- because without music, we wouldn't have much to talk about! - allyson@bringbackglam.com

Source: http://www.bringbackglam.com

Ronnie James Dio - Killing The Dragon

Alice Cooper - Poison 1989

Alice Cooper was a "Shock Rocker" born out of the 1970's hard rock music scene. Even in the early 80's I remember Alice Cooper was widely popular with a cult following when I was in High School listening to old huge hits like "I'm Eighteen" and "Schools Out". In 1989, Alice Cooper had a resurrection with the song "Poison" from his album "Trash". Alice Cooper's popularity continued to grow to legend status after his appearance in the 1992 film "Wayne's World".

Below see the original 1989 music video of "Poison" and a live performance of "School's Out". I have also included a complete biography of Alice Cooper. - Kenny Leibow



















Poison -1989 Official Video







School's Out - Live Performance

Mini Biography

Source - IMDb

Alice Cooper was born Vincent Damon Furnier, in Detroit, Michigan, the son of a minister. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona, at a young age and still lives in the state today. At 17 he formed a rock band called the Earwigs, who changed their name to The Spiders and then The Nazz, before finally settling on Alice Cooper. The line-up included himself, Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce, Glen Buxton and Neil Smith. Rumors (which the band did not necessarily make efforts to deny) to the contrary, the name was not chosen from a Ouija board reading nor was it named after a woman once burned at the stake for witchcraft -- it was picked because the random name had a twisted sense of originality and misleading innocence, complementing the band's bizarre and macabre stage theatrics and lyric themes.

The band got their first big break playing at the Whiskey-a-GoGo in L.A. one night in 1969 when Frank Zappa discovered them and signed them to his record label. After two albums-and relocating to Detroit -- they were signed by Warner Bros., hooked up with famous producer Robert Ezrin and came out with their third album, the break-through "Love It to Death" in 1971. Several albums followed, including "Killer", the highly successful "School's Out" and "Billion Dollar Babies", and "Muscle of Love". The band made an appearance in the movie Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) and their own theatrically released documentary Good to See You Again, Alice Cooper (1974). Alice himself also starred in an episode of The Snoop Sisters (1972) (TV).

The original Alice Cooper band broke up in 1975, with the lead singer getting his name legally changed to Alice Cooper -- and performing under the name ever since -- while some of the other members formed a band called the Billion Dollar Babies. That same year saw the release of a Greatest Hits album, while Alice as a solo artist completed the "Welcome to My Nightmare" album and his incredibly theatrical tour. It was on this tour that he met his future wife Sheryl Cooper, who had been hired as a dancer.

Along with the album and tour came a TV special, Alice Cooper: The Nightmare (1975) (TV), and both included dialog from horror movie legend Vincent Price. Alice made a number of other TV and movie appearances in the second half of the decade, including "The Muppet Show" (1976), Mae West's final film Sextette (1978), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) and several appearances on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962).

However, by the late 1970s Alice's problems with alcohol became life-threatening, and he was checked into a clinic for rehabilitation. He told of his experiences on the semi-fictional album "From The Inside" (there was also a comic book of the same title), and explored different sounds in the early '80s with four albums ("Flush The Fashion", "Special Forces", "Zipper Catches Skin", "DaDa"). After having a severe "falling off the wagon" to the point of almost dying, he sobered up once more -- this time for good -- and returned with the albums "Constrictor", "Raise Your Fist and Yell" and the 1989 album "Trash", which featured the hit song "Poison". The '80s also saw Alice starring in the horror flicks Leviatán (1984) (also known as "Monster Dog") and Prince of Darkness (1987), as well as having mostly new songs for the soundtracks to Roadie (1980), Class of 1984 (1982), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) and Shocker (1989).

It was the 1990s, however, that brought Alice's most memorable movie appearance: playing himself in Wayne's World (1992). The phrase uttered by characters Wayne and Garth in his presence, "We're not worthy!", became one of the most popular movie catch-phrases of the decade. Alice also played the father of Freddy Krueger in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), and himself on "That '70s Show" (1998) and "Something Wilder" (1994). The decade also saw the release of his "Hey Stoopid" and "The Last Temptation". Alice toured occasionally but took a break from releasing albums until 2000, when he released "Brutal Planet". He followed this up with "Dragon Town", "The Eyes of Alice Cooper" and the "Dirty Diamonds", and continues to tour regularly, performing shows with the bizarrely dark and horror-themed theatrics that he's best known for.

KISS Tribute Band 1991

Deniz performed live with several musicians in the 1990s including his bands Ankara and Sin. In 1991 at Penrods in Miami Beach, Florida, Deniz was on stage playing Paul Stanley in a Kiss Tribute performance. Read the story below by Rudy Landa; and see the video of the live performance with complete Kiss makeup. - Kenny Leibow

"Halloween of '91, while attending Career Institutes
of America in Miami Beach, some buddies of mine
and myself put together a KISS tribute band and
played at South Beach's "Penrod' s on
The Beach" for our school Halloween Party.....

Here's my guitar solo from that night,followed by a
little tune that KISS fans will recognize.....it was a wild
and crazy time the early 90s......so many memories." -Rudy Landa

Denniz (Paul Stanley), Randy (Peter Criss), Alex (Gene Simmons), and me Rudy (Ace Freeley).



KISS Tribute Band 1991

SIN - South Florida Rock Bands 1990s

Deniz Kose performed in many venues through out the 1990s. The photo to the left is Deniz performing at Penrods in South Beach (Florida). As I stated in the previous post "Deniz and Kenny Collection 2", Deniz was in the group Ankara and SIN in the 1990s. Here is the story of SIN:

In 1993 Deniz started a studio in Hallandale, Florida called "Jamtite". I remember visiting the studio in 1996 to watch Ankara rehearse. Jamtite studio was located in an industrial type area with a lot of mechanic shops around. At night, it was a party zone packed with cars. One of Jamtite's many customers were two guys who rented studio time, Ray Gutierrez and Caesar Gutierrez. They were brothers whose family was Cuban. Ray and Caesar were customers for a long time, approximately one and half years. Deniz became good friends with Ray and Caesar. By the end of 1996, Ankara had broken up; and at that time, Deniz started jamming with Ray and Caesar. They all decided to put a together a band and called the group "SIN".

SIN consisted of Deniz Kose as the lead singer, Ray Gutierrez on bass and background vocals, and Caesar Gutierrez as lead guitar and background vocals. They played all original music. Ray and Caesar co-wrote the music and Deniz wrote the lyrics. When SIN practiced and recorded in the studio, the musicians on drums and keyboards were not permanent members of the band. They were musicians for hire.

SIN played many popular venues in South Florida such as The Button, Roses, Plus5, Churchill's, Rosebuds, and McFly just to name a few. When SIN performed live, they also used various drummers on stage. Deniz was forced to close Jamtite in 1996 because the building had a new owner who did not want bands playing there any more. About 4 days a week SIN rehearsed at Obenour Studio in Ft. Lauderdale. They rehearsed 5-6 days a week on average as well as performing live. Sometimes SIN would rehearse at a studio in South Miami, which was the group Exposé's old studio.

Deniz - "I remembers when Ray and Caesar invited Rudy Sarzo the bass player from Ozzy Osbourne, Quite Riot and White Snake to come to the studio and hang out at one of our rehearsals. Now that was a cool moment to jam in front of a musician who was one of my rock heroes. He actually liked our Band. That was a good moment and though I never made it to the Lime Light. it is moments like that I consider priceless."

SIN was together almost 4 years. They broke up in 2000. SIN left behind some great music and fun times. You can listen to some of SIN's songs on the music player on this blog. Also please listen to "Doin Fine" below recorded by SIN in 1998. - Kenny Leibow

SIN - Doin Fine


SIN
Deniz Kose - Lead vocals and Lyricist
Ray Gutierrez - Bass and Background vocals and co writer
Caesar Gutierrez- Lead Guitar.Background vocals and co writer

TRACKS
Trapped in the mirror
Whispering trees
Summer Rain
Doin fine
Into the sky
Feel

Venues in South Florida

South Florida is home to several arenas, stadiums, amphitheaters, and other live music venues.

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/8636/concerts.html

Hollywood Sportatorium - Rush and Yes 1988

How many venues have featured Elvis Presley and Led Zeppelin in its history? A small arena in Hollywood, Florida did exactly that. The Hollywood Sportatorium was a major events facility for Southeastern Florida in the 1970's and 1980's, and at the time was the only venue of its kind in Broward County. Built in 1969 and opened in September of 1970, it had a concert capacity of 15,500 seats. It was located at 16661 W. Hollywood Blvd. (later renamed Pines Boulevard) in what was then Unincorporated Broward County. It was built adjacent to the Miami-Hollywood Motorsports Park, built just four years earlier. At the time, Pines Blvd was a small two lane road.

In addition to Elvis and Led Zeppelin, the Hollywood Sportatorium was host to Van Halen, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, U2, Rush, Yes and Aerosmith just to name a few great bands and artists. After living in Florida for a very short time, I did get to experience a concert at the Hollywood Sportatorium in 1988. I saw Aerosmith on April 17th, 1988 on their "Permanent Vacation" tour with some friends. It was a fantastic concert! Unfortunately the newly built Miami Arena at the time took away all the business from the Hollywood Sportatorium and it was forced to close in October 1988. It was later torn down in 1993.

The Hollywood Sportatoriium was not only known for great rock concerts in the 1970's and 1980's, but also for Star Trek conventions. The acoustics were notorious for being poor and the building was basically cement and metal; nothing sexy about it at all. Billy Joel at one of his concerts, dealt with echoing sounds by yelling, “This place sucks!”. It is the memories and the experiences that were created along with the great bands who played there is why we want to remember the Hollywood Sportatorium. - Kenny Leibow

Sources: http://www.classics-rock-concerts.com

Below are audience recordings from the Hollywood Sportatorium, Hollywood, Florida of "Yes" and "Rush" concerts. By watching these videos, you can get a sense of the experience from inside the Hollywood Sportatorium. Listen to the crowd go wild when Rush starts to play "Tom Sawyer".

Audience recording of "Yes" from the Hollywood Sportatorium, Hollywood, Florida, Sunday, January 24, 1988.

Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart



Yes - And You and I


Yes - Love Will Find A Way




"Rush" playing at the The Sportatorium in Hollywood, Florida, USA, on February 13, 1988, as part of the Hold Your Fire tour.

Rush - YYZ / The Rhythm Method / Red Lenses 2-13-1988



Rush - Closer To The Heart 2-13-1988


Rush - Limelight 2-13-1988



Rush - Tom Sawyer 2-13-1988

Deniz and Kenny Collection 2

I just added 15 more original songs to this blog. When you listen to the music player on the left, the new songs are playing first. We are now in the next chapter when Deniz moved on to music maturity in the 1990's.

Deniz recorded a few songs with Steve Gibb in 1992. Steve is the son of the infamous Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. Don't be fooled, all these songs are of the same genre "Hard Rock". Two of those songs, "Hole In My Sole" and "Shadows Of Your Dreams" you can listen to on this blog. Steve Gibb plays guitar and Deniz is the lead singer on all these songs. Deniz also wrote all the lyrics.

In 1994 Deniz joined a band called "Ankara". They were together from 1994-1996. You can listen to 6 original Ankara songs. The last band that Deniz formed was "Sin". They played together in South Florida from 1998-2000. There are 7 original songs from "Sin" on this blog.

Deniz is the lead singer and wrote the lyrics to all 15 songs. Like I did with the postings from the early days of the 1980's; there are stories to tell behind each one of these songs. We will be posting some of these original stories behind the music; and the cool lyrics of some of these songs. ***** The picture above in the middle is the CIA Talent show in South Beach where Sean, Deniz and Alex took first place.

The quality of these 15 songs is much better than the original songs I posted from the 1980's. Most of these songs were recorded in the studio, however they were converted from tape to digital. Enjoy the music! - Kenny Leibow

Tracks from Deniz and Kenny Collection 2

1. Into The Sky - Sin

2. Doin Fine - Sin

3. Trapped In The Mirror - Sin

4. Whispering Tree - Sin

5. Feel - Sin

6. What If - Sin

7. Summer Rain - Sin

8. Freedom - Ankara

9. Shine On - Ankara

10. Sleeper - Ankara

11. Best Friend - Ankara

12. Sing - Ankara

13. IEI - Ankara

14. Hole In My Sole - Steve Gibb, Amanda Green, & Deniz Kose

15. Shadows Of Your Dreams - Steve Gibb, Emerson Forth & Deniz Kose

VH1's Greatest Hard Rock Songs - Twisted Sister Makes the List

There is a lot of buzz regarding VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs. This was a five-part television version, which was hosted by Brent Michaels earlier this year. You can see some clips on VH1.com. Skid Row, Scorpions, Ratt and Poison all made the list along with Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock" at #17. I remember this music video was hilarious especially the outrageous teacher. See the original rock video below. Like all lists there are those who will disagree. Please leave your comments on what you think should be the number one Hard Rock song. - Kenny Leibow

VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs
01. GUNS N' ROSES - "Welcome To The Jungle"
02. AC/DC - "Back In Black"
03. LED ZEPPELIN - "Whole Lotta Love"
04. BLACK SABBATH - "Paranoid"
05. METALLICA - "Enter Sandman"
06. THE WHO - "Won't Get Fooled Again"
07. NIRVANA - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
08. AEROSMITH - "Walk This Way"
09. VAN HALEN - "Running With The Devil"
10. MOTÖRHEAD - "Ace Of Spades"
11. DEEP PURPLE - "Smoke On The Water"
12. JUDAS PRIEST - "Breaking The Law"
13. DEF LEPPARD - "Photograph"
14. IRON MAIDEN - "Run To The Hills"
15. MÖTLEY CRÜE - "Dr. Feelgood"
16. KISS - "Rock And Roll All Nite"
17. TWISTED SISTER - "I Wanna Rock"
18. SCORPIONS - "Rock You Like A Hurricane"
19. RUSH - "Tom Sawyer"
20. BON JOVI - "You Give Love A Bad Name"
21. LED ZEPPELIN - "Kashmir"
22. THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE - "Hey Joe"
23. OZZY OSBOURNE - "Crazy Train"
24. IRON BUTTERFLY - "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
25. THE RAMONES - "Blitzkrieg Bop"
26. LYNYRD SKYNYRD - "Freebird"
27. WHITESNAKE - "Still Of The Night"
28. FOO FIGHTERS - "Everlong"
29. JOAN JETT - "Bad Reputation"
30. PEARL JAM - "Evenflow"
31. AC/DC - "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"
32. TED NUGENT - "Cat Scratch Fever"
33. GREEN DAY - "Basket Case"
34. HEART - "Barracuda"
35. ALICE COOPER - "School's Out"
36. VAN HALEN - "Hot For Teacher"
37. THE WHO - "My Generation"
38. QUEEN - "Stone Cold Crazy"
39. BOSTON - "More Than A Feeling"
40. POISON - "Talk Dirty To Me"
41. QUIET RIOT - "*** On Feel The Noise"
42. THE CLASH - "Should I Stay Or Should I Go"
43. DIO - "Holy Diver"
44. CREAM - "Sunshine Of Your Love"
45. FOGHAT - "Slow Ride"
46. ANTHRAX - "Madhouse"
47. KID ROCK - "Bawitdaba"
48. KORN - "Freak On A Leash"
49. IGGY POP AND THE STOOGES - "Search And Destroy"
50. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - "Give It Away"
51. MEGADETH - "Peace Sells"
52. THE RUNAWAYS - "Cherry Bomb"
53. STEPPENWOLF - "Born To Be Wild"
54. FAITH NO MORE - "Epic"
55. BLUE ÖYSTER CULT - "Don't Fear The Reaper"
56. WARRANT - "Cherry Pie"
57. THE KINKS - "You Really Got Me"
58. STONE TEMPLE PILOTS - "Interstate Love Song"
59. BILLY SQUIER - "The Stroke"
60. SKID ROW - "18 And Life"
61. RATT - "Round And Round"
62. DOKKEN - "Breaking The Chains"
63. SURVIVOR - "Eye Of The Tiger"
64. ROLLINS BAND - "Liar"
65. MC5 - "Kick Out The Jams"
66. EUROPE - "The Final Countdown"
67. ZZ TOP - "Tush"
68. WHITE ZOMBIE - "More Human Than Human"
69. LIVING COLOUR - "Cult Of Personality"
70. FOREIGNER - "Hot Blooded"
71. JANE'S ADDICTION - "Mountain Song"
72. PAT BENETAR - "Heartbreaker"
73. THIN LIZZY - "Jailbreak"
74. THE CULT - "Love Removal Machine"
75. WHITE STRIPES - "Seven Nation Army"
76. LITA FORD - "Kiss Me Deadly"
77. SOUNDGARDEN - "Black Hole Sun"
78. BAD COMPANY - "Feel Like Making Love"
79. BILLY IDOL - "Rebel Yell"
80. JOURNEY - "Any Way You Want It"
81. BLACK SABBATH - "Heaven And Hell"
82. RAINBOW - "Since You've Been Gone"
83. EVANESCENCE - "Bring Me To Life"
84. W.A.S.P. - "I Wanna Be Somebody"
85. VELVET REVOLVER - "Slither"
86. MARILYN MANSON - "The Beautiful People"
87. WINGER - "Seventeen"
88. ALICE IN CHAINS - "Would?"
89. ANDREW W.K. - "Party Hard"
90. JETHRO TULL - "Aqualung"
91. SMASHING PUMPKINS - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
92. NIGHT RANGER - "Don't Tell Me You Love Me"
93. AUTOGRAPH - "Turn Up The Radio"
94. THE DARKNESS - "I Believe In A Thing Called Love"
95. CREED - "Higher"
96. KANSAS - "Carry On Wayward Son"
97. EDGAR WINTER'S GROUP - "Frankenstein"
98. BUCKCHERRY - "Lit Up"
99. GRAND FUNK RAILROAD - "We're An American Band"
100. SAMMY HAGAR - "I Can't Drive 55

Source: http://video.yahoo.com

Twisted Sister - I Wanna Rock

Mötley Crüe - Dr. Feelgood

Mötley Crüe's Dr. Feelgood album went number 1 on the Album Billboard Charts in 1989. This album propelled Mötley Crüe to worldwide fame. You can read Mötley Crüe's biography below. I remember listening to and watching the video from the band's 1987 hit "Girls, Girls, Girls". Mötley Crüe seemed to get the most press coverage at times over the other glam bands. You can scan all the Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson gossip on any number of thousands of websites. This blog posting is focused on the music.

Below see all the information regarding Mötley Crüe's "Dr. Feelgood" album; and watch the video of the live performance of the song "Dr. Feelgood" from 1989. I also included from the Dr. Feelgood album the music video of "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)". Of course, check out the bonus video which I am sure will bring back memories, "Girls,Girls, Girls". - Kenny Leibow

Track listing

All lyrics by Nikki Sixx

1. "T.N.T. (Terror 'N Tinseltown)" – 0:42
2. "Dr. Feelgood" – (Mick Mars, Nikki Sixx) – 4:50
3. "Slice of Your Pie" – (Sixx, Mars) – 4:32
4. "Rattlesnake Shake" – (Mars, Sixx, Vince Neil, Tommy Lee) – 3:40
5. "Kickstart My Heart" – (Sixx) – 4:48
6. "Without You" – (Sixx, Mars) – 4:29
7. "Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)" – (Lee, Sixx, Neil, Mars) – 4:12
8. "Sticky Sweet" – (Mars, Sixx) – 3:52
9. "She Goes Down" – (Mars, Sixx) – 4:37
10. "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)" – (Sixx, Mars) – 4:40
11. "Time for Change" – (Sixx, Donna McDaniel) – 4:45

Band

• Vince Neil – vocals, harmonica, guitar
• Mick Mars – guitar
• Nikki Sixx – bass guitar, vocals
• Tommy Lee – drums, percussion, vocals

with

• Donna McDaniel - background vocals on album
• Emi Canyn - background vocals on album
• Bryan Adams – background vocals on "Sticky Sweet"
• Skid Row – background vocals on "Time for Change"
• Robin Zander – background vocals on "She Goes Down"
• Mike Amato – background vocals on "Time For Change", Production Coordination, Project Coordinator
• Jack Blades – background vocals on "Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)" and "Sticky Sweet"
• Bob Dowd – background vocals on "Time For Change"
• Tom Keenlyside, Ian Putz, Ross Gregory, Henry Christian – marguerita horns on "Rattlesnake Shake"
• Marc LaFrance – background vocals on all tracks
• George Marino – mastering
• Rick Nielsen – background vocals on "She Goes Down"
• Bob Rock – bass on "Time For Change", background vocals on "Dr. Feelgood", "Rattlesnake Shake", "Sticky Sweet", "She Goes Down", producer, engineer
• Randy Staub – engineer
• David Steele – background vocals
• Chris Taylor – assistant engineer
• Steven Tyler – background vocals on "Sticky Sweet" and intro to "Slice of Your Pie"
• John Webster – honky tonk piano on "Rattlesnake Shake"
• Bob Defrin – Art Direction
• Don Brautigam – Cover Art Illustration
• William Hames – Photography
• Matty Spindel – Engineer
• Kevin Brady – Artwork, Design
• Kris Solem – Mastering

Chart positions

Album

Year - - - Chart - - - - Position
1989 The Billboard 200 1


Mötley Crüe - Dr. Feelgood (Live 1989)



Mötley Crüe - Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Mötley Crüe - Girls, Girls, Girls

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Biography

The poster boys for Eighties hair metal, Mötley Crüe parlayed whip-lash hard-rock songs, melodic power ballads and a hedonistic image into platinum-level heavy-metal superstardom, topping the charts with Dr. Feelgood (Number One, 1989) and coming close with Theatre of Pain (Number Six, 1985), Girls, Girls Girls (Number Two, 1987) and a greatest-hits collection, Decade of Decadence — '81-'91 (Number 2, 1991).

Nikki Sixx was a member of a successful L.A. metal band called London when he decided to form his own band. Tommy Lee came aboard as drummer, and they decided to call themselves Christmas. Guitarist Mick Mars was discovered through a classified ad reading, "Loud Rude Aggressive Guitarist Available." Vocalist Vince Neil was plucked from a Cheap Trick cover band. Mars came up with the new, strangely umlauted name. Their eponymous, independently released debut was picked up by Elektra Records and retitled Too Fast for Love (Number 77, 1983).

Shout at the Devil (Number 17, 1983), with its canny hints of Satanism, followed, but the band did not catch on in a big way until Theatre of Pain. Fueled by a cover of Brownsville Station's 1974 hit "Smokin' in the Boy's Room" (Number 16, 1985) and the power ballad "Home Sweet Home" (Number 89, 1985), the album sold more than two million copies.

For all the album sales, Crüe also was known as an extravagant live band, a scrappier Van Halen doing a rock version of a Vegas review, with elaborate sets and lighting, revolving drum platforms, pyrotechnics and dancing girls. Still, subsequent albums Girls, Girls, Girls and Dr. Feelgood continued the band's streak of platinum discs, selling two million and four million copies, respectively. In addition to its selection of greatest hits, Decade of Decadence included new material, such as a hard-rock cover version of the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K."

Off stage, Mötley Crüe lived the rock & roll lifestyle to its fullest, with celebrity marriages — Tommy Lee to actress Heather Locklear, from 1986 to 1994, then to Baywatch bombshell Pamela Anderson from 1995 to 1998; Nikki Sixx to former Prince protégée Vanity in 1987 — substance abuse and scrapes with the law. Sixx spent more than a year addicted to heroin. In 1986 Neil was convicted of vehicular manslaughter after a drunken car accident two years earlier resulted in the death of Hanoi Rocks drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley. Neil served twenty days in jail, performed 200 hours of community service and was assessed $2.6 million in damages.

After the band replaced Neil with singer John Corabi in 1992, Neil filed a $5 million wrongful termination suit and released a couple of solo albums, Exposed (Number 13, 1993) and the weak-selling Carved in Stone (1995). Mötley Crüe (Number Seven, 1994), the band's first album without Neil, produced two songs that charted on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks, "Hooligan's Holiday" (Number Ten, 1994) and Misunderstood (Number 24, 1994). The band fired Corabi two years later to bring Neil back on for a reunion of the original lineup. The resulting album, Generation Swine (Number Four, 1997) attempted to cash in on the alternative-rock craze, with songs exploring grunge and industrial metal, but despite the band's carbon-copy re-recording of an old hit, re-titled "Shout at the Devil '97," the album quickly fell off the chart.

Greatest Hits (Number 20, 1998) and Live Entertainment or Death (Number 33, 1999) continued the Crüe's commercial skid. Shortly after completing the subsequent tour, drummer Lee spent four months in jail for assaulting his then-wife, Anderson. Upon being released, Lee left the band and formed the rap-metal band Methods of Mayhem, in which he played guitar and sang. Mötley Crüe replaced Lee with former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo and returned to its original hard rock formula for its final album, New Tattoo (Number 41, 2000). Castillo died of cancer two years later. The band went on a recording hiatus for five years but its members, appearing on reality shows and in gossip columns, never left the public eye. In 2005, the Cr ü e hit the road for a reunion tour that coincided with another greatest-hits compilation, Red, White & Crüe (Number Six, 2005), that included three new tracks, "If I Die Tomorrow" – penned by pop-punkers Simple Plan - (Number Four, Mainstream Rock, 2005), "Sick Love Song" and a cover of The Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man."

All four members of Mötley Crüe convened in 2008 to record Saints of Los Angeles, a musical autobiographical companion to the band's 2001 tell-all book, The Dirt. A planned movie stalled in the production stages. The title track holds the honor of being the first single to be debuted in the influential Rock Band video game series, and the album debuted at Number Four.

Source: Rolling Stone

Top Selling Albums - Led Zeppelin Leads The Way

Led Zeppelin has 5 Albums listed on the top albums sold of all time. Led Zeppelin leads the way with the most albums. Atlantic Records reports that Led Zeppelin has sold over 200 million records worldwide. Led Zeppelin's biggest selling album is "Led Zeppelin IV". The Recording Industry Association of America lists Led Zeppelin as the third best selling musical act/artist in history behind the Beatles and Elvis. Staying with the theme of this blog, I also want to recognize that Bon Jovi's "Slipper When Wet" album made the list of the top selling albums of all time. - Kenny Leibow
















As I was searching the internet for which artist or band who sold the most albums, the list that I found with the most consistency was for albums sold in the U.S.A. Please see the list below. Even though the list of albums and artists are consistent, the millions of records sold looks a little light based on my research.The list below is as of November 2003. It includes Rock, Country, Movie Soundtracks, Rap and Children's albums. Each album on the list represents 9 million or more sales in the USA.

Source: classicbands.com

Millions Sold	Title	Artist's Name
28	Their Greatest Hits (vol. 1)	The Eagles
27	Thriller	Michael Jackson
23	The Wall	Pink Floyd
22	Led Zeppelin IV	Led Zeppelin
21	Back In Black	AC/DC
21	Greatest Hits VOL I & II	Billy Joel
20	Come On Over	Shania Twain
19	The Beatles	The Beatles
19	Rumours	Fleetwood Mac
17	Boston	Boston
17	The Bodyguard (soundtrack)	Whitney Houston
16	The Beatles 1967 - 1970	The Beatles
16	Hotel California	Eagles
16	Greatest Hits	Elton John
16	Jagged Little Pill	Alanis Morissette
16	No Fences	Garth Brooks
16	Cracked Rear View	Hootie & The Blowfish
15	Physical Graffiti	Led Zeppelin
15	The Beatles 1962 - 1966	The Beatles
15	Saturday Night Fever	The Bee Gees
15	Born In The U.S.A.	Bruce Springsteen
15	Dark Side Of The Moon	Pink Floyd
15	Appetite For Destruction	Guns 'n Roses
15	Double Live	Garth Brooks
14	Supernatural	Santana
14	Bat Out Of Hell	Meat Loaf
14	Ropin' The Wind	Garth Brooks
14	Backstreet Boys	Backstreet Boys
14	Baby One More Time	Britney Spears
13	Frampton Comes Alive	Peter Frampton
13	Greatest Hits	Simon & Garfunkel
13	Purple Rain (soundtrack)	Prince & The Revolution
13	Whitney Houston	Whitney Houston
13	Baby One More Time	Britney Spears
13	Millennium	Backstreet Boys
13	Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live	Bruce Springsteen
13	Metallica	Metallica
13	Greatest Hits 1974 - 1978	Steve Miller Band
12	Abbey Road	The Beatles
12	Led Zeppelin II	Led Zeppelin
12	Hot Rocks	The Rolling Stones
12	Slippery When Wet	Bon Jovi
12	II	Boyz II Men
12	Kenny Rogers Greatest Hits	Kenny Rogers
12	Breathless	Kenny G
12	Hysteria	Def Leppard
12	The Woman In Me	Shania Twain
12	No Jacket Required	Phil Collins
12	Yourself Or Someone Like You	Matchbox Twenty
12	Forrest Gump Soundtrack	Various Artists
12	Wide Open Spaces	Dixie Chicks
11	Ten	Pearl Jam
11	Dirty Dancing Soundtrack	Various Artists
11	James Taylor's Greatest Hits	James Taylor
11	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	The Beatles
11	Crazysexycool	TLC
11	Pieces Of You	Jewel
11	Houses Of The Holy	Led Zeppelin
11	Titanic Soundtrack	Various Artists
11	No Strings Attached	'N Sync
11	Falling Into You	Celine Dion
11	Eagles Greatest Hits Volume II	Eagles
11	Devil Without A Cause	Kid Rock
11	Human Clay	Creed
10	The Stranger	Billy Joel
10	1984	Van Halen
10	Aerosmith's Greatest Hits	Aerosmith
10	Best Of The Doobies	The Doobie Brothers
10	Can't Slow Down	Lionel Richie
10	Daydream	Mariah Carey
10	Dookie	Green Day
10	Eliminator	ZZ Top
10	Faith	George Michael
10	Fly	Dixie Chicks
10	Greatest Hits	Journey
10	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin
10	Legend	Bob Marley & The Wailers
10	Let's Talk About Love	Celine Dion
10	Life After Death	Notorious B.I.G.
10	Tragic Kingdom	No Doubt
10	Like A Virgin	Madonna
10	Music Box	Mariah Carey
10	'N Sync	'N Sync
10	Nevermind	Nirvana
10	Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'em	HAMMER
10	Tapestry	Carole King
10	The Hits	Garth Brooks
10	The Immaculate Collection	Madonna
10	The Joshua Tree	U2
10	The Lion King Soundtrack	Various Artists
10	Unplugged	Eric Clapton
10	Van Halen	Van Halen
10	Greatest Hits	Tom Petty
9	Top Gun Soundtrack	Various Artists
9	Footloose Soundtrack	Various Artists
9	All Eyez On Me	Tupac
9	Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness	Smashing Pumkins
9	High Infidelity	REO Speedwagon
9	Greatest Hits	Patsy Cline
9	Mariah Carey	Mariah Carey
9	Cooleyhighharmony	Boyz II Men
9	Garth Brooks	Garth Brooks
9	Licenced To Ill	Beastie Boys
9	The Sign	Ace Of Base
9	Whitney	Whitney Houston
9	Escape	Journey
9	Best Of The Doors	The Doors
9	Some Gave All	Billy Ray Cyrus
9	Pyromania	Def Leppard
9	Greatest Hits	John Denver
9	Brothers In Arms	Dire Straits
9	Great Band Era	Various Artists
9	Big Willie Style	Will Smith
9	Greatest Hits	2 Pac