Jul 28, 2021Liked by CJ Kaplan, Mitch Blum, Ken Warshaw
June 2009 - I had just flown into Copenhagen, Denmark where I was attending a medical conference (EULAR). Like Mitch, when traveling I prefer traveling in comfortable clothes. So after arriving at the airport it was a quick trip to my hotel to wash up and change into more appropriate business attire. I cannot recall the name of the hotel that I stayed in, but it was a little boutique hotel. When I walked through the entrance into the lobby there was the entirety of Motley Crue - sitting around waiting for their ride to the airport to head off to their next gig after playing a show the night before. What made the scene a bit surreal was that the lobby had this dainty round couch in the middle of the lobby, and there sitting around the couch was the whole Crue. I’ve always had that image burned into my mind because they almost looked like the cast of Friends when they are sitting around the fountain during the opening credits (for the record I don’t consider myself to be a fan of either Friends or Motley Crue). Unlike Mitch, I am not accustomed to being around rock stars all of the time, so I was a bit flustered and intimidated. Somehow I managed to summon up the courage to go up to them and say something stupid like Keep on Rocking On! I didn’t ask them for autographs or a picture or a selfie - because I generally try not to bother people. In any case - that was my Motley Crue moment - seeing them in that lobby tired and weary and ready to move on to the next gig. Because it was pretty early - my room was not available yet to check-in, but the hotel allowed me to use the gym facilities to shower and get changed into my suit. By the time I got back to the lobby they were long gone - but whenever I think about Motley Crue - I think about the stupid round tufted couch with the high back and it makes me smile. Keep on Rocking On!
Shout At The Devil is a scant 35 minute gem scattered among the LA metal hair-band albums of the early 80’s. It’s fitting that CJ opens with spoken word prologue; it’s this that drew me to this album. Not the MTV video or radio single for the title track. A kid in high school insisted I listen to the prologue because it was ‘kick ass’. I doffed his Walkman and headphones and was blown away by the dark foreboding atmospherics wrapped around the spoken words. It builds like a rocket’s slow lift off from the tower. When it clears the tower the prologue ceases and kicks immediately into the title track. Hearing that song in this context is a completely different experience than listening to it as a single on the airwaves.
Immediately the engines throttle up, the heavy metal beats kick in and don’t appreciably let up, outside of the lovely electric guitar instrumental. This is a great album to listen to while doing something with intensity such as a jog, a work-out or in my case (as a programmer) cranking code. It’s for that purpose that I still occasionally play this album 38(!) years later. I haven’t listened to any other Crue albums and don’t consider myself a fan. This album just works and for me the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. My hard rock band of choice was and remains AC/DC albums from the Bon Scott years.
I’ve been uneasy thinking about this album in terms of the song lyrics. I’m in my mid-fifties with two married adult daughters. The middle-aged me listens to the songs and cringes a bit inwardly at times. Are these songs sexist? Heck yeah! Do they objectify women and present them solely as sex objects? Heck yeah! But do they represent misogyny? After much internal reflection my answer is ‘no’. I don’t think the lyrics express hatred of women any more than the heavy metal music of that era. Some may think it entirely too charitable and naïve that I think this music during this time period was inspired by marketing and profit, not a jihad of hatred for women. Chuck Klosterman covers this in great depth – and much better than I - in his thoughtful 2001 non-fiction book Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota. He spoke to members of the band and asked them specifically about misogyny in their early songs.
Klosterman:
If these [rock] groups were making women into whores for the sole purpose of selling records, they are a reflection of society – not the problem that’s poisoning it. The nature of capitalism is to feed on desire. A commercial entity will take on whatever characteristics it needs to move the product. For ‘80s rock, that was misogyny.
After dropping that bomb of potential discord I’ll end by agreeing with CJ on the Crue’s cover of Helter Skelter. I think it’s among the best – if not the best – cover versions of from untold artists. I would submit that GN&R’s cover is the unmitigated worst.
Thanks for the thoughtful comments, Brett. Shout is an interesting album in that it connected with a lot of people who didn't otherwise care for Mötley Crüe, heavy metal, the LA music scene or all of the above. As a 13-year-old, I loved it because it allowed me to experience all of the Sunset Strip debauchery with none of the danger. As an adult, I still love the audacity of the album even if most of the content seems silly or, to your misogyny point, problematic.
It's funny that you mention Klosterman. I'm a big fan of his as well and, as a metalhead, thoroughly enjoyed Fargo Rock City. In fact, his clinical dissection of "Ten Seconds to Love" (which is from an earlier collection of essays) is the reason why I didn't even mention the song in my pitch. My critical analysis would've paled in comparison.
Thanks for reading and contributing to the discussion.
I hope this pitch didn't fail because Ken thinks hair metal originated in Sheffield, England. Because me and about 400 LA-based bands would beg to differ
Side note: I read their book "The Dirt" years ago and found it compelling but appalling. Did anyone else read it or see the Netflix adaptation?
It confirmed and amplified everything I ever believed
June 2009 - I had just flown into Copenhagen, Denmark where I was attending a medical conference (EULAR). Like Mitch, when traveling I prefer traveling in comfortable clothes. So after arriving at the airport it was a quick trip to my hotel to wash up and change into more appropriate business attire. I cannot recall the name of the hotel that I stayed in, but it was a little boutique hotel. When I walked through the entrance into the lobby there was the entirety of Motley Crue - sitting around waiting for their ride to the airport to head off to their next gig after playing a show the night before. What made the scene a bit surreal was that the lobby had this dainty round couch in the middle of the lobby, and there sitting around the couch was the whole Crue. I’ve always had that image burned into my mind because they almost looked like the cast of Friends when they are sitting around the fountain during the opening credits (for the record I don’t consider myself to be a fan of either Friends or Motley Crue). Unlike Mitch, I am not accustomed to being around rock stars all of the time, so I was a bit flustered and intimidated. Somehow I managed to summon up the courage to go up to them and say something stupid like Keep on Rocking On! I didn’t ask them for autographs or a picture or a selfie - because I generally try not to bother people. In any case - that was my Motley Crue moment - seeing them in that lobby tired and weary and ready to move on to the next gig. Because it was pretty early - my room was not available yet to check-in, but the hotel allowed me to use the gym facilities to shower and get changed into my suit. By the time I got back to the lobby they were long gone - but whenever I think about Motley Crue - I think about the stupid round tufted couch with the high back and it makes me smile. Keep on Rocking On!
Amazing story. Very strong "Duke Fame going to the Enormodome" vibe.
---"everything about the Crüe gets better with their next release, Theater of Pain" --- Jesus Christ, Ken. You clearly know nothing about the devil!
I like Theater better than Shout. And I like Dr Feelgood even more than Theater
I tried, Frank. He just won't listen
Shout At The Devil is a scant 35 minute gem scattered among the LA metal hair-band albums of the early 80’s. It’s fitting that CJ opens with spoken word prologue; it’s this that drew me to this album. Not the MTV video or radio single for the title track. A kid in high school insisted I listen to the prologue because it was ‘kick ass’. I doffed his Walkman and headphones and was blown away by the dark foreboding atmospherics wrapped around the spoken words. It builds like a rocket’s slow lift off from the tower. When it clears the tower the prologue ceases and kicks immediately into the title track. Hearing that song in this context is a completely different experience than listening to it as a single on the airwaves.
Immediately the engines throttle up, the heavy metal beats kick in and don’t appreciably let up, outside of the lovely electric guitar instrumental. This is a great album to listen to while doing something with intensity such as a jog, a work-out or in my case (as a programmer) cranking code. It’s for that purpose that I still occasionally play this album 38(!) years later. I haven’t listened to any other Crue albums and don’t consider myself a fan. This album just works and for me the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. My hard rock band of choice was and remains AC/DC albums from the Bon Scott years.
I’ve been uneasy thinking about this album in terms of the song lyrics. I’m in my mid-fifties with two married adult daughters. The middle-aged me listens to the songs and cringes a bit inwardly at times. Are these songs sexist? Heck yeah! Do they objectify women and present them solely as sex objects? Heck yeah! But do they represent misogyny? After much internal reflection my answer is ‘no’. I don’t think the lyrics express hatred of women any more than the heavy metal music of that era. Some may think it entirely too charitable and naïve that I think this music during this time period was inspired by marketing and profit, not a jihad of hatred for women. Chuck Klosterman covers this in great depth – and much better than I - in his thoughtful 2001 non-fiction book Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota. He spoke to members of the band and asked them specifically about misogyny in their early songs.
Klosterman:
If these [rock] groups were making women into whores for the sole purpose of selling records, they are a reflection of society – not the problem that’s poisoning it. The nature of capitalism is to feed on desire. A commercial entity will take on whatever characteristics it needs to move the product. For ‘80s rock, that was misogyny.
After dropping that bomb of potential discord I’ll end by agreeing with CJ on the Crue’s cover of Helter Skelter. I think it’s among the best – if not the best – cover versions of from untold artists. I would submit that GN&R’s cover is the unmitigated worst.
Thanks for the thoughtful comments, Brett. Shout is an interesting album in that it connected with a lot of people who didn't otherwise care for Mötley Crüe, heavy metal, the LA music scene or all of the above. As a 13-year-old, I loved it because it allowed me to experience all of the Sunset Strip debauchery with none of the danger. As an adult, I still love the audacity of the album even if most of the content seems silly or, to your misogyny point, problematic.
It's funny that you mention Klosterman. I'm a big fan of his as well and, as a metalhead, thoroughly enjoyed Fargo Rock City. In fact, his clinical dissection of "Ten Seconds to Love" (which is from an earlier collection of essays) is the reason why I didn't even mention the song in my pitch. My critical analysis would've paled in comparison.
Thanks for reading and contributing to the discussion.
I hope this pitch didn't fail because Ken thinks hair metal originated in Sheffield, England. Because me and about 400 LA-based bands would beg to differ