Elektra 60829
Producer: Bob Rock
Track listing: TnT (Terror ‘n Tinseltown) / Dr. Feelgood / Slice of Your Pie / Rattlesnake Shake / Kickstart My Heart / Without You / Some Ol’ Situation / Sticky Sweet / She Goes Down Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) Time for Change
October 14, 1989
2 weeks
By 1989, Los Angeles hard-rock group Mötley Crüe had certainly had a taste of success and excess. After becoming a sensation on the L.A. club scene in the early ’80s, the band released Too Fast for Love on its own independent Leathur label. That album, coupled with the band’s live performances, generated such a buzz that Elektra signed the band. Shout at the Devil, the band’s first album for the label, reached number 17, with the follow-ups, 1985’s Theatre of Pain and 1987’s Girls, Girls, Girls, hitting numbers six and two, respectively. Yet the success took its toll. In June 1987, the band was forced to scrap a tour when bassist/songwriter Nikki Sixx was sidelined after an overdose. That scare led the band to clean up its act.
Dr. Feelgood was inspired, in part, by the band’s days at a detox clinic. The title track tells the story of a drug pusher and the album art features the band in straitjackets. Dr. Feelgood was recorded at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, while fellow hard-rockers Aerosmith laid down tracks for their Pump album. With Aerosmith also sobering up, the members of the two bands shared common ground. The Crüe invited Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler to sing backing vocals on “Sticky Sweet.” Says Sixx, “Knowing where he came from, he’s got a lot of power and self-will.” Tyler even fronted the Crüe on a take of “Slice of Your Pie,” which was never released but remains in Sixx’s possession. “It’s a bad-ass version,” he says. “I put it on every now and then.”
In a sense, it was appropriate that Mötley Crüe was recording in such close proximity to Aerosmith, for many would later compare the riff of “Dr. Feelgood,” which became the band’s first top 10 single, to classic Aerosmith. “That’s a compliment to me,” says Sixx. “They’re one of my favorite bands. I really like those down-and-dirty riffs that Aerosmith does.”
To produce the album, the band called on Bob Rock, who would soon become one of the most sought-after hard-rock producers. “It was a very high compliment that Metallica chose Bob Rock to do their next album after hearing what he did on Dr. Feelgood,” says Sixx.
During the sessions, the band cut 12 tracks. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Junkie” didn’t make the final cut, but later on the soundtrack to The Adventures Ford Fairlane.
Perhaps the most telling song on Dr. Feelgood was the final cut, “Time for Change.” Says Sixx,”We almost left that off the record. When I wrote it, it was almost church-like. It was organ- based with a lot of weird backing vocals. The demo version is actually better than the one that’s on the album. Nonetheless, the song proved prophetic, as vocalist Vince Neil would leave band in February 1992, making Dr. Feelgood the final full album by the original lineup of Mötley Crüe (prior to their 1997 reunion) and band’s first Number One.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of October 14, 1989
1. Dr. Feelgood , Mötley Crüe
2. Forever Your Girl, Paula Abdul
3. Steel Wheels, Rolling Stones
4. Girl You Know It’s True, Milli Vanilli
5. Hangin’ Tough, New Kids on the Block