Rock 'n' Roll News

Rock 'n' Roll News

Ratt are having some “trouble” with Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue. When the rodent admirers asked Tommy and Nikki to the shooting of their “Back For More” video, the playful Motley pair arrived in police uniforms and had stunned Ratt drummer Bobby Blotzer assuming the position against a handy wall before he caught “on.” “Even when we invite them,” mock-complained Blotzer, “they start in with the same old tricks!” It’s not nice to talk about their record that way, Bobby!

In other Crue news, Nikki Sixx had this to say to the New Musical Express: “Look, we just do what we do and make sure that everyone knows that we re the clowns. Buy your ticket and see the clowns do their thing. We don’t want people to be like us and we don’t want to hurt anybody.” Trying to explain the Motley’s often impolite attitude toward women, Nikki insisted, “Just ’cause I like a romp in the back of a car with some 18 year old honey doesn’t mean that I don’t hold doors open for the lady or buy her a drink!” Our hero!

Wise guy Paul Rutherford of English hitsters Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and Spandau Ballet’s own Gary Kemp came to blows at a recent Thompson Twins party and had to be “forcibly restrained” by none other than Duranoid John Taylor! The tussle was brought on by Frankie publicist Paul Morley’s remark that “Two Tribes,” his act’s super U.K. smasheroo, “makes Spandau Ballet look soft. ” Several hankies were reportedly dropped during the brawl.

In other fisticuff news, Ozzy Osbourne supposedly used Quiet Riot’s Kevin DuBrow as a “punching bag” over snide remarks The Brow made about The Ooze in a radio interview. Kevin was allegedly “a little damaged” in the tiff. How could they tell?

Aerosmith’s big reunion may be fading fast. After a muchpublicized onstage spat between Joe Perry and Steve Tyler, plus a pair of injurious spills by the latter comes news that a disgusted Perry is writing songs with Alice Cooper for the Coop’s Welcome To My Nightmare Part 2 effort. The Joe Perry Project? Never happened.

The members of Journey are vehemently denying reports that the group is splitting up. Their management did, however, lay off 12 employees last month. None of them were Steve Perry, although he’s the one most mentioned in the break-up tales. A realty hot item has Mickey Thomas of Jefferson Starship replacing him at the mike.

Some real ups and downs for heavy metal fellas Alcatrazz this month. Good news is that Steve Vai, a former Frank Zappa guitarist, is replacing Swedish soopernova Yngwie Malmsteen. Guitar strangler Yngwie, you’ll remember, left the Ales to go all-Scandanavian with his own Rising Force. Meanwhile, just as the ’Trazz prepared to enter the studio for pre-production work on their third LP, they received news that they’ve been dropped by their label, Rocshire Records. Rocshire is currently adrift after revelations that the FBI is investigating an alleged multi-million dollar embezzlement scheme by employees there.

Singer Helen Terry has left Culture Club to pursue a solo career and is presently in the studio with the Don half of Detroit’s zany Was (Not was). To show they’re good sports, Clubbers Roy Hay and Boy George himself are penning material for her.

Girlschool have replaced the departed Kelly Johnson with a pair of new faces, guitarist Chris Bonacci and vocalist Jackie Bodimead. Reports that Kiss whiz Paul Stanley is to be their producer may have been somewhat premature. “We’re not sure if the money he’s asking is worth it just to see his hairy chest all day,” said Kim McAnliffe.

Now it can be told! Twisted Sister mouthpiece Dee Snider’s real first name is Daniel! Chief Pretender Chrissie Hynde caused a ruckus at her last Detroit area performance.

After some guy from the crowd jumped up onstage and boogalooed with the band—much like Letter From Britain reported Chrissie herself did to a mortified Bob Dylan in the U.K. last month—the security guard heavies forcibly removed the geek from the stage—and the theater. The Akron terror stopped the show, put her guitar over her shoulder and demanded that the victim be returned to her. The guards returned the dancing fool to the stage where he bopped for the remainder of the Pretenders encore. And just for the reocrd, Chrissie has droped her maiden name and will henceforth be known both personally and professionally as Chrissie Kerr, a name she shares with her Simple Minded husband. Jim

Sting things: The Police’s mueh-slobbered-after bass whomper is recording his first solo LP with the assistance of Torch Song, an LR.S. trio he’s selected as his producers. “It’s pretty amazing,” said Torcher Grant Gilbert. “He could have any big name producer in the world, and he chose us.” Their steep production fee—$2.47 and the ashtray from the “Every Breath You Take” video—might’ve had something to do with it.

Speaking of Sting’s thing, his latest dreem date is none other than born again disco grinder Donna Summer! Donna, you’ll recall, finally had a rock ’n’ roll hit with her ode to female bricklayers. What? You mean you don’t remember “She Works Hod For The Money”?

Eurythmic Annie Lennox told British media jerk Gary Crowley about her first encounter with boys: “I must have been about 13. 1 seem to remember all the lights went out and everybody seemed to pair off—except me.”

Old hands, new bands: Boss of bambam Carmine Appice has started a new group he calls King Kobra with “a bunch of young blond guys” and signed them to Capitol before anybody could blink...former Aerosmith axe slammer Jimmy Crespo is now fronting his own band,

Adam Bomb...and last but not least, Nina Hagen is recording a duet with none other than the King of Soul, James Brown, for her next LP.

Just in is word that the double live LP the Who turned in to MCA was rejected by the label for “lack of quality performances.”

Angel—the epitome of everything metal when they recorded several LPs for Casablanca in the mid-’70s—have reunited for a rather late effort at cashing in on their eyeliner. The final line-up wasn’t set at press time, but we can only hope that original guitarist and CREEM god Punky Meadows has taken a sabbatical from his Lip Farm to rock ’n’ roll us one more time!

You might say that onetime Scorpion Uli Juki* Roth—

currently leading his own band called Electric Sun—has a bit of a Jimi Hendrix fixation.

After getting started with the acquisition of Jimi’s old hat, he went on to seek out and purchase the late axeman’s old guitar and automobile. Then—what the heck!—he snapped up the former Hendrix Estate in England, and then moved in, along with Jimi’s ex-girlfriend, Monica! He’d probably buy Jimi’s soul if he could, but Frank Marino ain’t sellin’!

For years—weeks even—Bay Area bray carrier Huey Lewis

has wanted to meet one of his main inspirations, Bob Seger. He finally got an opportunity during the week of his Detroit appearance, but found himself inexplicably snubbed by the local-boy-made-god. Bob did, however, send the dejected harpwheezer three silver bullets. “But they don’t fit my gun!” Huey was heard to despair.

Baby Huey on the close resemblance of megahit “Ghostbusters” to his own “1

Want A New Drug”: “The tune was so good, it was a hit twice!”

Despite what we were told in last month’s CREEM, Lou Reed did decide to play some live U.S. dates after all—15 at last wordhitting most of the major cities during the latter part of September and early October.

The tour concluded with two shows at N.Y.C.’s Beacon Theatre on Oct. 18th and 19th. Uncle Lou had told people he’d tour if his New Sensations LP did well on the charts, and the record has reached a higher position than any Reed album in years. After the tour, Lou will probably ; return to invading his vaults for unreleased Velvet Underground tracks. Word is he plans to release a retrospective of Velvet gems sometime soon.

Duran Duran, who were “doing the tax exile thing” by starting their next studio album in the South of France and then zooming to Montserrat to work with early Beatle producer George Martin, seem to be having trouble working up the energy to continue. Martin told Melody Maker: “They would get up at four in the afternoon and then start work...they were not applying themselves. They just weren’t motivated—what they really wanted was excitement and they didn’t get it.”

Our very secret source who tends bar at sunny CA’s West Marquis Lounge just called in a zany Nick ’n’ Julia item. It seems the fun newlyweds were minding their own drinks when an unidentified gent—“he wasn’t even drunk, not a drop!”—casually strolled up to Julie and asked simply, “How much?” She blinked her eyes significantly and demurely replied, "I don’t think 1 heard you correctly, sir.” So the guy goes, “Hey Sweetie, I’ve never had a big live one like you before!” The insulted young ms. turned to hubby Nick—who was laughing aloud the whole time—and pleaded, “Aren’t you gonna stop him, Nicky?” Replied snappy comeback master Rhodes, “Well, he’ll have to stand in line behind me!” This induced the blushing bride to stomp right out of the bar pronto-like. That Nick—what a nut!

“It was probably the largest audience ever for a cricket match in North America,” says Berlin’s leader John Crawford, describing a face-off between the five-piece California outfit and British popsters, the Thompson Twins, What he failed to mention is that it was also the largest audience to see an American band totally humiliated in its attempt to master a foreign sport since Quiet Riot covered “Mama Weer All Crazee Now.”

At Toronto’s gigantic Exhibition Grandstand, Berlin and the Twins were engaged in a heated match before showtime, unaware that officials were about to let the crowd in early. Suddenly, Berlin found themselves being totally beaten at the game in front of 10,000 spectators. Said Crawford after the match, “I think you can get an idea of how we looked from the title of the position that Terri Nunn played—Silly Mid-Off.”

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