ALL BAD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END: A MOTLEY MEMOIR

"BLUE" JIMMY:  MALICIOUS MERCHANT OF MOTLEY MAYHEM

BLIND DOG OZZY:  NEUROTIC CHIHUAHUA

"BLUE" JIMMY early 80's

MOTLEY CRUE early 80's

"BLUE" JIMMY:  MOTLEY CRUE.  The very name strikes fear into the hearts of bar and club owners, groupies, strippers, pushers, preachers, cops and dorky garage bands just starting out.  But in 1980 Los Angeles, they were just a catchy name I saw in the listings who were opening for Bay Area hard rock legends Yesterday and Today (who later became known as Y&T.)  I was so excited.  I had never been to a club to see a band before and my best friend Dammage had a Plymouth Satellite which quickly got us to the Starwood Club on the corner of Santa Monica and Crescent Heights in West Hollywood.  It must have cost less than 10 bucks to get in and inside was a separate disco (remember this was the era of Saturday Night Fever) which we avoided like hell and a bar with pinball machines (!) and a cleared out floor area where the bands would set up and play -- not even a real stage.  I was not prepared for Motley Crue.  Most bands I had seen up to that point were bearded hippie stoners in bell bottoms playing half-hour jams.  Motley Crue came out looking like a cross between Hollywood junkie transvestites and villains from "The Road Warrior."  They played song after song of aggressive, catchy hard rock which sounded classic the first time I heard it.  I couldn't get their songs out of my head even after Yesterday and Today came out and played an excellent (louder and longer) set.

BLIND DOG OZZY:  How do you think I feel?  After he bought their first homemade LP at a show at the Whiskey, he played that goddamned thing every day!

"BLUE" JIMMY:  Since then, I've got smacked in the head with Nikki's bass at the Whiskey, seen and heard them destroy the Sunset Strip 'till they were no longer welcome, slay half a million headbangers at the 1983 US Festival (BLIND DOG OZZY:  where I got lost for 5 hours!) steal the show as opening act for KISS and headline every major arena with a massive show & traveling circus and a drum kit that turns upside down.  Now, many parties, girls, fights, car crashes, arrests, lawsuits, censors, overdoses and more parties later, they say this is their final tour.  So tomorrow, Monday July 21, 2014 at the Hollywood Bowl  I guess, will be the last time I see them.

BLIND DOG OZZY:  Don't cry you pussy, we outlasted a bands' entire career!

"BLUE" JIMMY NOW

MOTLEY CRUE NOW

"BLUE" JIMMY:  You know, Motley Crue's decision, has got me thinking about a lot of things.  The Age of Decadence is over and everyone has got to grow up and make positive decisions to fit in with society.  So I've decided to adopt a more conservative shirt and tie look, I'm selling my guitars and I'm going to start taking classes in business administration in the Fall so I can go to work with a consulting firm.  I've also met a wonderful lady and we're going to start doing volunteer work at her church.

BLIND DOG OZZY:  Really?

"BLUE" JIMMY:  Not!!!

BLIND DOG OZZY:  Dude, don't scare me like that!!!  S**t!!!

"BLUE" JIMMY:  Sake's Alive!

BLIND DOG OZZY:  Wow!  Wow!
bluejames61@hotmail.com