A Piece of Motley's Past...

Two great videos here: clips of Motley Crue rehearsing for their 1994 tour with John Corabi. The clips focus mainly on Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee. Apparently there are more clips - but the owner hasn't yet uploaded for lack of views. If you all click the links and watch the clips, maybe the owner will upload the rest of these videos and we can see more of Motley's history.

Even in turmoil, I'm always amazed at how happy Nikki seemed during this period. Perhaps he was truly optimistic at the possibility of a new singer. The chance for change. A new direction. Whatever the case, Nikki's spirits are clearly high in this clip - and Tommy Lee and Mick Mars are jovial as well.

We don't see too much of John Corabi in these clips. I suppose throughout his tenure with Motley Crue, Corabi intrinsically knew that was the fifth wheel. Vince was physically gone, but his ghost remained. The nineties were tough for Glam bands. Even tougher for a band that had just kicked out a very loved and famous lead singer.

John Corabi is immensely talented - and Motley Crue's self-titled 1994 release is an amazing album. Those people that say it sucks simply can't get past the notion that it is Motley Crue without Vince. Regardless of whether this is right or wrong, Nikki Sixx owns the Motley machine and - at one time - decreed Corabi the new Vince. I consider Motley Crue among the best of their canon - and consistently rank the release within the top three efforts by the band.

Here is part one of the rehearsal footage:

Here is part two. Of the two clips, this is my favorite.

The best thing about YouTube is rediscovering a band's personal history. Fans get to live the ups and downs through moving clips. The bands themselves get to hide from the evidence!

Comments

[Mary]

Those were great. I love seeing kinda behind the scenes clips. Also, I have to say I meet Corabi this summer when he was on tour with Ratt. I love Ratt and they had announced at the close of the show that they would be going to this one bar and to come party with them. I'm not much for that kinda thing but my friend and I went anyway. Of course none of them showed up (not that I really thought they would) other than Corabi. He was nice trying to make small talk and took a couple pictures with me on my cellphone and, of course, they didn't turn out due to lighting, my luck! Really nice guy though.

[Pat]

Speaking of Corabi, do we know yet why he quit Ratt? Was it just because he wants to get back to some solo stuff? The guy deserves some recognition. 'Misunderstood' is my current favourite Motley track.

[aXe mAn]

Wow those were pretty cool, never seen 'em before...
Thanks so much for posting these Allyson! I do like their 1994 release with Corabi. But it was different than previous Crue albums.

[Valentine]

Ok, confession time:

Although I love Motley and they are without a doubt the Leaders of the Pack... I never really used to dig Vince's vocals AT ALL. In fact, back in the day, I hated his vocals. So, I was pretty stoked when Corabi joined the Crue. I thought their s/t disc was awesome (didn't hurt that it had Glenn Hughes singing background on a couple numbers!) and the songs were some of the best they ever wrote.
I saw them on that tour, in the Warfield in San Franciso, and I thought that Corabi was the epitome of a rock star... had all the moves, switched guitars, sounded spot on, really seemed to fit within the band... Only when they did their back catalog was I reminded that this was Motley Crue... without Vince.

Having read "The Dirt" it really seems that Crab got the shaft big time... But, I think it was just never to be, you know? Motley Crue IS Nikki, Vince, Tommy, and Mick... not Crab, Samantha M., or even Randy Castillo.

By the way, I do think Vince sounds better than he ever has... I actually like him fronting Motley now...

Thanks for the clips Allyson.

[Lucas]

I like Corabi's era in Motley...he is a very talent player!!! But Motley is Vince, Nikki, Tommy and Mick forever....

1st NOvember I'll see Ratt live in São Paulo and I tought it was a pleasure see Corabi playing....Unfortunely he quit....

some bands you can imagine with two awesome frontmen: Van Halen, AC/DC, even LA Guns....but not Motley and SKid Row...

Anyway....cool stuff!!!
Tnx Allyson

Lucas Serpa
lucas@hardzone.com.br
www.hardzone.com.br

[Mrlee]

awesome vids, thanks.

Nikki Sixx looked kinda hippie-ish in these vids lmao dont know why.

[Makel]

I have the whole video for these clips saved on my computer...around 40-50 minutes of stuff. I love the Corabi era.

John's a great guy, I've met him a few times and saw one of the three Gibson Guitar Clinics he did in Ohio. He sounded amazing, and it was interesting. I have some videos from the guitar clinic here: http://www.youtube.com/user/relloron
And then a few pictures here: http://s349.photobucket.com/albums/q394/makel_0430/John%20Corabi/

I think it might be good for him to leave Ratt. It let's him do his own thing, and front something. His talent wasn't getting showecased playing rhythem guitar for Ratt.

[Kenny Ozz]

I LOVE the Corabi album. He is a severely underrated songwriter. It is unfortunate that the typical Motley fan didnt accept him. The ST album is before its time. It still sounds fresh today. Vince isnt a great singer but replacing a frontman is THEE hardest thing to do in music. Very few bands have pulled it off.

[Billykiss]

Kenny you hit hit the nail on the fucking head with your post ROCK on DUDE

[Jason Price]

Very Cool!

[Tracy]

Nikki is to cool, that is a person I could hangout with.

[jenn]

thx for posting. i saw some of this years ago, this guy moon that runs motleycrues site has all of this footage. i think you can email the site and ask for one? this is my top fav cd 2. me likes :-p

[dferg]

I'm a diehard Crue fan but nonetheless I do believe the s/t album with Corabi is one of the best Crue albums ever made. Corabi was great w/The Scream so I was glad to hear he joined up w/Crue but I think the album would have done better if they would have gone under a different name. Mick's gutiar playing was just f*cking awesome as usual but it helped him out having someone helping out with the rhythms. There is only one Crue w/the 4 original members though so....I'm glad they are back yet again!!

[dferg]

I'm a diehard Crue fan but nonetheless I do believe the s/t album with Corabi is one of the best Crue albums ever made. Corabi was great w/The Scream so I was glad to hear he joined up w/Crue but I think the album would have done better if they would have gone under a different name. Mick's gutiar playing was just f*cking awesome as usual but it helped him out having someone helping out with the rhythms. There is only one Crue w/the 4 original members though so....I'm glad they are back yet again!!