Motley went through an odd phase in 1988-1989. The loss of all those chemicals & alcohol vapors musta set them off because they flirted with rap music.
Nikki interviews from the time had him dropping titles to songs they were demoing & even song lyrics to some of the tunes [Go HERE to read more]. There was an air of experimentation in the days leading up to Dr. Feelgood & some of the demos survive.
‘Say Yeah’ is a rocker with a Rap-like verse & a breakdown in which we get to hear Tommy Lee, for the first time, show his hip-hop heart & Rap
‘Get out, out of my face
Get the fuck out of my face
Get out, outta my face
I’ll call you on your game’
Dr. Feelgood was almost called ‘Monstrous’ & there survives a short demo of the song which features lines rapped by Nikki & Vince!
Nikki: ‘People in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks’
Vince: ‘People marked ‘Stupid’ shouldn’t talk’
Nikki: ‘And People in a maze, you’re always lost’
Vince: ‘I get sick at the state of Rock!’
Wow, that’s some bad Hip-Hop. Luckily, this was just a phase Nikki was going through & none of this stuff made it to Feelgood. Tommy’s affair with Rap & techno would strike up big time in the 1990s & continues to this day.
The song ‘Dr. Feelgood’ has a groove & a lyric that naturally lends itself to a Hip-Hop interpretation (see just that with Mr. Mick Mars on guitar HERE) & somehow, Motley seems to have hooked up with then-infamous Rap band 2 Live Crew. Both bands were sleazy, sexist & the Crew/Crue connection proved too obvious & the Rap band recorded a version of ‘Dr. Feelgood’ ( titled “Crew To Crue”) with Vince singing a new chorus. This was the lead-off tune on a 2 Live Crew compilation. I first heard of this unlikely collaboration back in the day when my local TV Guide listed that Motley & Crew were the musical guests on an episode of the Arsenio Hall show. That meeting never happened & I was always mystified by the pairing & didn’t hear this track until almost 20 years later. It wasn’t quite worth the wait but it adds another dimension to the truly motley career of these chaps. Warning: this one gets a little vulgar.
From the All Music Review by Bradley Torreano:
. . . This showcases songs that were either on movie soundtracks or recorded to be on movie soundtracks. This explains the hilarious "Crew to Crüe," a duet with Motley Crue that was meant to capitalize on both groups' media exposure during 1989/1990. Slated for inclusion on the Juice soundtrack, the tensions between the two groups led to its disappearance. Hearing Vince Neil sing "Hanging with the homeboys/We're gonna have some fun tonight" is priceless, making for a wonderful camp moment to kick off the disc.
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