I read Motely Crue’s The Dirt when it first came out about ten years ago. As a band who’s been lauded the unofficial status as the most “sex, drugs and rock n roll” band, it really delivered shocking and entertaining moments in equal measure. However, a couple of months ago I read Nikki Sixx’s The Heroin Diaries, and it made The Dirt look like an after school special. Where The Dirt provides the meat and potatoes of the band’s exploits, The Heroin Diaries really delves into the darker and depressing underbelly of the ‘Crue at the height of their popularity in 1987.
In a nutshell, The Heroin Diaries is just like it sounds: Nikki’s own diary from the tail end of 1986 till the end of 1987, and he’s surprisingly consistent with his writing (sure he misses some days, and some entries are only a few sentences, but in general, for the amount of heinous activities he was doing, I was very impressed). His adventures, trials and tribulations don’t hide any of the ugly parts – and accompanied by commentary of bandmates, managers, friends and more, it really paints a portrait of polar opposites: international stardom and a life totally out of control.
At one point, Nikki lists his top ten records for the week. The week happens to be February 14th, 1987 – Valentine’s Day. The eerie part of this playlist is context. It comes at a time where he’s in a very bleak point in his life, fully addicted to heroin, abusing alcohol and other substances as well. The dark aura is made all the more morose when the topic of his reflection at the time was how exactly one year earlier he overdosed. Unfortunately it wouldn’t be his last time. He was 29 years old at the time, self-isolated, paranoid, with no real friends and a raging addiction. Despite some of his deeds, it’s hard to not feel sympathy for his depressing self-destruction.
It was during this time that he named his playlist of the week. While he only listed the band names, based on other passages in the book, regarding timeline, his own preferences and more, I came to a researched calculation of the appropriate album and song therein from each artist he respectively listed. So here you have it, some tunes that Nikki Sixx was listening to during this tumultuous time of his life around February 14th, 1987.
Cryogenic Husk #18 – Nikki Sixx ’87
1) Iggy & The Stooges – Shake Appeal 2) T. Rex – Jeepster 3) Sweet – Fox On The Run (7″ Version) 4) The Rolling Stones – Bitch 5) The Sex Pistols – Bodies 6) New York Dolls – Personality Crisis 7) Mott The Hoople – All The Young Dudes 8) Aerosmith – Sweet Emotion 9) The Ramones – Sheena Is A Punk Rocker 10) Queen – Get Down, Make Love
When listening to this mix of bands he listed on his playlist during that week of his overdose anniversary, it’s quite clear where a lot of Motely Crue’s influences come from. And being that Nikki was the chief songwriter in the band, the mixture of rock n roll, proto-punk, and glam make perfect sense for those styles to coalesce in the ‘Crue’s live-fast, die-young lifestyle (a sidenote is that, despite its name, their album at the time, Girls, Girls, Girls, actually did have more of a self-reflection quality to some of it’s lyrics and themes which falls in alignment with Nikki’s battle with his own personal demons).
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Nikki Sixx star,found in trash,had an eerie story,there had been a london party,Anete and Nymphaea-lavina had attended,every drug score was available,and Nikki sixx was also there,later Anete and Lavina walked towards the last tube heading home,the streets were desserted this was wastland zone,pretty dangerous,they saw a skip,or a large trash can and noticed a body. They paused and then it was if he had come alive as Nikki spoke his name and instucted us to call for an ambulance ,there were no people,no phones,no cars,suddenly a black london cab seemed to come from nowhere,and it was hailed,the taxi cabbie was asked to radio for an ambulance.lavina said the cab could easily of been a black hearst or a carriage of Dracula,as those who threw Nikki in swore he was dead,the girls said he was paler than blue-ice,but still handsome.