To the woman who got on the elevator after me this morning…
You get on the elevator last and push the button for one the upper floors. The elevator is not full yet you stand right in front of the doors and don’t move out of the way when others want to get off before you.
Nikki Sixx, bass player and principle songwriter for Motley Crue, was in Vancouver yesterday, October 26, to promote his new book “The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star”. He made a stop at the studio for an interview with CKNW’s Christy Clark and I was fortunate enough to meet him.
Here’s a photo and his autograph on the first Motley Crue box set titled “Music To Crash Your Car To”.
Nikki Sixx Dishes On Drugs
By Jason MacNeil (Sun Media)
The old adage states you shouldn’t complain because there is always somebody in the world worse off than you are. And for the nearly all of 1987, Nikki Sixx could have been a strong candidate for being that global somebody.
While having all the rock star riches and luxuries, the Motley Crue bassist also had a $5,000 a day drug habit, one that is vividly chronicled in his new book The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star.
“That’s how I communicated,” Sixx says during a promotional stop in Toronto. “I had to or I would go crazy and even as I was going crazy I had to write it down to see if what I was seeing and hearing and feeling was real.
“Cocaine was really the biggest downfall. Heroin you can maintain, sadly, but cocaine you start getting into the amounts of freebasing and mainlining you go into a whole other world of insanity.”
The 400-plus page book, written in part with journalist Ian Gittins, is a brutally honest look at Sixx’s hellish year, one which saw him overdose and be declared clinically dead at one point while Motley Crue toured behind its Girls, Girls, Girls album. The book also features recent interviews Gittins did with band mates, friends and family members, interviews Sixx says pull no punches.
“They would say things like, ‘He was undependable, he was a bit of a dictator when it came to the music but I love Nikki,’ ” he says. “I’m like, ‘That’s a fucking waste of my time!’ Let’s get into the meat of it and get into it. Ian got in there and really pulled out what was going on and peeling away all the stuff that’s going on now.”
Sixx says he decided to release the diaries as a means of helping others with various addictions and issues. Proceeds from the book, which recently hit No. 7 on the New York Times bestseller list, go to Covenant House and The Running Wild in the Night Foundation, the latter he founded to help young runaways. But the musician says he’s not about to get on any soapbox.
Monster Magnet’s new album, “4-Way Diablo”, is available for streaming in its entirety on the band’s MySpace page. Due in North America on November 6th via SPV Records, the CD was produced by Matt Hyde, features a fascinating cover of the Rolling Stones classic ‘2000 Light Years From Home’ and has already been called “haunting”, “powerful” and “visceral” by some critics.
“4-Way Diablo” track listing:
4-Way Diablo
Wall Of Fire
You’re Alive
Blow Your Mind
Cyclone
2000 Light Years From Home
No Vacation
I’m Calling You
Solid Gold
Freeze And Pixelate
A Thousand Stars
Slap In The Face
Little Bag Of Gloom
Monster Magnet’s last studio album, “Monolithic Baby”, was released in 2004 via SPV.
Dave Wyndorf recently spoke to U.K.-based music journalist Dave Ling about the occasion on which an overdose on prescription drugs almost killed him on February 27, 2006.
“It had been a long time coming,” recounted Wyndorf. “Everything began when I couldn’t sleep on tour, so the doctors gave me something that would put down a wild animal. This was an anti-anxiety drug; the stuff that airline pilots and astronauts use. I was doing a lot of transatlantic flying, and on a plane one day I just started gobbling them down. All of my paranoia’s came at me like a giant, three-headed beast. My biggest mistake was not asking for help. The things are supposed to clear you mind before you go to sleep. They wipe out all the worries and concerns you might have, but what I didn’t understand is that it’s like a computer…”
Everything just re-boots when you switch on again? “Exactly,” he replied. “The problems are not deleted, in fact they get magnified by ten. It was fucking horrible. I was utterly powerless, on a slippery slope. I don’t recall doing it but on the day concerned I took the whole Goddamn bottle — a hundred pills, man, just like they were a shot glass — and the next thing I knew, I woke up in a fucking loony bin.”
Having sampled their upside and downside, even forged a career spent singing about them, Wyndorf is in a pretty unique position to talk about drugs. “They’re supposedly a gateway into creativity,” he mused. “And you know what? It’s all a myth. They suck, and they’ll get you in the end. They certainly got me.”
There’s been much speculation of a forthcoming Black Sabbath reunion with the original line-up with Ozzy Osbourne at the helm, but founding member Geezer Butler has adamantly denied such rumors.
“Heaven and Hell are currently in discussions with various record labels about recording a brand new studio album in 2008,” says Butler.
Black Sabbath’s recent incarnation as Heaven & Hell, fronted by Ronnie James Dio on lead vocals, sees the seminal heavy metal band undertaking a major UK arena tour this November. The band’s moniker is taken after Black Sabbath’s critically acclaimed 1980 studio album “Heaven and Hell” featuring the title track and the breakout hit “Neon Nights”. Ronnie James Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath in 1980 and the band went on to release four albums including 1980’s “Heaven & Hell”, 1981’s “Mob Rules”, and the 1982 live album “Live Evil”, as well as the highly under rated “Dehumanizer” in June 1992.
The Vancouver Canucks really stunk up the joint tonight, losing 8-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers. Was it because they were playing at home and suffering from a Thanksgiving hangover? Canucks fans should hope that’s all it is, otherwise we are in for a very long season. Some credit needs to be given to the Flyers as they executed well and played a fast game. However, the Canucks were slow and played poorly, especially defensively.
Other thoughts:
Jesse Boulerice of the Flyers cross-checked Ryan Kesler to the head late in the third period and was given a 5-minute match penalty for deliberate attempt to injure. Because the NHL has set an example by suspending Steve Downie for 20 games, I say that if Boulerice is not suspended for at least 40 games for this hit, then there is something terribly wrong with the system. Steve Downie was given a severe penalty for his hit to the head on Dean McAmmond and rightly so. In my opinion, tonight’s hit was much worse and with the league trying to crack down on this type of play, Boulerice deserves much worse. There is no place in the game for these cheap shots. If there is no lengthy suspension, then Colin Campbell should be fired.
Brendan Morrison needs to be traded. I’ve been saying this for the past 2 years. I don’t care that’s he’s a local boy. He sucks. Try to get something for him while you still can.
Maybe Ohlund should go too?
$13 for a PPV game? This game sure wasn’t worth it!
