Image Courtesy of Dennis Dunaway (Circa 1985, Click Photo to Enlarge)
How happy does Nikki Sixx look in the picture above, where he is book-ended by Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper) and Kub Coda (Brownsville Station) on the left and Neal Smith (Alice Cooper) and Joe Bouchard (Blue Oyster Cult) on the right? Nikki’s arms appear to be virtually un-inked and I’ve never seen Neal and Dennis with shorter hair, so you can tell this photo is from another era entirely. Still, it’s a fun blast from the past. Motley Crue Bassist and Renaissance Man Nikki Sixx was born on this day, December 11th, in 1958. Happy Birthday, Nikki!
On This Date, February 23rd, in 1985: The Smiths’Meat Is Murder was the #1 album in the UK. Meat Is Murder is a fantastic album just crammed with amazing songs like “What She Said,” “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore,” “How Soon Is Now?” and “The Headmaster Ritual,” but my favorite is “Barbarism Begins at Home.” I’m going to celebrate the spirit of The Smiths by playing this album really loud as soon as I get home today! Smiths!
On this date in 1985: Simple Minds had the #1 single in the U.S., “Don’t You (Forget About Me).” The runaway hit song appeared on the soundtrack to The Breakfast Clubbut not on any of Simple Minds’ albums. I remember reading an interview with Simple Minds’ vocalist Jim Kerr where he talked about how he didn’t really dig the song that much, even though he was asked to write it specifically for the film, as he could not get behind or quite fathom the sentiment of asking to not be forgotten by people who didn’t meant that much to you in the first place. Or something like that. At any rate, he probably isn’t complaining anymore, as I’m sure that royalties from the tune have at this juncture put Kerr’s kids through college and paid for a mansion, a yacht and a few divorce settlements, at the very least.
