MAYBE THEY SHOULD CALL HIM “TOM ILLEGAL”

One good reason that Mötley Crüe get to keep being Mötley Crüe is because they still put on a killer live show despite being old, fat, disabled, immoral, and, very possibly, mentally handicapped. And one of the best things about their most recent tours has been Tommy Lee’s rollercoaster drum kit. Not only does it spin in circles and shit, but every night Tommy invites some lucky fan (pretty much always an attractive woman, duh) to get strapped in behind him while he plays his solos on this crazy drollercoaster. The appeal of it obviously has nothing to do with drumming, but the showmanship of the thing is terrific. And any metal fan will tell you, some degree of showmanship is necessary in this genre.

So, total bummer alert — now an L.A. engineer named Scott King is suing Tommy Lee because he claims he pitched the roller-kit to Lee back in 1991, and Lee passed. Lee’s lawyers claim that’s bullshit, natch, and that King’s pitch to Lee was different.

I obviously have no idea what really happened, and my guess is, none of us ever will. Intellectual property cases involving rockstars — like this one! — seem to be settled out of court 99% of the time, and with good reason; ultimately, rich people can just throw money at this shit, and by his own implicit admission, that’s really all King is looking for anyway. I mean, it’s not as though most Crüe fans ever asked, know, or give a shit who creates the band’s stage theatrics. Right now there’s probably some guy in New Jersey who thinks Tommy and Vince meet up on weekends and weld or whatever.

In any case, I don’t think there’s any chance this could lead to the end of the rollerkiter, but it would seriously harsh my buzz if it could. I have a much easier time forgetting about Methods of Mayhem when Tommy Lee is flying through the air and being the rock god I always thought he was.

-AR

[via Noisecreep]