Mick Mars was “not happy” towards end of tenure with Mötley Crüe, claims Carmine Appice
“Mick told me that people that came to see it could tell that it was all pre-recorded and that everything was on tape.”
Credit: Jim Dyson / Getty
Drum legend Carmine Appice has claimed that Mick Mars was unhappy with pre-taped performances prior to leaving Mötley Crüe’s touring lineup.
In an new interview with Ultimate Guitar (Editor’s note, 15 March, 3:30am GMT : The original interview is now inaccessible), Appice claimed that Mars told him that he was “not happy” while on the band’s Stadium Tour, explaining, “Basically, everything was on tape; it was all planned out and ultimately a lot of crap. And Mick is a pretty good player, and so, to now let him loose and play the way he wants, that was never going to work for him.”
Appice continued, claiming that things had been “weird” for a while within the group, with Mars particularly unhappy about taped performances. “Mick told me that people that came to see it could tell that it was all pre-recorded and that everything was on tape,” he said.
And Mick was pissed off and said, ‘I can play these things. I want to play them. I don’t want to make believe I’m playing them.’ So, I think that’s one of the reasons why he said, ‘I’m done,'” Appice concluded. He added that the guitarist also felt like his lifestyle was not matching up with the rest of the band, explaining that Mars wasn’t getting along with the rest of the band. “He had his own means of travel and would travel alone on a bus while the other guys flew everywhere,” Appice said.
“He said, ‘Man, these guys are pissing their money away, flying to every gig.’ They were all busy still trying to be rock stars, and Mick just wanted to play the music. Mick wasn’t interested in wasting time and money flying everywhere, so he traveled by bus. Their lifestyles are different than his, and so there were a lot of disagreements.”