Two days ago marked the 25th anniversary of the release of Mötley Crüe's mega-album, Dr. Feelgood. After the band had various issues with drugs and alcohol -- such as Nikki Sixx dying from a heroin overdose only to be revived and Vince Neil drunkenly driving his De Tomaso Pantera head-on into another car, killing his passenger (and Hanoi Rocks drummer), "Razzle" Dingley, and severely injuring the two people in the other car -- the band made a concerted effort to sober up while they were making the Dr. Feelgood album, and the results were pretty spectacular. Produced by Bob Rock, Dr. Feelgood was Mötley Crüe's first (and only) album to reach #1 on the Billboard album charts, staying on the charts for 109 weeks. It is also the band's highest-selling album ever, going 6x Platinum in the U.S. On top of that, all five of the singles from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100, including the band's first two Top 10 songs ("Dr. Feelgood" at #6 and "Without You" at #8) and two additional Top 40 songs ("Kickstart My Heart" at #27 and "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)" at #19).
I played my Dr. Feelgood tape a lot. This was about the time I got my first walkman, and I distinctly remember bringing Dr. Feelgood on trips, so that I could not only listen to it in the airport, but also read the unfolded liner notes, so that all the tween chicks knew I was a total badass. Amazingly, I had just as much sex in airport bathrooms at age 12 as I did in my four years of high school.
For the Retro Video of the Week, I chose the title track because it was the first single released off of the album, and it's just such a gritty song -- a tale of drug dealers and the underworld, brought to life by Bob Rock's bombastic production. Enjoy.
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