Beyond the big hits, Rock and Roll might be known for one thing: horrible decisions made on questionable substances, hotels being destroyed, and way too much hair spray. Okay. I lied. Rock n Roll is know for A LOT more than just songs. Occasionally it’s known for the arguments too.
Take the Rolling Stones and The Beatles. You’d THINK they were massive rivals who hated each other. And if you thought that, you’d be wrong. In fact, it was a Lennon/McCartney tune “I Wanna Be Your Man” that would end up as the Rolling Stones first big hit (which also features some excellent slide guitar from the late Brian Jones.)
In Mick Jagger’s own words: “Super, highly competitive – but friendly. Because when you’re very young, it’s very hard. Looking back, thinking of all that competition, I hate it. But I suppose it’s all right, because I won out.” So there you have it. Rivals? Not really. Cheekily rivals? For sure.
On the other side of things, you have bands that really hate each other, for the silliest of reasons.
Take Motley Crue vs Guns n Roses. Or more accurately put “Izzy Stradlin & Axl Rose doesn’t like Vince Neil.” As the story goes, GnR guitarist Izzy Stradlin made some moves on Vince Neil’s wife. Vince wasn’t too big of a fan of that & when the MTV Video Awards happened later that year, he was waiting in the wings with a punch. In fact, Vince Neil offered to have a charity boxing match against Axl Rose. It never happened.
Here’s a throwback to MTV reporting on it in 1991.
That’s it this week. Rock on and keep truckin!
– PV
