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The Crues Early Days
In the book:Nikki and Mick first meet at a liquor store.
Nikki ends up going to see Mick play the show, but the two lose contact thereafter.
Fast forward to Tommy and Nikki connecting through mutual musician friends.
He shows up to a jam session with Tommy and a pansy guitarist named Robin.
The band makes it official in 1981.
In the movie:A starstruck Tommy meets a disillusioned Nikki after a show for Nikkis soon-to-be-defunct band London.
Together, they both notice Micks classified ad offering a loud, rude, aggressive guitar player.
There, they witness Vinces onstage power over women and set their sights on bringing Vince in.
The phrase stuck with him, and he wrote it down as the potential name for a future group.
The spelling of the name eventually changed from Motley Crew to MOTTLEY CRU to Motley Crue.
When thats shot down, Tommy offers a crude drawing of penises to support his idea, The Fourskins.
Nikki adds the final spelling touches.
Hes there when Motley Crue remixes and rerelease the bands first album, 1981sToo Fast for Love.
(Nikki does not.)
Doc is replaced by Doug Thaler, andDr.
1 album very shortly after.
In the movie:Doc (David Costabile) is the chaperone, the rambunctious gangs glorified babysitter.
In the end, Doug isnt important enough to the era on which this Motley Crue movie focuses.
Nikki is romantically linked to Lita Ford of the Runaways and later Playboy playmate Brandi Brandt.
Mick, the oddball of the group and a man of select words, never gets a mate.
(Yes, that means Pamela Anderson is absent from the movie.)
Theres David Lee Roth, portrayed as both a coke-fueled partygoer and a professional mentor for Vince.
Nikki recalls urinating on Rick Nielsens jacket, despite proclaiming to be a big fan of Cheap Trick.
In the movie:The movie is very select about the other rock stars it brings into frame.
Mick almost drowns in a beach nearby, after passing out among the waves.
Tommy is there partying with the guys of Hanoi Rocks, including their drummer Razzle.
The fatal incident kicks off the bands rift with Vince.
According to Vinces account, Nikki breaks out of the hospital shortly after.
Cue a morose Vince watching a news report that erroneously proclaims Nikki has died.
Vince hugs his daughter Skylar, underscoring a portrait of Motley Crue as family men at heart.
John refers to his experience working on the albumMotley Crueas the best year of my life.
However, after a failed tour to promote the album, record execs turn on John.
Over sushi, a tearful Tommy tells him that hes out of the band.
John is not allowed in the room at this time.
There is no mention of any lawsuit.
Happily Ever After?
In the book:Vince quits the band for a few days after physically fighting with Nikki.
Tommy quits the band in 1999 after Vince sucker punches him.
Randy Castillo replaces Tommy while Tommy pursues his solo project, Methods of Mayhem.
The 2001 book ends with the new lineup of Motley Crue recording their 2000 album,New Tattoo.
In the movie:The Dirtessentially ends about two-thirds into the book.
It jumps right from their intimate reconciliation to a concert that depicts the heroes reassembling.
WhatDidntMake It Into the Movie?
The autobiographical details thatdidntmake it into the movie range from impish knavery to utter toxicity.
Theres no mention in the movie of flying knives at Nikkis apartment or a sick sexual circus during theDr.
After the book was published, Nikki denied the rape ever happened.
I dont actually recall that story in the book beyond reading it, Sixx toldRolling Stone.
