Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx and his 4 favorite 80’s songs

Mötley Crüe formed by Vince Neil (Vocals), Nikki Sixx (Bass), Mick Mars (Guitar) and Tommy Lee (Drums) were one of the most influential bands during the 80’s, selling millions of records and fronting the Los Angeles Glam Rock/Hard Rock scene during the decade. In an radio interview posted by Raised On The Radio back in 2019, the band’s bassist and main lyricist Nikki Sixx revealed his 5 favorite songs from the 80’s.

Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx and his 5 favorite 80’s songs:

Guns N’ Roses “Welcome To The Jungle”

“I always loved that song because the energy of it. I like the way the vocal lays in and it has this nice swagger to it. But i think really was a defining moment for Guns N’ Roses. We love Guns N’ Roses, the guys would come hang out at my house in Los Angeles.”

“We took them out on tour Mötley Crüe and they opened for us for a leg of the tour. Was really great because it were really green and they were really raw and they had just finished recording their first record. I felt good for us for turn our audience on to a new band.”

Billy Idol “Rebel Yell”

“I always loved this track. I love the way it just sits into the groove Billy Idol’s very Chris Mattock frontman. But also there’s something about his voice that is different, sets him apart from the rest of the rock genre. I love Generation X, it was fantastic. There was this growl and this loneliness in Billy Idol’s voice. It was almost like a Satanic Elvis Presley.

INXS “New Sensation”

“I mean, what a cool track and that song could be covered by any kind of an artist. It could be alternative now, it could be covered by an extreme metal band or it could be covered by kind of a pop artist. It just goes to show you how important good songwriting is.”

Van Halen “Panama”

“My ultimate 80’s choice is “Panama” that Van Halen lead from the 1984 album with “Jump”, but we were all taken aback, we were shocked, there’s the keyboard. I mean i just remember being ‘What happened to Van Halen?’ Because I remember getting the first Van Halen album. They were from Los Angeles, we were from Los Angeles.”

“We would see them play before they had a record deal, you know, we were just kids. That was just like the beginning of adventurous side of Van Halen, we would see later see with Sammy Hagar. But it was the song “Panama” that just really combined not only with what they were doing with “Jump” but those early songs like “Mean Street” and “Ain’t Talking About Love”