November 24, 1999 From AOL: December 6 at 7:00PM ET Tommy Lee will join AOL Live for a chat on December 6th at 7:00PM ET. The former member of Motley Crue will chat about his new band, Methods of Mayhem, and their self-titled album which features Fed Durst, Kid Rock, Lil' Kim, George Clinton and Snoop Dog. You must be an AOL member to join this chat. Just go to Keyword: AOL Live November 22, 1999 Tommy makes Billboard's Artist of the Day! Billboard Artist Of The Day November 17, 1999 Tommy Lee's Methods Of Mayhem Crosses Rock With Rap NEW YORK -- Tommy Lee says he's enjoying the early reaction to "Methods Of Mayhem," the eponymous debut of his post-Motley Crue band, due Dec. 7 on MCA. "People are trippin' out," he says with a laugh. "I knew it would freak some people out, and that's awesome. There's no fun in a record without a few surprises." Produced by Scott Humphrey, the collection shows Lee teaming up with rapper TiLo (aka Tim Murray) and handling guitars, drums, and lead vocals. The two are joined by an eclectic array of guests that includes Kid Rock, U-God of Wu-Tang Clan, Lil' Kim, Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, George Clinton, Crystal Method, Snoop Dogg, and Mixmaster Mike. "None of this was calculated," Lee says. "TiLo and I started laying down tracks, and before we knew it, we were getting calls from artists who wanted to collaborate." The result is an album that Lee describes as "a hybrid of my favorite flavors," with forays into electronica and hip-hop, as well as the hard rock that his longtime fans require. "For me, this is full-blown creative freedom," he says. "Often I would bring songs to Motley Crue, and the reaction would be, 'That's not right.' I couldn't conform anymore. I was losing my mind." Of all the styles and sounds explored on "Methods Of Mayhem," Lee says rapping came the easiest to him. "After all, I am a drummer. In some ways, delivering vocals in a rhythmic fashion makes more sense to me than traditional singing." Lee combines the two vocal styles on "Get Naked," the set's first single, on which he's joined by Durst, Lil' Kim, Clinton, and Mixmaster Mike. On Oct. 26, the track went to mainstream and modern rock radio, where it's getting play on 51 stations, according to Broadcast Data Systems. At this point, the track is promo-only. It's available until Dec. 17 as a timed-out download via Liquid Audio in conjunction with Real Audio. "Get Naked" is also drawing attention for its risqué music video, directed by Chris Hafner. MTV recently added the clip, and it's the most-requested video on the Box. The clip -- which will also gain national exposure when it's aired during "The Howard Stern Radio Show" Dec. 4 on CBS-TV -- is one of the first key elements of MCA's extensive visibility campaign. The label began marketing the project in August by distributing a flood of stickers, temporary tattoos, and cassette samplers at retail and every hard-rock concert in the U.S. MCA has also launched an Internet site, which offers raw footage of the "Get Naked" video, as well as sound bites from the album. It has a fan-dominated message board to which Lee occasionally posts. He will also post diary entries from the road during his ongoing radio/retail promotional trek of the U.S. Other Net-related activities will include a Lee/TiLo chat on America Online during the week of album release. Between promotional obligations, Lee and TiLo are assembling a live band, with which they'll begin touring in March. Before hitting the concert trail, Lee and TiLo will spend portions of January and February doing promotion in Europe. The set is due for release there in mid-January. "I can't wait to get out there and play these songs live," says Lee. "It's gonna be wild -- just like the process of writing them." Lee refers to a period earlier this year, when he was writing songs while serving a prison sentence. "I started writing lyrics -- calling collect from jail and singing into my answering machine at home," he says. "I had a friend record a greeting on my machine saying, 'This number accepts collect calls' and got it all down. For a while, I wanted to call the album 'Tommy's Jailhouse Recording School.' " Joking aside, Lee says the album reflects "a lot of the drama I've been through. It's as honest and real as I could possibly be." Cuts on the album include such cathartic anthems as "Anger Management," which provides insight into some of the well-documented problems of his personal life in recent years. "It's not an easy road, but it's an educational one," he says. "It's a privilege to be able to get some of it down on tape." Lee says he's aware that his headline-grabbing personal life will be the initial draw to Methods Of Mayhem. But he believes that listeners will come with one impression and leave with another -- particularly after experiencing one of the set's stronger cuts, "Metamorphosis," which traces his evolution from boy to man. "There are many layers to these songs," he says. "If you have an open mind, you're going to feel a wide range of emotions." November 20, 1999 More news from Tommy: This Sunday Night 11/21/99 @ 10pm Tilo and I will be on "Loveline" on KROQ.....should be redick!! November 19, 1999 News from Tommy about his radio promo tour: MONDAY 11/29/99: 8:30 AM ON AIR INTERVIEW @ KSJO SAN JOSE 5:00 PM ON AIR INTERVEIW @ LIVE 105 SAN FRANSISCO TUESDAY 11/30/99: 7:30 AM ON AIR INTERVIEW WITH MANCOW........CHICAGO WED. 12/1/99: 7:30 AM ON AIR INTERVIEW @ WRIF DETROIT THURSDAY 12/2/99 BOSTON: TIME TBD...... ON AIR INTERVIEW @ WAAF TIME TBD...... ON AIR INTERVIEW @ WFNX TIME TBD...... ON AIR INTERVIEW @WBCN FRIDAY 12/3/99 NEW YORK: 6:30 AM ON AIR INTERVIEW @ WXRK SO FAR!!!!! THIS IS WHAT I HAVE!!!! November 17, 1999 From Tommy: (Attention Canadian Fans) Those of you who get "Much Music" they added the video today!!!! Canada comes to the party!!!!! November 16, 1999 News from Tommy: We'll be on Power 106 with BigBoy around 8am on Wed.11/17. And The Beat 92.3 on Fri.11/19 around 8am. November 13, 1999 News from CDNow AllStar: Stephen Perkins Joins Methods Of Mayhem; Chris Vrenna Remixes Next Single According to ex-Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, ex-Jane's Addiction/Porno For Pyros guitarist Stephen Perkins has been elected as the new touring drummer for Methods of Mayhem, but will not join the band permanently. Lee made the announcement on KROQ in Los Angeles early Friday (Nov. 12) morning. In describing how the shows will go, Lee reported he will come out from behind the drum kit to play lead guitar, Perkins will take over the main drumming duties, and the possibility of he and Perkins drumming at the same time is also in the cards. Methods of Mayhem, whose MCA Records debut is due Dec. 7, will hit the road in sometime in the spring of 2000. Former Nine Inch Nails drummer Chris Vrenna, who was originally tipped as the possible Methods of Mayhem touring drummer, will now work with the band in a different capacity. Vrenna has been asked by the band to remix their upcoming single, "Hypocritical." According to Vrenna, the band would like a clubby version of the track. "They said they wanted something alternative club," says Vrenna. "I'll probably straighten the groove out and speed it up a little bit maybe -- give it a bit more of a dance vibe -- as opposed to a hip-hop [groove] where you get a bit more stomp." The remixed version of "Hypocritical" could surface any number of places, including for use on possible 12-inch releases and special downloads on the Methods of Mayhem Web site (www.methodsofmayhem.com). As far as the MOM drumming gig is concerned, Vrenna is all for it. "That's pretty cool," he says. "I know it was originally reported that it was going to be me but unfortunately, scheduling and timing and everything else never seemed to match." Meanwhile, Vrenna's own project, Tweaker, has delivered The Attraction to All Things Uncertain to Almo Sounds and the album will be released in early 2000 (allstar, Aug. 12). Vrenna also just wrapped up the production of Jack Off Jill's forthcoming Risk Records release, Clear Heart Grey Flowers, due in the spring. -- Kevin Raub with Donna DeChristopher November 9, 1999 News from Tommy: METHODS OF MAYHEM IS GONNA BE ON KROQ @ 8 AM IN THE MORNING ON THE "KEVIN AND BEAN MORNING SHOW" FRI.11/12/99 November 5, 1999 News from Tommy regarding MTV2: They put "Get Naked" into power roation yesterday!!!!!!!!! That's 6 times a day ... over 30 a week. Some news from Tommy regarding the 9 shows that were scheduled with Metallica: HEY FUCKERS! MCA RECORDS THOUGHT IT WOULD BE BEST TO CANCEL THE 9 METALLICA SHOWS!!!! WE GOTTA GO PROMOTE THE CD WORLDWIDE DURING THE TIME THAT THOSE REHEARSALS AND TOUR WOULD HAVE TAKEN. WE'LL START TOURING IN MARCH!! I'M ON THE FUCKIN STREETS LIKE YA'LL PASSIN OUT STICKERS, TAPES, POSTERS.........YOU KNOW HOW WE DO IT! ONCE AGAIN........I SEE WHAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING OUT THERE.....PEOPLE ARE COMING UP TO ME OR EMAILING ME THE UNREAL RESULTS OF YOUR HARD WORK...........WE LOVE YA!! November 3, 1999 Great news from Tommy: The Box Top 50 National Airplay Chart From Date: 10/25/1999 - To Date: 10/31/1999 1 - 10 - Methods Of Mayhem - Get Naked - MCA Records 4244 2 - 4 - Lil' Wayn - Tha Block Is Hot - Universal Records/Cash 2984 3 - 3 - Ja Rule - How Many Wanna (fr Elektra Records/EEG/Yab 2888 4 - 2 - Dr. Dre [featur Still D.R.E. Aftermath Entertainment 2800 5 - * - LFO - Girl On T.V. Arista Records 2450 6 - 1 - IMx [(formerly Stay The Night - MCA Records 2285 HOLY CRAP! Thanks TOMMY LEE November 1, 1999 Tommy gave us the video. Now it's our job to get it played!! Go here MTV and request the hell out of GET NAKED! BACK TO ARCHIVE