"You're All I Need" by Mötley Crüe

Song#:  3345
Date:  11/28/1987
Debut:  93
Peak:  83
Weeks:  8
Genre:  Hard Rock, Glam Rock



Pop Bits:  Mötley Crüe's fourth album, Girls, Girls, Girls, would be their highest peaking yet (#2) thanks to the title track also becoming their biggest hit to-date (#12 Pop/#2 Rock). Next up for the band was this track from the album. The power ballad couldn't really catch on and stalled early at Pop while not even making the Rock chart. However, it hardly mattered because the album had already reached double-platinum status and would eventually sell over 4 million copies.

ReduxReview:  This album closing track was a good power ballad from the band. It had nice chord progressions and melodies that took the band in a mainstream rock direction. I'm not sure if it was a great single contender, especially considering the lyrics (see below), but it showed that the band, despite their off-stage antics, were maturing.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Apparently, this song was inspired by a bit of infidelity a member of Mötley Crüe had experienced. Nikki Sixx, bassist and main songwriter for the band, had been dating a woman for a while prior to recording the Girls, Girls, Girls album. It seems Sixx though the two were an exclusive couple, but then he found out she was seeing another guy as well. It turned out to be actor/singer Jack Wagner of General Hospital and "All I Need" fame. Instead of fully confronting his girlfriend about it all, Sixx instead went in to the studio and with Tommy Lee wrote "You're All I Need," a sort of toss back to Wagner's 1984 #2 hit. The song's dark lyrics are about a guy who loves a girl and she may not necessarily love him back. He kills her so she won't love anyone else. Sixx took the demo of the song over to his girlfriend's place, walked in, said nothing, and played the tape. Apparently realizing the jig was up, she left in tears. By most accounts, that's where the story ends. However, it seems Sixx had plans for Wagner and supposedly hired some goons to jump Wagner and break his knee caps. While the plan was never hatched, the former girlfriend got wind of the threat. Then coincidentally, Wagner took a fall during a shoot and fractured his knee. Of course, everyone then though Sixx made good on his threat, but that wasn't the case. The song's associated video pretty much followed the lyrics with a guy killing his girlfriend (off screen). Although there was only implied violence in the video, MTV initially rejected it due to violent content.

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