Meet Suite 19 – The Mayhem Begins

A couple years before Motley Crue was formed, Tommy Lee (then known as Tom Bass) was playing in his second band. Tommy had his first band while in high school. A band called US 101.

From US 101, Tommy moved on to Suite 19. This picture was taken in my photo studio shortly after the photo shoot was over. On the left is Jon Kemp. When Suite 19 disbanded, Jon left music and signed with Leif Garrett’s manager to replace Leif Garrett after Leif’s terrible car accident ended his career in 1979.

Next to Jon is Tommy. I’m standing next in line next to Tommy. This was before I adopted the Motley look years later.

On the right is Greg Leon (page 51-53 in The Dirt). Greg Leon is the guitarist who replaced Randy Rhoads in Quiet Riot and eventually ended up forming Suite 19. After Nikki left London, and Suite 19 was no longer, it was Greg who Nikki started collaberating with for Nikki’s next band. It was Greg who gave Tommy’s number to Nikki for a possible drummer. Greg could have been Motley’s guitarist, but Nikki claimed he was too regular.

At the time of this photo, Tommy was 17. Notice the beer in his hand? Tommy was actually drinking the soda, but for the sake of the picture, I gave it to Greg so he could be “different”. Stand out as the leader.

Three years later, my photo studio got raided and this picture fell into the hands of the police. They charged me with “delinquency of a minor”. The police couldn’t prove Tommy had drunk any beer or whether the container even had beer. They had to drop the charges and the picture was released back to my custody for you to enjoy today.

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