Thursday
Jul072011
Should Vince Neil Be Honored?
Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 12:01AM It was recently announced that Vince Neil would be receiving the 'Lifetime Achievement in Rock 'n' Roll Award,' presented to him by Vegas Rocks! Magazine. Few music related stories have ever bothered me quite as much as this one did. Personally, I think that Vince is a deplorable human being, and that fact that people are choosing to honor him rather than shun him shocks me.
My dislike for Vince has really developed over the past few years, but the primary reason has to do with his recent arrest in Las Vegas for driving under the influence (oddly enough, which occurred in the very city that is honoring him). Let's all remember that Vince was solely responsible for the death of Razzle Dingley from Hanoi Rocks many years ago, as Vince crashed his car while he was driving drunk with Razzle in the car. As tragic as that was, I did not hate Vince for that. He was a young rock star that suddenly had a lot of money, and he made a bad decision which resulted in Razzle's tragic death. However, this is an event that should have altered his life from that point forward. He robbed the world of another life, and living with that must have been horrible.... but he did not learn his lesson, and he did it again, and endangered the lives of himself and others on the road. I do not care that it was 20 plus years after the fact, because it never should have happened again. He is older and should be wiser now, but apparently he is still just as dumb as he was in his twenties. Add to that the recent allegations of domestic violence, the many accounts of fans that have met him only to have him be outright rude to them, and the lackluster performance he delivers live. I was at M3 in 2010, and Vince disappeared for three songs of a set that was less than an hour total. (Thankfully, his talented band did an amazing job, but how is Vince not present for that many songs that are being played by the Vince Neil Band)?
Yet Vince continues to do well in the world of rock. Motley Crue has embarked on a tour that is putting up successful numbers, and is expected to continue to do so throughout the summer. His solo band is doing well, his book sold many copies, and he is becoming quite the businessman (as he has really been branding his name as of late). What puzzles me is who is continuing to support him? With the recent not guilty verdict on the Casey Anthony case, the world is asking, "Where is the justice for Caylee?" Everyone seems to be upset by the idea that Casey Anthony is poised to cash-in on the tragedy that her daughter suffered, and the world seems ready to boycott anything that her name is attached to. I understand this reaction, and it makes sense as most people would not want to see an accused murderer profit for any reason.
My question to the readers of this site is this: are you going to protest and boycott any television shows featuring or books written by Casey Anthony regarding the death of her child and the trial that followed? And if you answered "yes" to that question, are you also going to attend the Motley Crue tour this summer? Finally, if your answer to both questions were "yes," then why do you support one person who we know took the life of another and yet continues to behave in the same dangerous manner, but not other who was not actually found guilty of any murder/manslaughter charges? How do you decide which murders to support and which ones you will shun (assuming Casey Anthony did, in fact, murder her daughter)? Motley Crue will be at the Mohegan Sun Arena on July 15th (about an hour from my house), and I will be nowhere near the venue that night. I do not deny the fact that Motley wrote some of the greatest songs of the genre and they put on an amazing live show, but I can not justify putting any of my money into Vince's pockets.
Where is the justice for Razzle?
