The war of words between legendary drummer Carmine Appice and Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx may have cooled off in recent months, but a previous challenge to a ‘jam-off’ to see who was really “washed up” has largely been left unanswered. And Appice hasn’t forgotten that fact.
During an interview with The Logan Show (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), the drummer said he hadn’t heard anything from Sixx all about his apparent call out, which as you may recall only came about after the bassist called him a “washed up drummer.”
“I knew Nikki for a long time. They opened up for Ozzy when I was with Ozzy, and Nikki lived around the corner from me. We used to go out for breakfast, and I got his phone number and his real name in my phone. And I haven’t talked to him in a while, but ever since they got big, they got a little stuffy. Now that’ll come out now: ‘Carmine says Nikki Sixx is stuffy.’ But that’s the truth.
“So when he started that stuff, and he called me a has-been drummer, I said, ‘You fuck. What did you start? Give me something that you started in this industry. I can tell you a bunch of stuff I started that’s still going on. What did you start?’ That’s why I challenged him. I never heard anything back. Because I was a has-been drummer, he said.”
The back and forth between Sixx and Appice goes back to last March. It all really started when Appice shared some insight he apparently had about Mick Mars’ departure/ousting from the Crüe. At the time, Appice said in an interview with Ultimate Guitar that Mars had told him he was particularly irked by the alleged use of backing tracks while playing live.
“Well, I’ll tell you what. I’ve been talking to Mick, and he told me, ‘When I was on The Stadium Tour, I was not happy.’ Basically, everything was on tape; it was all planned out and ultimately a lot of crap. And Mick is a pretty good player, and so to now let him loose and play the way he wants, that was never going to work for him. The truth is that everything has been weird for a while with Mötley Crüe, and Mick didn’t like that everything was on tape. Mick told me that people that came to see it could tell that it was all pre-recorded and that everything was on tape.
“When you play in a stadium like that, you can hear a lot of things come to the monitors or what doesn’t. And with Vince’s [Neil] vocals, bass, drums, guitars, and all the other stuff, it was obvious that it was all on tape. And Mick was pissed off and said, ‘I can play these things. I want to play them. I don’t want to make believe I’m playing them.’ So, I think that’s one of the reasons why he said, ‘I’m done.’ Sure, the disease that he has doesn’t help, and it doesn’t make life easy on tour, but Mick can play all the licks, and he was allowed to.”
That prompted Sixx to lash out against Appice, calling him a “washed up drummer” while also slamming the “bottom feeder media” for reporting what was said. Appice, who’s played for so many legendary acts on a wide number of major albums, fired back by saying “at least this washed-up drummer can play his instrument.“
Shortly after that was when Appice challenged Sixx to the still unanswered ‘jam-off.’
We’ll have to see if Sixx will have a response to Appice’s comments. Something tells me that with a new album coming out and all the hubbub that surrounds it, I doubt anyone in Mötley Crüe has time for anything else, but it sure would be cool to see these guys compete to see who’s better at their respective instruments…