In the 70′s, before Motley Crue was even thought of, Mick Mars was in a band called Whitehorse. That band actually used an upside down drum kit for a handful of shows before the band ended. You can find pics and the story of the kit on a Facebook fan page here. They welded a steel cage together and would have to mount the drums to it before each show, which would take a few hours. I have no idea if it was Mick who gave Tommy the idea, but Mick’s band was doing it long before Motley Crue was a sparkle in Nikki’s eye. Tommy says he had the idea after watching people go get drinks or shirts during a drum solo, and thought it might be because no one could really see what the drummer was doing. But there are pictures of Mick and Whitehorse with an upside down kit years before the Crue formed. There’s also video, and they didn’t just hang the kit upside down, it actually flipped sideways upside down. Watch this, really bad, but very cool video.
Of course Tommy has taken the concept to insane levels, but originally his kit just lifted up and tilted forward so the audience could see. This was on the Theatre Of Pain tour in 1985.
Of course then came the spinning kit from the Girls, Girls, Girls tour that everybody remembers. And you can see a full evolution of Tommy’s rigs here.
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