“There was a concert at the ‘Whisky‘… and they (Mötley Crüe) brought down whips and chains, and Vince (Neil) dropped a pair of dirty panties in my hand… the devil tarot card, you know whips, chains, the whole thing…. that was kind of it… it was pretty incredible.”
— Vicky Hamilton when she worked at Licorice Pizza record store on the Sunset Strip
MS NEWS / May 25th 2026 — In a new interview on the Hair Metal Guru the guest is Vicky Hamilton.
Hamilton was an important part of the Sunset Strip during the 1980’s and beyond having been involved with the who’s-who of the era including Mötley Crüe, Stryper, Poison, Guns N’ Roses and Faster Pussycat.
The long time manager, former A&R rep at Geffen Records and current CEO at Dark Spark Music shares a bunch of her great personal and professional experiences that covers the gamut.
Since her arrival on the scene just as Mötley Crüe were coming up in 1981 Hamilton seemingly was in the middle of it, and so much so she became somewhat of a local legend as nearly everything she touched seemed to ascend to the next level.
A Indiana native who moved to California on the advice from a fairly new rock musician named Tom Petty who told Hamilton, “You look like a California girl” and that was all it took.
Hamilton soon packed up her Oldsmobile Cutlass, drove west and upon arriving in Los Angeles found herself working as a cock-tail waitress at ‘The Palomino‘ in North Hollywood, then ‘Gazzarri’s‘ on the Sunset Strip and the third job was at the legendary ‘Starwood‘ on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood.
Her next job was working at the record store Licorice Pizza which was kitty-korner from a rock club called ‘The Whisky-A-Go-Go‘.
This set in motion her meeting Nikki Sixx and soon helping Mötley Crüe and their Management company ‘Coffman & Coffman‘ which was the start of an endless string of rock n’ roll mischief, highs, lows and a 40+ year wild ride for the midwest music lover.
Check out her 90 minute interview with The Hair Metal Guru as shared below.
Ready, Set, Eighties!
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