Mötley Crüe Cover of ‘Smokin’ in the Boys Room’ Rescued Band During Crisis

Mötley Crüe's 1985 cover of "Smokin' in the Boys Room" peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stuck around for 15 weeks. The track was included on Theater of Pain when the glam rock group desperately needed a hit to maintain their standing among glam metal acts.

"It was me who suggested covering 'Smokin' in the Boys Room.' Everybody knows that song kind of saved our a–es at that time," Vince Neil wrote in his memoir Tattoos & Tequila. The lead singer was facing legal charges over a deadly car wreck. Meanwhile, other members battled drug problems.

Guitarist Mick Mars said he recognized the track from the 1970s and liked Neil's idea. "It just worked," he told Ear of Newt. "I listened to that song a lot."

Brownsville Station released the original "Smokin' in the Boys Room" in October 1973 on their album Yeah! It reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned gold certification. Michael Lutz and Cub Koda penned the tune about kids rebelling in high school.

"I confess that I personally never got into smoking in the boys' room at school, but it seemed like a good topic to write about," Lutz told Classic Rock magazine. "It was fun, and it was rebellious."

The Michigan-based group didn't anticipate success with the track, which sat at the end of side two on the record. A radio station in Bangor, Maine, started playing it, and phones went crazy. "Smokin' blew things wide open," Lutz said.

Despite the smash, Brownsville Station never scored another Top 10 and disbanded in 1979. The theme typecast them as a "bubblegum" act. 

Lutz applauded the 1985 version by the Los Angeles rockers. "They stuck to the form of the song," he told Classic Rock. "It had a structure to it, and it has to be done that way. They honored the song."