CHAPTERS
- 0:02 – 1:15
Gold-tooth banter and settling in with Tommy Lee
Joe and Tommy open with playful small talk about dental bling, pirate vibes, and Joe’s temptation to swap a cap for a gold tooth. The tone is loose and friendly as they warm up and get rolling.
- •Tommy shows off a diamond tooth and talks about how fun it is
- •Joe considers getting a gold tooth to replace a dental cap
- •Early rapport-setting and joking about looking like a pirate/outcast
- 1:15 – 3:53
Tommy’s son getting married: time, parenting, and doing it differently
Tommy shares that he’s in a rush because his 29-year-old son is getting married, and it’s making him reflect on how fast time moves. He expresses pride that his son is taking a patient, committed path—unlike Tommy’s own impulsive history.
- •Tommy’s amazement at how quickly his son grew up
- •Pride in his son’s long relationship and deliberate commitment
- •Advice on patience, love, and time improving a relationship’s ‘survival rate’
- •Joe notes the ‘happiness rate’ improves too
- 3:53 – 7:40
How LA and rock-star gravity can pull people into chaos
Joe and Tommy talk about how easy it is—especially in Los Angeles and music circles—to fall into destructive habits. They emphasize that addiction and bad choices often trap good, smart people, and rock culture can attract unstable personalities.
- •LA as a hub for drugs and destructive social circles
- •How ‘bad influence’ spreads when everyone around you normalizes it
- •Rock and roll’s unique magnetism for chaos
- •The difficulty of finding balanced, grounded people in that world
- 7:40 – 10:24
Opening for The Rolling Stones: pre-show wrecked, on-stage perfect
Tommy tells a vivid story about opening for The Rolling Stones and being summoned backstage minutes before they went on. Despite Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood seeming barely functional, they flipped a switch onstage and played flawlessly—true veterans of control.
- •Backstage scene: a traveling bartender and heavy pre-show drinking
- •Tommy’s disbelief they could possibly perform
- •Instant transformation once the lights drop and the song starts
- •Joe and Tommy discuss why some performers like being ‘fucked up’ onstage
- 10:24 – 13:54
Aging rockers who still crush: Rick Springfield and the end of “retire”
Joe shows Tommy a clip of 76-year-old Rick Springfield performing with intensity and physical fitness that shocks them both. They broaden into how norms changed—older artists now tour and audiences embrace them rather than treating music as a young person’s game.
- •Rick Springfield at 76 performing ‘Jessie’s Girl’ with full passion
- •How earlier eras had few visible ‘old rock stars’ touring
- •Why retirement makes less sense when you love performing
- •Older hip-hop and rock acts gaining renewed appreciation live
- 13:54 – 20:15
Too much content, too little patience: music overload and short attention spans
They argue modern culture is saturated—hundreds of thousands of songs a day and endless streaming options. This abundance shrinks attention spans and forces creators to “hook” people instantly, changing how music, film, and even dating work.
- •Claimed scale of daily music releases makes discovery nearly impossible
- •Loss of radio/MTV as shared cultural filters
- •Streaming encourages fast quitting and constant switching
- •Creators feel pressured to deliver the ‘best part’ immediately
- 20:15 – 24:32
Classic songs that wouldn’t survive today—and the ‘vampires’ of the music business
After the ad read, they contrast timeless songs with today’s impatience, citing long intros and extended sections as things that labels would now reject. They rail against music-industry executives who prioritize profit over art, and Tommy explains how Mötley protected their studio process from label interference.
- •Examples like ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and ‘Free Bird’ being “too long” by modern standards
- •Joe’s critique of money-driven executives shaping creative decisions
- •Tommy’s rule: label people weren’t allowed in the studio after a bad experience
- •Discussion of artists being exploited by industry ‘vampires’
- 24:32 – 29:08
One video can end a career: Billy Squier—and why Mötley’s catalog endured
Joe recounts how Billy Squier’s ‘Rock Me Tonight’ video allegedly tanked his momentum, illustrating how fragile fame can be. They contrast that with the staying power of Mötley Crüe’s music—especially ‘Kickstart My Heart’—and how certain songs become permanent cultural fuel.
- •Billy Squier’s image whiplash in a single music video
- •How audiences can punish a perceived identity shift instantly
- •Joe’s admiration for the enduring punch of ‘Kickstart My Heart’
- •The rarity (and luck) of long-term cultural staying power
- 29:08 – 36:57
Music as a physical drug: goosebumps, frequency theories, and sound healing
They dive into why certain songs create full-body reactions—energy, emotion, even altered states. Tommy asks about claims that specific frequencies can heal (even cancer), leading into discussion of sound baths, 432 vs 440 tuning lore, and the real ways audio affects the body and mood.
- •Music’s ability to change mood and physical energy instantly
- •Tommy’s curiosity about frequency-based healing claims
- •432 Hz vs 440 Hz conspiracy lore and perceived ‘aggression’
- •Sound baths and the plausible therapeutic role of sound in recovery
- 36:57 – 47:50
Tommy’s bonsai life: building calm, discipline, and Japanese design principles
Tommy explains how repeated trips to Japan sparked a deep bonsai practice that became his daily sanctuary. He describes bonsai as art, patience, and nature-management, and shares Japanese garden design rules meant to slow you down and keep you present.
- •How Japan’s temples and gardens inspired Tommy to start bonsai (~8 years)
- •Bonsai basics: “tree in pot,” pruning, wiring, training, and long timelines
- •Owning ancient trees (including 300+ year-old specimens)
- •Zen garden design: curved paths and intentional reveals to slow visitors down
- 47:50 – 55:06
Nature in cities: Central Park, ‘Protect Our Parks,’ and why horses don’t belong downtown
Joe and Tommy celebrate urban nature—especially Central Park—and vent about development pressures that eliminate green spaces. The conversation turns to a fatal horse-carriage accident and the broader ethics of using large animals in stressful city environments, including equine therapy as a contrast.
- •Central Park’s scale and importance as a psychological refuge
- •Development ‘vampires’ and the loss of public green spaces
- •Critique of horse-and-buggy tourism in dense city streets
- •Equine therapy and why human-animal bonding can be healing
- 55:06 – 1:05:34
Smoking, quitting, and the complicated talk about risk and creativity
They light up and discuss Tommy’s attempts to quit, why smoking returns alongside drinking, and what scans and statistics do (and don’t) mean. The thread expands into nicotine’s cognitive effects, why many people in recovery still smoke, and how some creatives claim it helps their work.
- •Smoking relapse triggers: alcohol, habit loops, and ‘rock and roll pairing’
- •Lung cancer risk statistics and how people misread population percentages
- •Debunking/clarifying claims about cigarettes, COVID, and health
- •Nicotine as a manageable stimulant; creativity and focus anecdotes
- 1:05:34 – 1:25:12
Still alive, still curious: Jetsons dreams, flying cars, LA problems, and mental discipline
Tommy reflects on how he “shouldn’t technically be here,” then riffs on the future—why we don’t have Jetsons-style travel yet and what makes flying cars risky. They pivot into Joe’s critique of LA’s decline and traffic, then into coping tools like audiobooks, Tesla self-driving, and the limits of multitasking—ending with a deep dive on David Goggins’ extreme mindset.
- •Why mass flying vehicles create control-and-safety problems
- •Joe’s view of LA: taxes, regulation, shrinking entertainment work, persistent traffic
- •Audiobooks/podcasts as a way to reclaim commute time; Tesla autopilot as stress relief
- •Multitasking as an illusion; focus as performance
- •David Goggins as an example of suffering-driven mental training
- 1:25:12 – 1:43:04
Mötley Crüe in 1980: no internet, no guardrails, and DIY rock engineering
They rewind to Mötley’s breakout era and how different life was before phones and constant surveillance. Tommy describes the anything-goes atmosphere, how ‘The Dirt’ captured it, and how his mechanic dad helped build early stage gear—drum risers, lighting, even homemade pyro.
- •1980s fame without social media receipts: “anything goes” era
- •Fans today amazed (and envious) of what that time allowed
- •Tommy’s dad as a hands-on builder of stage risers, lighting, and pyro
- •Early touring and building spectacle from scratch
- 1:43:04 – 2:18:40
Creating, performing, and spending: songwriting instincts and the obsession with fast cars
Tommy explains he doesn’t follow one rigid songwriting formula—sometimes rhythm leads, sometimes words or a chant, and he uses computers to make near-finished demos. The conversation then shifts into what he bought when fame hit—his ’82 Corvette, wild mods, Ferraris (and their quirks), and their shared disdain for bland electric supercars that lose the ‘engine-music’ experience.
- •Songwriting approach: inspiration-first, no fixed template; rhythm as the hook
- •Demo-building: Tommy records multi-instrument sketches to share with the band
- •First big purchase: champagne ’82 Corvette; early hot-rodding and exhaust cutouts
- •Testarossa story (no stereo by design) and why engine sound matters
- •Critique of electric supercars and praise for Ferrari design highs like the SF90
- 2:18:40 – 2:23:12
Touring again and the full-circle moment of multi-generation fans
Tommy shares excitement about getting back on the road after a long stadium run and a rare stretch of being home. He describes the surreal payoff of seeing original fans now bringing their kids, turning shows into a generational ritual—then the episode closes on gratitude and admiration for the ride.
- •Upcoming tour plans after a long Def Leppard stadium run
- •The push-pull of touring vs. craving home life
- •Seeing fans’ kids and a new generation discovering the band live
- •Final reflections on gratitude, longevity, and still loving the craft
