Motörhead
Motörhead was a British heavy metal band formed in 1975 by bassist, singer and songwriter Lemmy Kilmister had remained the sole constant member. The band disbanded in 2015 due to Lemmys death.
Contents
History
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Early Years 1975-1983
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After being sacked from Hawkwind in 1975, supposedly for "doing the wrong drugs", Lemmy decided to form a new band, originally to be called "Bastard". Doug Smith, the band's manager, advised him that, "It's unlikely that we're going to get on Top of the Pops with a name like 'Bastard'." Lemmy concurred and decided to call the band "Motörhead", inspired by the final song he had written for Hawkwind. The name of the song "Motorhead" was derived from a slang term for an amphetamine user, the drug being the subject of the song.
Lemmy's stated aim was for the outfit to be, "the dirtiest rock n' roll band in the world" and that, "if Motörhead moved in next to you, your lawn would die". The first lineup of the band featured Larry Wallis (ex-Pink Fairies) on electric guitar and Lucas Fox on drums. Their first gig was at The Roundhouse, London, on July 20, 1975. On October 19, having played ten gigs, they became the supporting act to Blue Öyster Cult at the Hammersmith Odeon. The Roundhouse was to feature Motörhead again on November 7, 1976 with Pink Fairies and on April 24, 1977 with The Damned and The Adverts. Under contract with United Artists, they recorded sessions at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, during which Fox became unreliable and was replaced by drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor. Their record label was not pleased with the recorded material and only released the album On Parole and the single from it, "Leaving Here", in 1979, when the band had established some success.
Deciding that two lead guitarists were required, the band recruited "Fast" Eddie Clarke, but Wallis quit during the auditions, so the idea was dropped. The trio of Lemmy – Clarke – Taylor is today regarded as the "classic" Motörhead line-up.
Initial reactions to the band were unfavourable; they memorably won a poll for "the best worst band in the world" in the music magazine NME. By April 1977, living in squats and with little recognition, Phil and Eddie wanted to give it up, and after some debate, the band agreed to do a farewell show at the Marquee Club in London. Lemmy had become acquainted with Ted Carroll from Chiswick Records and asked him to bring a mobile studio to the show to record it for posterity. Carroll was unable to get the mobile unit to the Marquee Club but showed up backstage after the gig and offered them two days at Escape Studios to record a single. The band took the chance and instead of recording a single did eleven unfinished tracks, Carroll gave them a few more days to finish the vocals and the band completed thirteen tracks for release as an album. In June the band toured with Hawkwind and in late July began their 'Beyond the Threshold of Pain' tour.
Using eight of the tracks recorded for Chiswick, the band's first official album was the eponymous Motörhead, released in November 1977 it reached #43 in the UK Albums Chart. By this time, the standard of their performances had improved considerably, and the uncompromising nature of their music was beginning to garner a following from enthusiasts of both metal and punk.
Bronze Records signed the band the following year and gave them time at Wessex Studios in London to record some songs for a single. While the band toured to promote the resulting "Louie Louie" single, Chiswick released the Motörhead album in white vinyl to keep up the momentum. On September 25, the band appeared on the BBC Radio 1 John Peel in session broadcast, which in fact had been recorded on the 18th. These tracks appear on the 2005 BBC Live & In-Session album. Sales of the "Louie Louie" single brought the band their first appearance on a BBC Television's Top of the Pops. It was prerecorded, and broadcast on October 25, 1978. This success gave Bronze the confidence to get the band back into the studio to record an album. A hint of what the band had recorded for the album came on March 9, 1979 when the band played "Overkill" on Top of the Pops to support the release of the single ahead of the Overkill album, which was released on March 24. It became Motörhead's first album to break into the UK Top 40 album chart, reaching #24, with the single reaching #39 in the UK Singles Chart. A subsequent single was released in June, taking the song "No Class" from the album for the A-side and an unheard track, "Like A Nightmare", for the B-side. Although it fared worse than both the album and previous single, it reached #61 in the charts. These releases were followed by the 'Overkill' tour beginning on March 23.
During July and August, except for a break to appear at the Reading Festival, the band were working on their next album, Bomber. Released on October 27, it reached #12 in the UK Album Chart. On December 1, it was followed by the "Bomber" single, which reached #34 in the UK Singles Chart. The 'Bomber' tour followed with its spectacular aircraft bomber-shaped lighting rig. During the 'Bomber' tour United Artists put together tapes recorded during the Rockfield Studios sessions and released them as On Parole. On May 8, 1980, while the band were on tour in Europe, Bronze released The Golden Years, which sold better than any of their previous releases, reaching #8 in the UK charts. The band, however, preferred the title Flying Tonight, referring to the 'Bomber' lighting rig. Later that year Chiswick put together four unused tracks from the Escape Studios sessions and released them as Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers.
During August and September 1980, the band were at Jackson's Studios in Rickmansworth, recording with producer Vic Maile. The "Ace of Spades" single was released on October 27, 1980 as a preview of the Ace of Spades album, which followed on November 8. The single reached #15 and the album reached #4 in the UK charts. Bronze celebrated its gold record status by pressing a limited edition of the album in gold vinyl. Motörhead made two appearances on Top of the Pops in October that year with "Ace of Spades" and between October 22 and November 29 the band were on their 'Ace Up Your Sleeve' tour, making an appearance as guests on the ITV children's show, Tiswas on November 8. The 'Arizona desert-style' pictures used on the album sleeve and tour booklet cover were taken during a photosession at a sandpit in Barnet. "Ace of Spades", considered to be the definitive Motörhead anthem, "put a choke on the English music charts and proved to all that a band could succeed without sacrificing its blunt power and speed". The album has been described as "one of the best metal albums by any band, ever, period".
The band had more chart hits in the early 1980s with releases such as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre EP, their collaboration with 'apprentices' Girlschool which reached #5; the live version of "Motorhead", which reached #6; and the album it was taken from, No Sleep 'til Hammersmith, which reached #1. During March 1981, the band had been touring Europe, and in the final week of the month they conducted the 'Short Sharp, Pain In The Neck' tour from which the recordings for No Sleep 'til Hammersmith were made.
During April and July, the band were guests of Blizzard of Oz, an early incarnation of Ozzy Osbourne's band, fitting in an appearance on Top of the Pops on July 9 with the live "Motorhead" single. In October the band recorded tracks at BBC's Maida Vale 4 studio for the David Jensen show broadcast on October 6. The band recommenced their European tour on November 20.
Between January 26 and January 28, 1982, the band recorded some new material at Ramport Studios, with additions recorded in February at Morgan Studios. On April 3 the single, "Iron Fist", which reached #29 in the UK Singles Chart, was released. The parent album Iron Fist was released on April 17 and rose to #6 in the UK Album Chart. They were the last releases to feature the Lemmy, Clarke, Taylor lineup, though the lineup continued to perform in the Iron Fist tour between March 17 and April 12, and the American tour from May 12 until Clarke's last gig at the New York Palladium on May 14.
Clarke left as a consequence of the band recording Stand By Your Man, a cover version of the Tammy Wynette classic, in collaboration with Wendy O. Williams and the Plasmatics. Clarke felt that this compromised the band's principles, refused to play on the recording and resigned, later forming his own band, Fastway. Lemmy and Phil made numerous telephone calls to find a guitarist, including one to Brian Robertson, formerly with Thin Lizzy, who was recording a solo album in Canada. He agreed to help out and complete the tour with them and signed a one-album deal resulting in 1983's Another Perfect Day and the two singles from it, "Shine" and "I Got Mine". In June and July the band played five dates in Japan, and from mid-October until mid-November they toured Europe. From late May until early July, the band conducted the 'Another Perfect Tour', followed by an American tour between July and August, and another European tour in October and November. Robertson began to cause friction in the band as a result of his on-stage attire, consisting of shorts and ballet shoes, and, furthermore, with his point blank refusal to play the old standards that every Motörhead audience expected to hear. This led to an amicable agreement that Robertson would leave, playing his last gig with the band at the Berlin Metropol on November 11.
After Robertson's departure in 1983, the band were sent tapes from all over the world from potential guitarists. The group returned to the concept of dual lead guitars by hiring unknowns Würzel and Phil Campbell (ex-Persian Risk). In February 1984, the Lemmy, Campbell, Würzel and Taylor line-up recorded "Ace of Spades" for the "Bambi" episode in the British television series, The Young Ones. Scenes of the band playing are interspersed with the characters' antics as they rush to King's Cross railway station, in a parody of The Beatles' comedy film A Hard Day's Night. Taylor quit the band after that recording, causing Lemmy to quip "Did I leave them or did they leave me?". Before joining Motörhead, Phil Campbell had met ex-Saxon drummer Pete Gill, and the trio decided to call him to see if he would like to visit London. The try-outs went well and Gill was hired.
Snaggletooth
Snaggletooth, full name Snaggletooth B. Motörhead (the "B" apparently standing for "Bastard"), alternatively Warpig, is the fanged face that serves as the symbol of Motörhead. Artist Joe Petagno created it in 1977 for the cover of the band's first released album, having met Lemmy while doing some work with Hawkwind. Snaggletooth's broken tooth mirrors Lemmy's own broken tooth. Petagno stated:
- The inspiration came from just being a naturally pissed off bastard! And Lemmy's the same way! So it was bound to be an alchemal wedding of a more "primordial nature". I did a lot of research on skull types and found a x-breed gorilla-wolf-dog combination would work nicely with some oversized boars horns. Lemmy added Helmet, chains, spit, spikes and grit and on the No Remorse LP featuring a Swastika on his forehead.
Eddie Clarke was less sure about the style to begin with:
- I shuddered when I saw it the first time. I thought, "Blimey, this ain't gonna go down that well", because it was just way over the top, then. But I grew to love it... [At first] it was not scary or horrifying, it would've been, in those days, deemed bad taste.
It has remained a symbol of Motörhead throughout the years, with Petagno creating many variations of Snaggletooth for the covers of ensuing albums (e.g., Overkill, Another Perfect Day, and Orgasmatron). To date, only three of Motörhead's 19 studio albums do not feature any variation of Snaggletooth on the cover: On Parole, Ace of Spades and Overnight Sensation.
Discography (excerpt)
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- 1977 Motörhead
- 1979 Overkill
- 1979 Bomber
- 1979 On Parole
- 1980 Ace of Spades
- 1981 No Sleep 'til Hammersmith
- 1982 Iron Fist
- 1983 Another Perfect Day
- 1984 No Remorse
- 1986 Orgasmatron
- 1987 Rock 'n' Roll
- 1988 No Sleep at All
- 1991 1916
- 1992 March ör Die
- 1993 Bastards
- 1995 Sacrifice
- 1996 Overnight Sensation
- 1998 Snake Bite Love
- 1999 Everything Louder Than Everyone Else
- 2000 We Are Motörhead
- 2000 The Best Of
- 2002 Hammered
- 2003 Live at Brixton Academy
- 2004 Inferno
- 2005 BBC Live & In-Session
- 2006 Kiss of Death
- 2008 Motörizer
- 2010 The Wörld Is Yours
- 2013 Aftershock
- 2015 Bad Magic
News 2023
- “SERIOUSLY BAD MAGIC” out February 24th 2023
- Bad Magic: SERIOUSLY BAD MAGIC enjoys a bonus-packed refresh, adding two previously unreleased tracks “Bullet in Your Brain” and “Greedy Bastards” from those furious sessions as well as a snarling, fangs-out live performance from that subsequent tour at the giant Mt Fuji Festival in Japan in 2015.
- The Lost Tapes Vol. 4 (Live In Heilbronn)
- To celebrate Lemmy’s birthday we’re very pleased to share with you the next in the The Löst Tapes series. This previously unreleased concert from Sporthalle, Heilbronn (Baden-Württemberg) was recorded on the No Remorse tour in 1984 and they’re on venue destroying form! Crank it up to eleven and raise a toast!
- Unreleased version of ‘(Don’t Let ‘Em) Grind You Down’
- Check out this previously unreleased version of ‘(Don’t Let ‘Em) Grind You Down’, recorded on the Iron Fist tour in 1982. #ironfist40 is out on 23rd Sept.
- Iron Fist trailer from 1982!
- From the depths of the Motör-vault we are proud to share with you the original Iron Fist trailer from 1982! This has been newly digitized & restored with a new sound bed which is the previously unreleased demo, ‘Ripsaw Teardown’.[1]
