riplemmy

A TRIBUTE TO

The Early Years with Hawkwind.

Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister was born in 1945 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK. He played in a lot of rock groups during the sixties and early seventies. Most notably the rock 'n' roll group The Rockin' Vickers. During these early days Lemmy was a roadie for Jimi Hendrix, when asked what Lemmy learned from Jimi Hendrix he answered that he gave up the idea of being a guitar player after hearing how brilliant Hendrix was. So Lemmy gave up the guitar and picked up the bass instead. In 1971 lemmy joins the space rock group Hawkwind.

With  Hawkwind lemmy records three rather succesful albums (Doremi Fasol Latido, Hall of the Mountain Grill and Warrior on the Edge of Time). Lemmy was in the band when they recorded their biggest hit Silver Machine from 1972. But trouble emerged in the Hawkwind camp and Lemmy was caught with possession of amphetamine crossing the border from USA to Canada, he was jailed and the band was fed up with Lemmy's irratic behaviour and the fact that the band had to cancel shows due to his incarceration. So Lemmy was fired from Hawkwind in 1975.

Rest In Power - Lemmy Kilmister

The Formation of Motörhead.

Some might have been angry and frustrated that the big chance in life was gone but not Lemmy, he then decided to form Motörhead with Larry Willis and Lucas Fox. He took the name Motörhead from the very last song he wrote with Hawkwind and thus Motörhead was born. But Willis and Fox wouldn't stay with lemmy, instead he recruited Fast Eddie Clarke and Phil "Philty Animal" Taylor and the classic Motörhead lineup was solidified. After releasing two singles Motörhead released their self titled debut album in 1977. The album was a good start but the band hadn't fully found their sound by then.

The Early Days 1979-1984

With the release of 1979's Overkill the bands popularity exploded. Songs like Overkill, Tear Ya Down, Stay Clean, No Class and Damage Case stood out. Motörhead didn't only play fast they delivered albums in a fast pace as well, another classic metal album would be released just months after the succesful Overkill and the new album was titled Bomber.

Bomber featured songs like Dead Men Tell No Tales, Stone Dead Forever and the huge hit Bomber.

In 1980 Motörhead became international stars with the release of the song Ace of Spades from the album with the same name.  In 1982 the band released Iron Fist and the bands popularity peak was reached. But Fast Eddie Clarke didn't agree with the decision to record a Tammy Wynette cover (Stand by your man) and he left because he thought it compromised the bands principles. In came Thin Lizzy's Brian Robertson but he soon left because they didn't feel that he fitted in with his glam looks.

Lemmy recruited Phil Campbell from NWOBHM-band Persian Risk. In came also the rather unknown Würzel, they couldn't choose just one guitarist because they both were that good so Motörhead became a quartet instead of a trio. The band released Another Perfect Day in 1983 which was a strong album but it didn't fully receive the praise as a few of their earlier efforts. In 1984 Phil "Philty Animal" Taylor left the band and Lemmy recruited Pete Gill from Saxon.

Orgasmatron and Rock n' Roll 1985-1992

In 1986 Orgasmatron was released and it was another succesful album. After that Pete Gill was out of the band and Phil Taylor reunited with Motörhead. At the same time Lemmy moved to Los Angeles to come closer to all the rock bars and stripclubs. The band released Rock 'n' Roll in 1987 and 1916 in 1991. The band also released March ör Die in 1992, which featured guest appearences from Slash and Ozzy Osbourne. But Phil Taylor and Lemmy got into an altercation and Phil Taylor was fired from the band. Phil claimed the reason behind this was the fact that he stole a girl from Lemmy and Lemmy says it was Phil's lack of commitment to the band.

Mikkey Dee joins - 1993

King Diamond drummer Mikkey Dee joins the band and the lineup with Lemmy, Mikkey Dee and Phil Campbell was solidified from this day until the recent death of Lemmy in 2015. With Mikkey Dee in the band Motörhead recorded Bastards and released it in 1993. The album featured rap star Ice-T who collaborated with Motörhead on the track Born to Raise Hell which became a hit. In the mid nineties it became untrendy to listen to fast and dirty rock 'n' roll and the bands popularity faded a bit with the release of 1995's Sacrifice and 1996's Overnight Sensation.

Worth noting is that the band became a trio again in 1995 when Wurzel left the band. In 1998 the band released Snake Bite Love. They toured Europe with Manowar and Dio around that time and that was the first and only time I saw the band live. Which was a magical experience. Especially when living in the north of Sweden, where good bands visits once every ten years.

The 2000's - Still Going Strong

The new millennium starts with the release of We Are Motörhead in the year 2000, Motörhead covered Sex Pistol's God Save The Queen and released it as a single. Motörhead then released the rather anonymous Hammered in 2002. But the band got some revenge with the rather strong Inferno from 2004 that received lots of favourable reviews. The acoustic song Whorehouse Blues became a hit from it even if it stands out as a rather strange composition. Kiss of Death was released in 2006 and the band recorded a video for Be My Baby.and Mötorhead finishes off the decade with Motörizer in 2008.

The Wörld is Yours and Aftershock

In 2010 Motörhead released The Wörld is yours and In 2011 former member Wurzel died of a heart attack. Lemmys health issues with diabetes started to take it's toll on lemmy by this time and the band cancelled a few gigs. But in 2013 the album Aftershock was released.

2015 - The End

In August of 2015 Motörhead released their last album titled Bad Magic, just months later "Original" drummer Phil "Philty Animal" Taylor died from liver failure. Lemmy commented his death and said that he was devastated after hearing the bad news. On the 24th of December Lemmy celebrated his 70th birthday in the legendary club Whiskey a Go-Go. Slash (Guns 'N' Roses), Scott Ian (Anthrax) and Robert Trujillo (Metallica) were there to celebrate Lemmy. A tired Lemmy was mingling there and only two days later he received the news that he had cancer and that he only had months to live.

But Lemmy didn't survive a few months because two days after he learned that he had cancer Lemmy passed away. Drummer Mikkey Dee later in an interview stated that Lemmy was Motörhead and thus Motörhead as a touring and recording act was no more.

Influence on Thrash Metal

Phil "Philty Animal" Taylor's fast and abrasive drumming was groundbreaking at the time (Overkill anyone?) and his fast pacing set the standard for the speed and thrash genre that followed in Motörhead's footsteps. But also the fast almost punkish approach by guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke was also quite rare in metal and let's not forget about our main man Lemmy. His posture and attitudes became the archetype of how a cool rock 'n' roll front man should be. he drank whiskey like water and he looked dangerous in his cowboy clothes combined with the warts and mutton chops.

He also proved that a raspier and lower voice could work perfectly in metal and that you don't have to sing in a falsetto tone to get your point across. But what made Motörhead into something special was that they were ahead of their time. Songs like Bomber and Overkill set the standard in metal when they were released back in the late seventies and everyone from Metallica to Anthrax, Megadeth, Onslaught and Sodom have claimed to be huge Motörhead fans. Motörhead was also the first band that united punks and metal fans, the band that bridged the gap between Black Sabbath and Ramones. 

That was an important step towards the invention of thrash metal. Claiming Motörhead to be the very first speed metal band isn't too bould of a statement either as they were one of the first bands that started writing faster songs. But at the same time Lemmy never saw Motörhead as a metal band he always stated them to be just rock 'n' roll.

Quotes about Lemmy and Motörhead

Motörhead was one of the main reasons that I wanted to start a band and play music. - Lars Ulrich, Metallica

There is only one Lemmy, there was never one before and there ain't gonna be one after - Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath

Motörhead made me realize it was okay to be an outsider - Kirk Hammett, Metallica

Motörhead was the original thrash band - Dave Ellefson, Megadeth

Without Motörhead there is no Metallica, there is no Anthrax, There is no Megadeth and probably no Slayer - Scott Ian, Anthrax

Rest in Peace Lemmy Kilmister.

1945-2015