Motörhead

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Motörhead

Posted by Frank Riester 21 May 2010

Come Taste The Band

Lemmy was fired from Hawkwind in May 1975 for, as he says, "doing the wrong drugs". He was arrested on suspicion of possessing cocaine at the Canadian border and spent five days in prison causing the band to cancel some of their North America tour dates. Now on his own Lemmy decided to form a new band, Motörhead, inspired by the final song he had written for Hawkwind. Lemmy recruited Larry Wallis on guitar and Lucas Fox on drums. On 19 October 1975, having played only ten gigs, they became the supporting act to Blue Öyster Cult at the Hammersmith Odeon. The band was signed to United Artists. They recorded some sessions during which Fox became unreliable and was replaced by drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor. Their label was dissatisfied with the material so refused to release it although it was subsequently issued as On Parole in 1979 after the band had established some success. In February 1976, the band auditioned "Fast" Eddie Clarke. Wallis, quit immediately after the auditions and Clarke remained as the sole guitarist. This trio of Lemmy – Clarke – Taylor is today regarded as the "classic" Motörhead line-up.

By April 1977, living in squats and with little recognition, Taylor and Clarke 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 who offered them two days at Escape Studios to record a single. The band took the chance, and instead of recording a single did thirteen tracks for release as an album. The album Motörhead was released in August, and spent one week in the UK Albums Chart at #43. On 25 October 1978 the band appeared for the first time on BBC Television's Top of the Pops. The release of the Overkill album followed on 24 March 1979. It became Motörhead's first album to break into the top 40 of the UK Albums chart. During July and August, the band were working on their next album, Bomber. Released on 27 October, it reached #12 on the UK Albums Chart. The 'Bomber' Europe and UK tour followed, with support from Saxon, the stage show featured a spectacular aircraft bomber-shaped lighting rig.

During August and September 1980, the band were recording with producer Vic Maile. The album Ace of Spades was released in November and reached #4 on the UK charts. The album has been described as "one of the best metal albums by any band, ever". In 1981 they conducted the 'Short Sharp, Pain In The Neck' UK tour from which the recordings for No Sleep 'til Hammersmith were made. Brian Robertson, formerly with Thin Lizzy, who was recording a solo album in Canada, agreed to help out to replace Clarke and complete a tour with them. Robertson signed a one-album deal resulting in 1983's Another Perfect Day. From April through to July, the band toured North America for the first time as guests of Blizzard of Ozz, an early incarnation of Ozzy Osbourne's band. In April 1982 the album Iron Fist was released, peaking at #6 on the UK Albums Chart. They were the last releases to feature the Lemmy, Clarke, Taylor line-up. The single "Killed by Death" was released on 1 September 1984 and reached #51 in the UK Singles Chart, the double album No Remorse was released on 15 September and reached silver disc status, attaining the position of #14 in the UK Album charts.

In 1986 the band's management instigated their own label, GWR. The next album, Orgasmatron, was released in August. On 16 August, the band played at the Monsters of Rock at Castle Donington. The performance closed with a fly-over by a couple of WW2 German aircraft. The band's second album for GWR was Rock 'n' Roll, released on 5 September 1987, after a tight work schedule in the studio. While having some popular tracks and using "Eat the Rich" as its second track, the band commented that the album was virtually "nailed together" The band signed to Epic/WTG in1990 and recording a new album in LA. When Lemmy listened to one of the mixes of "Going to Brazil", he asked producer, Ed Stasium, to turn up four tracks, and on doing so heard claves and tambourines that Stasium had added without their knowledge. Stasium was fired and Pete Solley was hired as producer. According to Stasium it was Lemmy's drug and alcohol intake that had far exceeded the limitations of his patience so he quit. The album 1916 was released in 1991 and reached #24 in the UK Album Chart.

During the 1992 Los Angeles riots Motörhead were recording the March ör Die album. While drummer Tommy Aldridge recorded most of the material on the album; Mikkey Dee, recorded "Hellraiser", a song originally written by Lemmy for Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tears album. The March ör Die album features guest appearances by Ozzy Osbourne and Slash. In 1993 the band recorded the album, Bastards. During February and March 1994, Motörhead toured the US with Black Sabbath and Morbid Angel and playing a gig with the Ramones on 14 May at the Estadio Velez in Buenos Aires, attracting a crowd of 50,000 people. In 1995 the band headed back to Los Angeles, where they were to record the album, Sacrifice. The title track from the album, was later used in the movie Tromeo and Juliet, a film in which Lemmy appears as the narrator. Lemmy celebrated his 50th Birthday later that year with the band at the Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles; Metallica played at the event under the name "The Lemmy's".

During 1996 Motörhead had recorded Overnight Sensation, the first official album of the band as a three-piece since Another Perfect Day and the best distributed album the band had had for years. Motörhead's next studio album, Snake Bite Love, was released in March 1998. On 21 May, Motörhead were recorded live at The Docks in Hamburg. The tracks from this performance were later released as 'Everything Louder Than Everyone Else'. The band were invited to join the Ozzfest Tour. In 1999 Motörhead headed to Karo Studios in Brackel, Germany to record their next album, We Are Motörhead, which was released in May 2000. The band also conducted their European 'Monsters Of The Millennium' tour with Manowar, Dio and Lion's Share. Motörhead began working on the Hammered album in Hollywood Hills. This album was released the following year. On 1 April 2001 the band gave a one song performance for Triple H's entrance at WrestleMania X-Seven at the Reliant Astrodome in Houston.

Working on their next album, Inferno, which was released in June 2004 followed a tour with Sepultura. Some of the London show at the Hammersmith Apollo was filmed for TV as Gene Simmons introduced the extra opening act, The Class – a band made up of school children appearing in his Channel 4 series, Rock School. The show at the Philipshalle in Düsseldorf, Germany, was recorded and later released as the Stage Fright DVD. Motörhead picked up their first Grammy in the awards of 2005 in the Best Metal Performance category for their cover of Metallica's "Whiplash". Their next album, Kiss of Death, was released on 29 August 2006 via Sanctuary Records, with a video for "Be My Baby". From March through to June 2008, the band convened in Los Angeles with producer Cameron Webb to begin work on their 19th album Motörizer, which was released on 26 August.

On 6 March, 2009, the band played in the Middle East for the first time, at the annual Dubai Desert Rock Festival in Dubai. In November 2009, the band are being supported by punk and goth rock legends The Damned on the UK leg of their world tour. In a November 2009 interview with ABORT Magazine's E.S. Day, Lemmy said that Motörhead will hit the studio in February 2010 "to rehearse, write and record" its 20th album.

Sources: wikipedia.org, imotorhead.com