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11-30 Motorhead's Bullet In Your Bra
01-11 RIP Fast Eddie Clarke
12-29 R.I.P. Lemmy
11-12 Ex-Motorhead Drummer Passes
09-02 Lemmy leaves stage
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Motörhead's overwhelmingly loud and fast style of heavy metal was one of the most groundbreaking styles the genre had to offer inthelate'70s.Thoughthe group's leader, Lemmy Kilmister, had his roots in the hard-rocking space rock band Hawkwind, Motörhead didn'tbother with hisoldgroup'sprogressive tendencies, choosing to amplify the heavy biker rock elements of Hawkwind with the speed of punkrock. Motörheadwasn'tpunk rock -- theyformed before the Sex Pistols and they loved the hell-for-leather imagery of bikers too much toconform with the safety-pinned, ripped T-shirts of punk --but they were ...read more
Motörhead's overwhelmingly loud and fast style of heavy metal was one of the most groundbreaking styles the genre had to offer inthelate'70s.Thoughthe group's leader, Lemmy Kilmister, had his roots in the hard-rocking space rock band Hawkwind, Motörhead didn'tbother with hisoldgroup'sprogressive tendencies, choosing to amplify the heavy biker rock elements of Hawkwind with the speed of punkrock. Motörheadwasn'tpunk rock -- theyformed before the Sex Pistols and they loved the hell-for-leather imagery of bikers too much toconform with the safety-pinned, ripped T-shirts of punk --but they were the first metal band to harness that energy and, in the process, theycreated speed metalandthrashmetal. Unlike many of theircontemporaries, Motörhead continued performing into the next century. Althoughthey changed their lineupmany, manytimes -- Lemmy was their onlyconsistent member -- they never changed their raging sound.The son of a vicar, Lemmy Kilmister (born Ian Fraiser Kilmister; December 24, 1945) first began playing rock & roll in 1964, whenhejoinedtwolocalBlackpool, England R&B bands, the Rainmakers and the Motown Sect. Over the course of the '60s, he played with a number ofbands --including theRockin' Vickers, Gopal's Dream, and Opal Butterfly -- as well as briefly working as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix. In 1971, hejoinedtheheavy progrockband Hawkwind as a bassist. Lemmy was originally slated to stay with the band only six months, yet he stayed withthegroupfor four years.Duringthat time, he wrote and sang several songs with the band, including their signature song, the number threeU.K. hit"SilverMachine" (1972).Lemmy was kicked out of Hawkwind in the spring of 1975 after he spent five days in a Canadian prison for drug possession. OncehereturnedtoEngland,Kilminster set about forming a new band. Originally, it was to have been called Bastard, but he soon decided tocallthebandMotörhead, named after thelast song he wrote for Hawkwind. Lemmy drafted in Pink Fairies guitarist Larry Wallis and drummerLucasFoxtoround out the lineup. Motörhead madetheir debut supporting Greenslade in July. Two months later, the group headed into thestudio tomakeitsdebut album for United Artists with producerDave Edmunds. Motörhead and Edmunds clashed over the direction ofrecording, resultinginthegroup firing the producer and replacing him with FritzFryer. At the end of the year, Fox left the band and Lemmyreplaced him withhisfriendPhilthy Animal (born Philip Taylor), an amateur musician.Motörhead delivered its debut album to UA early in 1976, but the label rejected the album. Shortly afterward, formerBlueGooseandContinuousPerformance guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke joined the band. Following one rehearsal as a four-piece, Wallis lefttheband,leavingMotörhead as atrio; this is the lineup that would later be recalled as the group's classic period. However, the band spent mostof1976struggling,performingwithout a contract or manager and generating little money. At the end of the year, they cut a single,"WhiteLineFever"/"Leavin'Here," for StiffRecords that wasn't released until two years later. By the summer of 1977, they had signed a one-recordcontractwithChiswickRecords,releasing their eponymous debut in June; it peaked at number 43 on the U.K. charts. A year later, the bandsigned withBronzeRecords.Overkill, Motörhead's first album for Bronze, was released in the spring of 1979. The album peaked at number 24, while its titletrackbecametheband'sfirst Top 40 hit. Motörhead continued to gain momentum, as their concerts were selling well and Bomber, the follow-uptoOverkill,reached number 12upon its fall release. The band was doing so well that UA released the rejected album at the end of the yearasOnParole.Ace of Spades, released in the fallof 1980, became a number four hit, while the single of the same name reached number 15.Ace of Spades became Motörhead's first American album, yet they were making little headway in the U.S., where they only registered as acult-act.Backin England, the situation could hardly have been more different. Motörhead were at the peak of their popularity in 1981,releasing ahitcollaboration withthe all-female group Girlschool entitled Headgirl and entering the charts at number one with their live albumNoSleep'TilHammersmith. Though the groupwas rising commercially, there was tension within the band, particularly between Clarke andLemmy.Clarkeleft the band during the supporting tour for1982's Iron Fist, reportedly angered by Kilmister's planned collaboration withWendy O.Williams.Former Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson replacedClarke.The new lineup released Another Perfect Day in the summer of 1983, which was a disappointment, only reaching number 20 in the U.K.Robertsonlefttwomonths later, replaced by two guitarists: former Persian Risk member Phillip Campbell and Wurzel (born Michael Burston).Shortlyafterward, Taylorleft tojoin Robertson's band Operator, and was replaced by former Saxon drummer Pete Gill. This lineup released asingle,"Killed by Death," inSeptember of1984, but shortly afterward the group left Bronze and the label filed an injunction against the band.As aresult, Motörhead wereprevented from releasingany recordings -- including a bizarre collaboration between Lemmy and page-threegirlSamantha Fox -- for two years.Motörhead finally returned to action in 1986, first with a track on the charity compilation Hear 'n Aid and later with the Bill Laswell-producedOrgasmatron, which was released on their new label, GWR. Orgasmatron was successful with the band's still-dedicated cultaudienceinEnglandand America, and received some of the group's best reviews to date. The following year, they released Rock 'N' Roll,whichwasequallysuccessful. In 1988, the live No Sleep at All appeared, and Lemmy made his acting debut in the comedy Eat the Rich. Two yearslater,thebandsigned to WTG and released The Birthday Party. Taylor briefly rejoined the band in 1991, appearing on that year's 1916,beforeMikkeyDee,formerly of King Diamond, took over on drums. Dee's first album with the band was 1992's March or Die, which didn't chart in theU.S.butplayedto their U.K. cult following. WTG dropped the band after the album's release and they started their own label,appropriatelycalledMotörhead,which was distributed through ZYX. Their first album for the label was 1994's Bastards.For the remainder of the '90s, Motörhead concentrated on touring more than recording. Outside of the band, Lemmy appearedininsurancecommercials inBritain. He also acted in Hellraiser 3 and had a cameo in the porn movie John Wayne Bobbit Uncut. In 1997, thegroup movedtothe metal-oriented indielabel Receiver and released Stone Dead Forever; the live Everything Louder Than Everyone Elsefollowed in 1999, and ayearlater they returned with WeAre Motörhead. Hammered appeared in 2002 and was followed by 2004's Inferno. In2005, the Sanctuary labelreissuedsome of the band's classic albums(Overkill, Ace of Spades, and Iron Fist) in two-CD deluxe editions. Acollection of all-new material,Kiss of Death,arrived in 2006, followed by Motorizer in2008. In 2010, Motörhead embarked on a 35thanniversary tour in support of their 20thstudio album, TheWörld Is Yours, which was released under a newdeal with German label UDR. Aftertaking an enforced break in 2012 to allowLemmy to recover fromlaryngitis, the band started writing for its next album.Decamping to NRGStudios in North Hollywood to work withproducer Cameron Webb, theyrecorded Aftershock, one of their most aggressive albums inyears,which was released in October 2013.However, while Motörhead's fan base was as strong as ever, Lemmy was not -- years of drinking and smoking began to catch up withthegroup'sleader(by this time well into mid-sixties) as he struggled with heart problems and diabetes, and in 2013, the rocker was fitted withaninternaldefibrillator toregulate his heartbeat. A pair of European festival dates had to be canceled when Lemmy was diagnosed with ahematoma,andMotörhead were forced tocut their set short at the 2013 Wacken Open Air Festival when Lemmy lacked the strength tocontinue. The seeminglyindestructible Lemmy finally madeconcessions to his health, giving up cigarettes and replacing bourbon and cola withwine and the occasionalvodka,and by the end of 2014, Motörheadwere back in business. They resumed their busy touring schedule, and inearly 2015 they entered thestudio tobegin work on a new album; the finishedproduct, titled XXX: Bad Magic, was released in late August2015. Sadly, Lemmy's health continued todecline, and in December of 2015 he was diagnosedwith cancer. He died two days later onDecember 28, 2015. The rest of Motörhead disbanded soonafter in respect for Lemmy, even though the remainingmembers Mikkey Dee &Phil "Wizzö" Campbell are still active elsewhere. « hide |
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