Motorhead lyrics and Motorhead guitar tabs, Motorhead pictures and biography

In 1975 Lemmy
(b. Ian Kilmister, 24 December 1945,
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England; vocals, bass)
was sacked from Hawkwind after being detained for five
days at Canadian customs on possession charges. The
last song he wrote for them was entitled 'Motörhead',
and, after ditching an earlier suggestion, Bastard, this
became the name of the band he formed with Larry
Wallis of the Pink Fairies on guitar and Lucas Fox on
drums. Together they made their debut supporting
Greenslade at the Roundhouse, London, in July. Fox then
left to join Warsaw Pakt, and was replaced by 'Philthy'
Phil Taylor
(b. 21 September 1954, Chesterfield,
England; drums), a casual friend of Lemmy's with no
previous professional musical experience. Motörhead
was a four-piece band for less than a month, with Taylor's
friend 'Fast' Eddie Clarke
(b. 5 October 1950, Isleworth,
Middlesex, England) of Continuous Performance as
second guitarist, until Wallis returned to the Pink Fairies.
The Lemmy/Taylor/Clarke combination lasted six years
until 1982, in which time they became the most famous
trio in hard rock. With a following made up initially of
Hell's Angels
(Lemmy had formerly lived with their
president, Tramp, for whom he wrote the biker epic 'Iron
Horse'), the band made their official debut with the
eponymous 'Motörhead'/'City Kids'. A similarly titled
debut album charted, before the group moved over to
Bronze Records. Overkill and Bomber firmly established
the group's modus operandi, a fearsome barrage of
instruments topped off by Lemmy's hoarse invocations.
They toured the world regularly and enjoyed hits with 'Ace
Of Spades'
(one of the definitive heavy metal performances,
it graced a 1980 album of the same name that saw the
band at the peak of their popularity) and the number 5
single 'Please Don't Touch'
(as Headgirl ). Their reputation
as the best live band of their generation was further enhanced
by the release of No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith, which entered
the UK charts at number 1. In May 1982 Clarke left, citing
musical differences, and was replaced by Brian Robertson

(b. 12 September 1956, Glasgow, Scotland), who had
previously played with Thin Lizzy and Wild Horses. This
combination released Another Perfect Day, but this proved
to be easily the least popular of all Motörhead line-ups.
Robertson was replaced in November 1983 by Wurzel
(b.
Michael Burston, 23 October 1949, Cheltenham, England;
guitar) - so-called on account of his scarecrow-like hair - and
Philip Campbell
(b. 7 May 1961, Pontypridd, Wales; guitar,
ex- Persian Risk ), thereby swelling the Motörhead ranks to
four. Two months later and, after a final appearance on
television's The Young Ones, Taylor left to join Robertson
in Operator, and was replaced by ex- Saxon drummer Pete
Gill. Gill remained with the band until 1987 and played on
several fine albums including their GWR debut Orgasmatron,
the title track of which saw Lemmy's lyric-writing surpass
itself. By 1987 Phil Taylor had rejoined Motörhead, and the
line-up remained unchanged for five years, during which time
Lemmy made his acting debut in the Comic Strip film Eat
The Rich, followed by other celluloid appearances including
the role of a taxi driver in Hardware. In 1991 the group signed
to Epic Records, releasing the acclaimed 1916. The following
year's March Or Die featured the American Mikkey Dee
(ex-
King Diamond ) on drums and guest appearances by Ozzy
Osbourne and Slash
( Guns N'Roses ). The title track revealed
a highly sensitive side to Lemmy's lyrical and vocal scope in
the way it dealt with the horrors of war. The idiosyncratic
Lemmy singing style, usually half-growl, half-shout, and with
his neck craned up at 45 degrees to the microphone, remained
in place. On a more traditional footing they performed the theme
song to the horror film Hellraiser 3, and convinced the film's
creator, Clive Barker, to record his first promotional video with
the band. Lemmy also hammed his way through insurance
adverts, taking great delight in his press image of the
unreconstructed rocker. Wurzel left the band and formed
Wvkeaf in 1996. Now recording as a trio, the band released
their nineteenth album
( Snake Bite Love ) in 1998.