Lemmy is dead

[Sits]

Lemmy is dead

I've bored on this subject before (sorry Bored) but as a boy in the mid-late 70s my older brother was a big influence, as was his growing record collection.

He was a massive Hawkwind fan, then naturally adopted Motörhead when they arrived. I used to pinch his Chiswick white vinyl copy of On Parole when he was out, and put it on Dad's Fidelity or step-Dad's radiogram, depending where we were at the time.

Sorry, that's all pretty irrelevant but this has made me nostalgic. The point is, even then Lemmy was special.

[Sits]

Lemmy is dead

MsD wrote:

Silver Machine by Hawkwind.

My favourite, a truly transcendent song and performance.

Seconded. Wonderful.

[Bored Of Education]

Lemmy is dead

Sits wrote: I've bored on this subject before (sorry Bored) but as a boy in the mid-late 70s my older brother was a big influence, as was his growing record collection.

He was a massive Hawkwind fan, then naturally adopted Motörhead when they arrived. I used to pinch his Chiswick white vinyl copy of On Parole when he was out, and put it on Dad's Fidelity or step-Dad's radiogram, depending where we were at the time.

Sorry, that's all pretty irrelevant but this has made me nostalgic. The point is, even then Lemmy was special.

I think it's a lovely story. Chiswick, white vinyl, Fidelity, radio gram. Show's that we are talking about someone who literally spanned generations

Not being a Hawkwind fan, I always forget "Silver Machine" which, while being overshadowed by what happened with Motorhead a couple of years later, is a great song, a real precursor of Motorhead and must have sounded amazing upon first hearing at the time.

[Calvert]

Lemmy is dead

Hawkwind bore the shit clean out of me, and I'm not a fan of Motörhead at all, but he seemed like a proper airs and graces-free hilarious curmudgeon and had a great sense of the ridiculous.
Mrs.Calvert and her sister got hoovered up by the meet & greet team after a local gig and she said he was a miserable old cunt. He didn't want want to be there and neither did she particularly so there was a bit of an awkward silence.
She said the drummer and guitarist were good craic, though.

[Bored Of Education]

Lemmy is dead

Oh, he could be a grumpy old sod but, there again, he was a pensioner who was never in the greatest health touring around the world and, often, getting idiots foisted upon him*. All by his own choice, of course, so no violins there. Whenever I met him, he was brilliant, entertaining and engaging company and the brief few minutes I spent with him and Joey Ramone will always stick in the memory as an amazing experience for a 15 year old.

That said, I last spoke to him easily over 25 years ago and, aside from his advancing years and the curmudgeonliness that accompanies that, he has probably had an endless amount of idiots** that he has had to meet. Motorhead are a surprisingly diverse lot and not always in a positive way. I know, also, from people who worked with him that he wasn't the easiest.

I am surprised that you aren't into Motorhead. After Ray and me, I assumed you would be the next on this thread.

*Not Mrs Calvert nor her sister
** Again, not your wife or sister-in-law.

[Ray de Galles]

Lemmy is dead

Lovely initial post, Bored, thought you'd nail it. I saw the very reverent (forgive the term) post from The Today Programme on social media last night and thought it significant too.

I've not seen Motörhead live in recent years (perhaps even recent decades, not quite sure when I saw them last) because the second departure of Taylor and then Wurzel's sacking left a line up that didn't really do the band's history and material, or Lemmy, justice.

The classic line up stood toe to toe with anyone in history though and even the subsequent four piece were an astounding outfit.

.

[Errorist Sympathiser]

Lemmy is dead

Does he get a free pass for his politics - fan of Thatcher - and his Nazi obsession?

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Lemmy is dead

The nazi memorabilia stuff was just a 1970s youthful reactionary thing, not an actual political statement, wasn't it? Plenty of David Bowie and Sid Vicious fans get pissed off nowadays when you remind them about that, too.

It's hard to imagine how the world would react if a band took to the stage with nazi insignia on nowadays, but we're looking at things through a completely different lens.

[MsD]

Lemmy is dead

He's far from alone in liking Nazi toys and uniforms, I wouldn't condemn him for that, personally.

[Calvert]

Lemmy is dead

Heh. Nice disclaimer there. @ Bored.
The sister-in-law is a big fan of the band, Mrs. Calvert dislikes 'dungeon music' so she wasn't that bothered.

Yeah, I liked their spirit and attitude but something was going on there I really didn't get. There wasn't a whole hell of a lot of variation happening with them and you often wondered why they bothered putting gaps between album tracks, but that's cool and I understand why they're loved.

[Calvert]

Lemmy is dead

Whoa!

What's this Thatcher shit about?

[MsD]

Lemmy is dead

Dancing with the devil ...

[Errorist Sympathiser]

Lemmy is dead

Calvert wrote: Whoa!

What's this Thatcher shit about?

After Blair was elected in 1997 he was filmed for an interview and said, "do you miss Thatcher yet? You will. Labour governments are shit."

[Nocturnal Submission]

Lemmy is dead

I only saw Lemmy and Motorhead once, on their Another Perfect Day tour in '83 sadly, when they took a slightly mellower direction with Brian Robertson on guitar.

The standout moment wasn't really the music, though Bite he Bullet went down well, but a bit of unexpected audience interaction. After a couple of songs Lemmy asked for the house lights to go up. Someone had been gobbing at him & Robbo and they weren't very happy about it. The front few rows were wall-to-wall long hairs...and a punk with a mohican! Without wishing to jump to conclusions Lemmy offered the culprit(s) to come up on stage but, astonishing, no-one took him up on his offer. The lights went down again and the gig continued without further interruption.

The support act were the hairiest mob I think I've ever seen. Irish, I think. What were they called...oh yeh, Sweet Savage.

[Calvert]

Lemmy is dead

Errorist Sympathiser wrote:

Whoa!

What's this Thatcher shit about?

After Blair was elected in 1997 he was filmed for an interview and said, "do you miss Thatcher yet? You will. Labour governments are shit."

Weird.
Thatch had gone seven years previously.

[Calvert]

Lemmy is dead

Sweet Savage

Hahaha.

I know a couple of them well.
They're good lads but cockrock tosspots.

Their former guitarist is in Def Leppard now.
He's not too well either, apparently.

[adams house cat]

Lemmy is dead

So sad. Saw Motorhead many years ago. About as loud as a band could be. Great show. An indication of his status is that the news has been all over CNN this morning.

Find your peace mate. One of the last true rock and rollers.

[Geoffrey de Ste. Croix]

Lemmy is dead

He was right though,Labour governments are shit.

[Borracho]

Lemmy is dead

Meanwhile, Guru Josh has bitten the dust too.

[Bored Of Education]

Lemmy is dead

Errorist Sympathiser wrote: Does he get a free pass for his politics - fan of Thatcher

He was certainly not a fan of Thatcher. He hated all politicians. His Thatcher quote was probably as much a reaction to the Blair-worship at the time as anything else. He'd probably had a mic put in front of him to give a, ha, soundbite and that was it. Put it another way, I am fairly sure that my mum and dad were much more pro-Thatcher and I love them both.

He was - and his Nazi obsession?

No, no, no, no, no, we have done this so many times before. He had an obsession with history and particularly WWI and WWII and had memorabilia from all over - Germany (both Nazi and otherwise), Russia, Japan. He also had American Civil war memorabilia as well.

Motorhead didn't go onstage with Nazi memorabilia. Lemmy went on stage with Germany army badges and, wherever, there was a swastika, he doctored it, covered it up or removed it. There was a swastika on the original logo drawn by Joe Petagno that went on the first album cover before it was realised. I think that Lemmy specifically asked for it to be removed on later pressings and any further logos.

Anyway, the reason for Lemmy wearing a lot of German army stuff is the elephant in the room that all boys knew grewing up in that era - the Nazis looked the coolest. Lemmy would have looked very odd in all green.

Here are the lyrics for 1916.

16 years old when I went to the war,
To fight for a land fit for heroes,
God on my side, and a gun in my hand,
Chasing my days down to zero,
And I marched and I fought and I bled and I died,
And I never did get any older,
But I knew at the time that a year in the line,
Is a long enough life for a soldier,

We all volunteered, and we wrote down our names,
And we added two years to our ages,
Eager for life and ahead of the game,
Ready for history's pages,
And we brawled and we fought and we whored 'til we stood,
Ten thousand shoulder to shoulder,
A thirst for the Hun, we were food for the gun,
And that's what you are when you're soldiers,

I heard my friend cry, and he sank to his knees,
Coughing blood as he screamed for his mother,
And I fell by his side, and that's how we died,
Clinging like kids to each other,
And I lay in the mud and the guts and the blood,
And I wept as his body grew colder,
And I called for my mother and she never came,
Though it wasn't my fault and I wasn't to blame,
The day not half over and ten thousand slain,
And now there's nobody remembers our names,
And that's how it is for a soldier.

[Bored Of Education]

Lemmy is dead

Green Calx wrote: Meanwhile, Guru Josh has bitten the dust too.

Surely someone of his importance deserves his own thread.

[Borracho]

Lemmy is dead

He is "addicted" to P G Wodehouse, admires Margaret Thatcher ("She was on our side"), and hates Tony Blair ("Anybody who smiles that often has something wrong with them").

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/3584010/No-one-has-manners-any-more.html

[Bored Of Education]

Lemmy is dead

Well, I would like to see the context of the quote but I am gobsmacked by that. Not so much that he says that about Thatcher but that he said it about any politician. That said, he was complimentary about Obama and said that, basically, a lot of Americans didn't deserve him. This is an also interesting taken on politics from him that I have never seen before.

I don't think there is a best bet. I think Americans are too trusting. You trusted Bush to do a good job and then he didn't do it. I don't think a lot of people want to admit they were wrong. America is ruled by extremes. You are either extremely violent or extremely open or extremely religious. It is never about just getting along with everybody. America has always been very assertive of itself because everyone is coming here from everywhere else. Now it is the most powerful nation in the world. It only takes one guy to misdirect that power. For you to go into Iraq is like going to Vietnam. Two thousand kids ain't coming home no more because Bush wanted the oil. Now he has the oil and gas prices went up. The prices are just getting jacked up while he is in office. I am sure he is getting plenty of money from that oil. I think all politicians are assholes. I remember back in 1966 when Harold Wilson got elected in England. I went to see him speak at the public square in Manchester. I remember thinking, "What a fucking liar." I noticed that there was nobody to vote for; there was only a guy to vote against. When you have to pick the lesser of two evils then that is not a good thing. You need to have someone you can believe and have someone who will vindicate that belief. Kennedy was the last good President. Looking back on it now, Clinton wasn't so bad. He is looking pretty good now. We all bitched when he was in there but we don't have room to bitch now.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Lemmy is dead

thanks to the popularity of thrash metal bands such as Limp Bizkit.

Hahahahahahahahaha fuck OFF.

Anyway, farewell Lemmy.

[Cal Alamein]

Lemmy is dead

So glad to have a friend from London send me a crappily recorded cassette of Overkill way back in late-1979. The opening sounds of the title track hooked me and the first line of "only way to feel the noise is when it's good and loud..." sung by a singer w/ a hauntingly gnarled gravel voice summed up perfectly my feelings of what mattered in music. I had no idea the band was a three-piece, nor any idea what the band even looked like until the same friend sent some SOUNDS magazines my way.

So damned glad to have seen them a number of times - the last time was a couple of years ago and my son finally got to see why they are such a special live band.

He sounded weak as hell on Maron's podcast. Glad death took him quickly.

Sucks for Mikkey and Phil - gotta believe they've prepared for it the last couple of years.

Relieved to know when/if Motorhead are inducted in the bullshit rock and roll hall of fame Lemmy will not be there.

From Captain Sensible's facebook:

Back in the day, when Brian James lived down Portobello rd the place was decidedly unkempt and more than a bit sleazy. Maybe that’s why the Damned’s founder and his esteemed neighbor Lemmy Kilminster felt at home there?
Anyway, I virtually lived at the Marquee Club at the time… every night watching this band or that. It was certainly a noisy sweat box but I loved it - after which, rather than embark on the long journey back to Croydon I'd attempt to impose myself on whatever kind soul would offer me their floor to kip on. Of course, a drunken punk rocker was not everyone’s cup of tea to invite home so I’d often end up down Portobello rd at Brian’s or Lemmy’s… whoever drew the short straw basically.
Staying with Lem was interesting to say the least - first up, his idea of sleep was not to do anything of the sort. It’d be up all night watching Luftwaffe videos… I’d be dropping off and he'd throw an ashtray in my direction shouting “hey, wake up you’re missing the good bit”. The flat was strewn with mangled artifacts of 3rd Reich memorabilia too but it was “not for the politics Captain, for the STYLE”
I’d always wake up with the great man announcing breakfast time… yes, it would be 10.30am and the pubs were open.
And the Damned as we know it wouldn’t be here today without Lemmy either - unless he’d stepped in to play with the Doomed lineup in 1978. Rat, DV and myself were totally brassic and had arranged a couple of hasty gigs to rake in some much needed dosh. I changed back from bass to guitar (my instrument in Johnny Moped band) and Lem completed the lineup on bass. According to him we messed up the solitary Motörhead song in the setlist. Oops!
But for a grizzled old rocker Lemmy did have a certain gnarled charm - and always traipsed into the Damned dressing room with a nice bird on his arm… before honing in on the JD of course. In fact, if you took away all the rock star front he was never anything short of an old fashioned gent - in fact, I never really saw him get unpleasant with anyone - well, who didn’t deserve it anyway.
Apparently he said recently “If I die tomorrow I can’t complain. It’s been good”
I’m gonna miss the old bastard.