Only a few weeks ago, Phil Taylor the drummer from Motorhead's classic 80s line up died. Now the man himself.
I'm well aware RIP threads aren't the thing we do round here. I too find so many of them pointless, often reminding us of people in our dim past who's glory days was decades gone.
But that's why I take the liberty to post my personal obit of a bloke who was, pardon the cliché - a living legend, and unlike many of his peers who sit around counting their money, doing occasional big ticket gigs with a jukebox of 30yo hits, doing the talk show circuit to have their egos regularly massaged (yeah, that's you Jagger and Richards...), Lemmy never stopped making records and touring. He already had 2016 mapped out, and despite heath issues for many years, just kept going. About 50 of his 70 years were spent on the road and in the studio. Never stopping.
Yes, I grew up on the Classic 80s Motorhead, but the last few years I watched what he was doing, and a good few of their recent albums were absolute corkers, I listen to them. The man and his music were still with me. He was still interesting, and still finding a new generation to play to, and plenty of kids like I used to be, were still interested.
Without Lemmy, there'd be no Metallica.They said so. Dave Grohl sees him as the founding father of metal. Every band in the now ridiculous sub-genre nomenclature of metal says it all started with him. His influence was just as powerful as those of Buddy Holly in the 50s and the Beatles in the 60s. Many bands I and others love just wouldn't have turned out quite the same. Some would never have been.
He did everything different, and nothing anyone else told him he should do. Most of us take on regular lives and regular responsibilities. That's why we love irresponsible rebels like him. We all wish a part us could do the same. His lifestyle wasn't recommended to anyone. A bottle of Jack a day for decades, for starters. Well aware of how he's perceived, he had a wicked sense of humour. Only earlier this year he ditched the Jack for 'health reasons'. He blamed the sugar in the coke for his diabetes. So changed to vodka and orange instead, believing the fruit in his diet would be good for him.
For those of us who dabble in music, Lemmy played the bass like a guitar. No plucking to keep a beat. He strummed the bloody thing, using chords and distortion. That's why Motorhead worked as a 3 piece. Who needs a rhythm guitarist when your bass player is doing it?
Two of the first records that got me into music were heard on the same day at a friends house. My memory of childhood things is shocking, but I remember that afternoon. Van Halen I and Hawkwind. It wasn't til later I realised the driving bass on those records, was Lemmy. He got fired from that space rock band for 'doing the wrong drugs'. Even more Ironically, he gave them the only recognisable hit they ever had, he wrote and sung it. Dave Brock, like Lemmy the only constant in Hawkwind (still going...) always regretted firing him, but did so to keep his band together.
In many ways, No Sleep Til Hammersmith was a poor album. Not well recorded, mostly done at record company insistence for product, as Motorhead were huge at the time. Despite it's lo fi quality, it's still seen as a classic. It still sounds great to me. Full on balls to the wall, fast loud, and simply great rock n roll songs.
Lemmy's bandmates have called it a day. They know Motorhead was Lemmy and they enjoyed the ride. Unique, obnoxious, loud and always quotable. He lived with a bang and went out with one. No fading away for him. Ideally, he'd have had his heart give out on stage, just managing to finish the song, before going down with his middle finger up.
"Death is an inevitability, isn't it? You become more aware of that when you get to my age. I don't worry about it. I'm ready for it. When I go, I want to go doing what I do best. If I died tomorrow, I couldn't complain. It's been good."
"If you didn't do anything that wasn't good for you it would be a very dull life. What are you gonna do? Everything that is pleasant in life is dangerous."
Thanks mate. My life would have been a bit duller without you too. Though I might have retained a bit more hearing. Fuck it. Crank it up.
I'm well aware RIP threads aren't the thing we do round here. I too find so many of them pointless, often reminding us of people in our dim past who's glory days was decades gone.
But that's why I take the liberty to post my personal obit of a bloke who was, pardon the cliché - a living legend, and unlike many of his peers who sit around counting their money, doing occasional big ticket gigs with a jukebox of 30yo hits, doing the talk show circuit to have their egos regularly massaged (yeah, that's you Jagger and Richards...), Lemmy never stopped making records and touring. He already had 2016 mapped out, and despite heath issues for many years, just kept going. About 50 of his 70 years were spent on the road and in the studio. Never stopping.
Yes, I grew up on the Classic 80s Motorhead, but the last few years I watched what he was doing, and a good few of their recent albums were absolute corkers, I listen to them. The man and his music were still with me. He was still interesting, and still finding a new generation to play to, and plenty of kids like I used to be, were still interested.
Without Lemmy, there'd be no Metallica.They said so. Dave Grohl sees him as the founding father of metal. Every band in the now ridiculous sub-genre nomenclature of metal says it all started with him. His influence was just as powerful as those of Buddy Holly in the 50s and the Beatles in the 60s. Many bands I and others love just wouldn't have turned out quite the same. Some would never have been.
He did everything different, and nothing anyone else told him he should do. Most of us take on regular lives and regular responsibilities. That's why we love irresponsible rebels like him. We all wish a part us could do the same. His lifestyle wasn't recommended to anyone. A bottle of Jack a day for decades, for starters. Well aware of how he's perceived, he had a wicked sense of humour. Only earlier this year he ditched the Jack for 'health reasons'. He blamed the sugar in the coke for his diabetes. So changed to vodka and orange instead, believing the fruit in his diet would be good for him.
For those of us who dabble in music, Lemmy played the bass like a guitar. No plucking to keep a beat. He strummed the bloody thing, using chords and distortion. That's why Motorhead worked as a 3 piece. Who needs a rhythm guitarist when your bass player is doing it?
Two of the first records that got me into music were heard on the same day at a friends house. My memory of childhood things is shocking, but I remember that afternoon. Van Halen I and Hawkwind. It wasn't til later I realised the driving bass on those records, was Lemmy. He got fired from that space rock band for 'doing the wrong drugs'. Even more Ironically, he gave them the only recognisable hit they ever had, he wrote and sung it. Dave Brock, like Lemmy the only constant in Hawkwind (still going...) always regretted firing him, but did so to keep his band together.
In many ways, No Sleep Til Hammersmith was a poor album. Not well recorded, mostly done at record company insistence for product, as Motorhead were huge at the time. Despite it's lo fi quality, it's still seen as a classic. It still sounds great to me. Full on balls to the wall, fast loud, and simply great rock n roll songs.
Lemmy's bandmates have called it a day. They know Motorhead was Lemmy and they enjoyed the ride. Unique, obnoxious, loud and always quotable. He lived with a bang and went out with one. No fading away for him. Ideally, he'd have had his heart give out on stage, just managing to finish the song, before going down with his middle finger up.
"Death is an inevitability, isn't it? You become more aware of that when you get to my age. I don't worry about it. I'm ready for it. When I go, I want to go doing what I do best. If I died tomorrow, I couldn't complain. It's been good."
"If you didn't do anything that wasn't good for you it would be a very dull life. What are you gonna do? Everything that is pleasant in life is dangerous."
Thanks mate. My life would have been a bit duller without you too. Though I might have retained a bit more hearing. Fuck it. Crank it up.
