327 Hello Motorhead - Louie Louie

Chart  entered : 16  September  1978

Chart  peak : 68

Number  of  hits :  17

This  one  marks  the  point  where  the  heavy  rock  scene  starts  to  fragment  with  some  acts  pulling  away  from  the  blues  influence  and  blurring  the  thin  line  between  metal  and  punk. Despite  their  ages  and  backgrounds  Motorhead  would  always  claim  to  be  punks.

The  pivotal  figure  in  Motorhead  is  of  course  Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister. He  was  born  in  Burslem  in  1945  but  the  family  moved  to  Wales  when  he  was  10. He  acquired  his  nickname  at  school  due  it's  believed  to  pleading  for  money  for  slot  machines. He  worked  in  menial  jobs  while  playing  guitar  in  pub  bands  then  followed  a  girl  to  Stockport  where  he  got  involved  in  the  Manchester  music  scene. His  first  band  of  note  were  Blackpool's  The  Rocking  Vickers   in  1965. They'd  already  released  one  single  and  their  main   gimmick  was  dressing  up  as  clergymen. They  were  popular  in  odd  territories  such  as  Yugoslavia  and  their  first  single  with  Lemmy,  "Stella"  was  only  released  in  Finland  and  Ireland. It's  quite  good  like  a  beefed  up  Herman's  Hermits  with  louder  guitars. Their  next  single  in  England  was  a  cover  of  The  Who's  "It's  Alright"  in  March  1966  in  the  freakbeat  style  with  some  wild  guitar  sounds  for  1966. Their  final  single  in  August  was  a  semi-acoustic  version  of  The  Kinks's "Dandy"  which  is  rather  tame  by  comparison  as  they  aimed  for  the  charts. However  that  was  scuppered  by  a  rival  version  from  Herman's  Hermits  which  didn't  chart  in  the  UK  but  made  number  5  in  the  US. The  band's  reliance  on  covers  was  making  them  an  anachronism  by  1967  and  they  split  up  that  year.

Lemmy  moved  to  London, sharing  a  flat  with  Noel  Redding  and  becoming  a  roadie  for  the  Jimi  Hendrix  Experience. In  1968  he  joined  the  reformed  Sam  Gopal, a  pyschedelic  rock  outfit  where  he  took  on  the  role  of  lead  vocalist   as  well  as  guitarist. Lemmy,  now  calling  himself  Ian  Willis  after  his  stepfather,  wrote  50%  of  the  album  "Escalator"  released  in  1969.Sam  Gopal  were  of  their  time; their  USP was  Gopal  himself  playing  tablas  rather  than  drums  and  the  LP  is  OK  in  an  early  Floyd   sort  of   way  though  let  down  by  Lemmy's  expressionless   singing   and  a  terrible  plodding  version  of  "Season  of  the  Witch".

Lemmy  was  soon  on  the  move  again,  switching  to   Opal  Butterfly  in  time  to  play  on  their  fourth  single "Groupie  Girl"  in  1969. It's  a  decent  Monkees-ish  pop  tune but  with  its  uncompromising  lyric  and  then  a  nude  woman  on  the  sleeve  it  was  soon  banned. By  the  time  it  was  resurrected  for  a  film  of  the  same  name  the  following  year  Lemmy  had  moved  on  again.

At  the  beginning  of  1972  both  he  and  Opal  Butterfly's  drummer  Simon  King  joined  Hawkwind. Lemmy  switched  to  bass  guitar  which  he  played  as  a lead  instrument. He  had  barely  got  his  feet  under  the  table  when  he  found  himself  near  the  top  of  the  singles  charts.  Someone  saw  that  the  track  "Silver  Machine"  ,recorded  for  a  live  LP  featuring  two  other  bands , had  potential  as  a  single  instead. There  was  a  problem  though  in  that  the  vocal  by  their  volatile  singer  and lyricist  Robert  Calvert  was  dreadful. When  he  was  helpfully  incarcerated  in  a  mental  institution  for  a  spell  the  band went  into  the  studio  to  record  an  alternative  vocal  and  it  was  agreed  that  Lemmy's  attempt  was  the  best. The  song  shot  to  number  3  in the  summer  of  1972  and  has  been  a  hit  three  times.

Of  course  Hawkwind  weren't  really  about  hit  singles. The  template  for  their  version  of  space  rock,  pounding  hard  rock  with  trippy  washes  of  synthesiser  had  already  been  laid  down  but  Lemmy's  heavy  bass  playing  gave  an   added  density  to  the  sound. He  recorded  three  studio  albums  with  the  band  and  is  featured  on  the  live  LP "Space  Ritual".  His  time  with  the  band  came  to  an  end  in  May  1975  when  he  was  arrested  for  possession  on  the  Canadian  border . Although  he  got  off  on  a  technicality  the  band  used  the  incident  as  an  excuse  to  fire  him.

Lemmy  immediately  started  his  own  band  with  guitarist  Larry  Wallis  and  drummer  Lucas  Fox. He  wanted  to  call  it  "Bastard"  but  wiser  counsels  prevailed  and  they  became  Motorhead  after  Lemmy's  last  song  for  Hawkwind.  Eschewing  Hawkwind's  esoteric  preoccupations  Lemmy  determined  that  the  band  would  play  loud, fast, and  direct  rock  and  roll. They  started  gigging  in  July  and  were  supporting  Blue  Oyster  Cult  by  July. Signed  up  by  United  Artists  they  started  recording  at  Rockfield  Studios  at  the  end  of  the  year.  During  the  sessions, Lemmy became  dissatisfied  with  Fox's  commitment  to  the  band  and  replaced  him  with  Phil  "Philthy  Animal"  Taylor.  Phil  came  from  Chesterfield  and  was  nearly  ten  years  younger  than  Lemmy . He  had  no  real  musical  background  at  all  but  convinced  Lemmy  he  could  play  and  he  had  a  car  that  would  come  in  handy. He  overdubbed  all  Fox's  contributions  except  for  one  track  because  the  studio  time  elapsed  while  he  was  under  arest  for  being  drunk  and  disorderly. The  record  label  found  the  album  unsatisfactory  and  refused  to  release  it  until  1979  when  it  came  out  as  "On  Parole."

Phil  then  persuaded  Lemmy  that  the  band  would  benefit  from  a  second  guitarist  and  suggested  "Fast"  Eddie  Clarke  whom  he  had  met  while  working  on  a  houseboat. Eddie, born  in  Twickenham  in  1950  did  have  some  musical  pedigree.  His  first  band  of  note  were  Curtis  Knight  Zeus  led  by  Jimi  Hendrix  associate   Knight  whom  he joined  in  1974. He  played  on  the  album   "The  Second  Coming"   which  has  its  moments  but  its  psychedelic  rock  sound  with  unsurprisingly  Hendrix-like  vocals  was  old  for  its  time. Eddie  and  two  other  members  then  helped  out  guitarist  Allan  Callan  on  a  n  album  project  Blue  Goose. When  the  results  secured  Callan  a  recording  contract  they  jumped  ship. However  Eddie  and  Callan  soon  fell  out  over  the  use  of  Eddie's  amplifiers. He  was  fired  and  then  refused  to  return  when  Callan  relented . He  was  still  credited  as  co-composer  of  one  track  when  the  album  was  released. Eddie  tried  to  get  a  deal  with  his  next  group  Continuous  Performance   without luck.

Wallis  quit  immediately  after  Eddie  had  been  auditioned  in  March  1976, to  return  to  his  former  group  the  Pink  Fairies.  By  this  time  punk  was  under  way  and  the  band  soon  struck  up  a  friendship  with  The  Damned. They  also  found  that  punk  fans  were  starting  to  come  to  their  gigs. This  led  them  to  Stiff  who  tried  to  release  their  version  of  Holland-Dozier-Holland's  "Leaving  Here"  as  a  single  but  were  stopped by  an  injunction  from  United  Artists.  "Leaving  Here "  would  eventually  make  the  charts,  and  Top  of  the  Pops ,  as  lead  track  of  their  "Golden  Years"  EP  in  1980.  It  does  have  more  in  common  with  Sham  69  than  Whitesnake  and  Lemmy  seems  to  have  swallowed  a  bucketful  of  grit  since  Silver  Machine.  

Back  in  1977  however  Motorhead  were  going  to  call  it  a  day  but  were  dissuaded  by  Ted  Carroll  of  Chiswick  Records  who  put  them  in  the  studio  with  Thunderclap  Newman's  Speedy  Kean  to  make  a  single. The  band  were  even  more  speedy  than  Mr Kean  and  put  down  enough  tracks  for  an  album. I'm  not  quite  sure  why  United  Artists  were  able  to  stop  Stiff  but  not  Chiswick. The  single, a  new  version  of  "Motorhead"  did  nothing  but  the  parent  album  made  the  charts  at  number  43.

The  band  attracted  a  new  manager  in  The  Move's  notorious  Tony  Secunda   who  achieved  little  but  to  alienate  Carroll   and  prompt  Eddie  and  Phil  to  start  moonlighting  with  a  group  called  The  Muggers. He  was  quickly  replaced  by  Douglas  Smith  who  got  them  signed  with  Bronze , initially  for  this  one  single.

I've  no  memory  of   this  from  the  time,  despite  the  fact  they  got  to  do  it  on  Top  of  the  Pops  and  am  slightly  surprised  by  Neil  Richmond's  clean  production  and  the  restraint  shown  in  tackling  the  Kingsmen's  garage  punk  classic. Lemmy  tones  his  growl  down  so  that  the  lyrics  are  more  intelligible  than  on  the  original,  Eddie's  guitar  solo  is  conventional  and  Phil  stays  on  the  beat.  Bronze's  head  honcho  thought  it  was  dreadful  and  it  was  seeing  them  live  rather  than  the  single's  modest  chart  performance  that  persuaded  him  to  offer  them  a  long-term  deal.  And  so  "Louie  Louie"  turned  their  fortunes  around  but  aside  from that  I  think  it's  pretty  disposable.