motorhead

�HISTORY

If there is one musician who has succeeded in transporting the zeitgeist of the founder days of rock �n� roll to the year 2004, it�s got to be Mot�rhead�s frontman, Lemmy. He lives his philosophy uncompromisingly, his whisky-soaked skin featuring the unambiguous tattoo that sums up his life like no other motto: �Born to lose � live to win�.

In 1975, after being kicked out of Hawkwind - for �taking the wrong drugs�, according to Lemmy! - Lemmy founded Bastard, the forerunner of the band that was soon to be renamed Mot�rhead.�

�Technically, the first Mot�rhead line-up was as bad as can be,� Lemmy admits these days. �With Phil Taylor and Fast Eddie Clarke, it would have been impossible to play the tracks that we deliver just like that today.� Musically and commercially, Mot�rhead had some tough years ahead of them and only survived because Lemmy refused to surrender his ideas and his role as undisputed Mot�rhead boss. But in the early Eighties, the musicians � and, subsequently, the albums began to improve, and the band landed their first classic with the title track of the Ace Of Spades album in 1980, followed by another milestone release in rock history: No Sleep Till Hammersmith, a thunderous album that presented the band in their element � live on stage. In autumn 1982, guitarist Eddie Clarke left and was replaced by ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson, but following the release of �Another Perfect Day� one year later, Robertson quit and was replaced by Phil Campbell and Michael Burston, a.k.a. W�rzel.

The early Nineties saw the Mot�rhead flagship go into a serious spin: the band had signed their first major deal and, at the request of their new record company, tried to move from their familiar unbridled power rock towards more radio compatible material. Their 1991 release March �r Die (featuring Guns�n�Roses guitarist Slash and Ozzy Osbourne as guests) was a complete flop with the press.

This was when drummer Mikkey Dee joined. Lemmy emigrated to Los Angeles and had to face the displeasure of his fellow countrymen. �Lemmy Goes to Hollywood�, the British press chided, but Lemmy couldn�t have cared less. �I don�t give a damn what people say,� he raged. �Why should I stay in England? I lived there for almost 44 years and what was the result? I almost starved as a musician. I hadn�t been in the States two years before we got our first Grammy nomination.�

In the mid-Nineties, guitarist W�rzel left the group once the recordings for the Sacrifice album had been completed. The remaining band members - Lemmy, drummer Mikkey Dee and guitarist Phil Campbell - didn�t waste any time mourning W�rzel�s departure, returning to business as usual to the delight of their fans and continuing as a trio. �Phil wanted to make the most of this opportunity and play everything by himself, so Mikkey and I said okay, he can have his chance on tour. It was great, everything worked out really well.� The press agreed and attested the threesome that they had revitalised the band�s classic three-man tradition.

Their boundless energy is ever-present to this day, and after a succession of increasingly successful album releases in recent years such as We Are Motorhead and Hammered, Mot�rhead stepped on the gas once again to deliver last year�s astonishingly brilliant Inferno album, an album that found itself firmly planted in many publications� and critic�s end-of-year top twentys. Their 25^th Anniversary show at Brixton brought tears to grown men�s eyes as they saw the band�s once-familiar live showpiece The Bomber emerge from the roof and a host of guests perform with the band�and their 2005 THIRTIETH Anniversary show at Hammersmith is guaranteed to be even MORE spectacular!