There is a proverb that “every death is a birth” and in nature, this is completely true.
In Rock’n’Roll, however, this is not always the case, but it is not uncommon for death, whether natural or musical, to await those who are into music.
Perhaps the most common appearance of the Grim Ripper is… Drugs.
One of the strangest cases of musical “death” and “birth” was that of Lemmy Kilmister.
The link between them was the song “Motorhead“, which would later become a trademark band for Heavy Metal.
A head full of amphetamines…
“Motorhead” is the latest song written by the bassist and singer for Hawkwind.
A band that was famous for two things:
- The expulsion of its members and
- Drugs
The song was written by Lemmy shortly before he left Hawkwind in 1974 at the Riot House Hotel.
He states that he was with his band at the time, in the same hotel as the Wizzard.
In the middle of the night, he decided to write a song and went straight to the Wizzard’s room.
He picked up Roy Wood’s Ovation acoustic guitar and went out on the balcony, screaming for almost four hours.
The title of the song, which in slang means “head full of amphetamine“, can also explain why he was screaming on the balcony.
The lyrics are very informative about their meaning.
The author’s word ‘parallelogram‘, the only time in Rock’n’Roll’s history that verse was written with this word, also reveals the author’s situation.
Which, of course, made Lemmy proud.
The song was first released as a B side of the single “Kings of Speed” in 1975 by Hawkwind.
The sequence of events was not pleasant for its creator.
Lemmy was arrested at the US-Canadian border, full of amphetamines.
One of the rumors circulating is that all members of Hawkwind have loaded all the drugs they had in Lemmy’s luggage.
As if that wasn’t enough, they kicked him out of Hawkwind.
Bastards or Motorhead?
While he is ready to make a new band called Bastards, in honor of his previous music collaborators …
His last composition comes to inspire him for the name of his new band.
And their name… Motorhead !!
The song debuted on their 1977 album of the same name.
But the success came too late…
The song became widely known and therefore successful in 1981, after the release of their live album “No Sleep ’til Hammersmith“.
Of course, the live performance of the song gets worshipped as well as the new and future legend of Heavy Metal!