Portal:Motörhead/Selected biography
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Portal:Motörhead/Selected biography/1
Lemmy (born Ian Fraiser Kilmister on December 24, 1945, also known as Ian Willis, Lemmy Kilmister, and Lemmy von Motörhead) is an English singer and bass guitarist, most famous for being the founding member of the heavy metal band Motörhead. His appearance, facial moles, mutton chops (sideburn-moustache combination), and gravelly voice, have made him a cult figure, known beyond the world of rock music.
In 1971, Kilmister joined the space rock band, Hawkwind, who were based in Ladbroke Grove, London but was fired after being arrested at Canadian customs on possession charges; he spent five days in prison. Kilmister went on to form a new band with guitarist Larry Wallis (former member of the Pink Fairies, Steve Took's Shagrat and UFO) and drummer Lucas Fox. This new band was originally called Bastard but later changed the band's name to Motörhead at the urging of his manager.
Soon after, both Wallis and Fox were replaced with guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, and with this line-up the band began to achieve success. The band's sound appealed to both Lemmy's original heavy metal fans, as well as to fans of the nascent punk rock scene. In fact, Lemmy asserts that he generally feels more kinship with punks than with heavy metal; he even played with the The Damned for a handful of gigs when they had no regular bassist — and Lemmy's guttural vocals were unique in the world of rock at that time. The band's success peaked between 1980 and 1981 with a number of UK chart hits, including the classic single "Ace of Spades" (still a crowd favourite today) and the #1 live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith. Motörhead have since gone on to become one of the most influential bands in the heavy metal music genre, and although Lemmy is the only constant member, are still performing and releasing records to this day. Despite Motörhead's many member changes over their 30 year history, the current lineup of Lemmy, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee has remained constant since 1995.
Lemmy has also worked with a number of other musicians over his career, and occasionally guests with Hawkwind. He has made a number of appearances in film and television, including the 1990 science fiction film Hardware and the 1987 comedy Eat the Rich (read more...)
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Philip Anthony Campbell, born on May 7, 1961 in Pontypridd, Wales, is the lead guitarist of the British heavy metal band, Motörhead and former guitarist of Persian Risk.
Campbell started playing guitar when he was 10 years old, inspired by guitarists such as; Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Jimmy Page, Michael Schenker and Todd Rundgren, at the age of 12, Campbell got Lemmy's autograph after a Hawkwind gig. By the time he was 13, he was playing semi-professionally with a cabaret band at gigs around South Wales. He bought his first Les Paul in 1973; following the fate of many of his guitars, it was stolen.
In 1979 he formed the heavy metal band, Persian Risk, playing on their 7" singles, "Calling For You" (1981) and "Ridin' High" (1983). Compilation albums have been issued which feature some of his work with Persian Risk.
In 1984, following the departure of Brian Robertson, Motörhead frontman, Lemmy Kilminster, held auditions for a new guitarist, narrowing the candidates down to two guitarists - Phil Campbell and Michael "Würzel" Burston. Lemmy had first planned only to hire one guitarist, but upon hearing Würzel and Campbell play together, Lemmy hired them both. (read more...)
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Michael Delaouglou, better known as Mikkey Dee (born October 31, 1963) is a half-Greek half-Swedish drummer/songwriter in the heavy metal band, Motörhead. The drummer has been known for his incredible speed and precision since his mid-80s stint with King Diamond.
Born in Gothenburg, Sweden, he began his musical career with local bands Nadir and Geisha. His favourite drummer is Ian Paice, other influences being Brian Downey, Neil Peart and Steven Smith. Dee also gives credit to Buddy Rich.
Having moved to Copenhagen to play with Geisha, in 1985, he joined King Diamond, who were looking for additional members to complete their line-up. After their release of the "Them" album (1988), Dee decided to leave the band. Dee continued to play as a session drummer for the recording sessions of the Conspiracy album (1989), after which he was replaced by Snowy Shaw.
He joined Don Dokken for his solo album, Up From The Ashes (1990) whilst also playing for World War Three.
Lemmy had been repeatedly asking him to join Motörhead since 1985, and in 1992, when asked once again, Dee accepted the offer, replacing Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor. (read more...)
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Michael Burston (born October 23, 1949), commonly known by the stage name Würzel, is an English musician. Formerly a guitarist in the heavy metal band Motörhead, Würzel is currently a figure in British ambient music.
Burston was born in Cheltenham, England. Before joining Motörhead in 1984, Burston had been a corporal in the army and had played in the bands Bastard and Warfare. Joining another relatively unknown guitarist, Phil Campbell, they played so well together at the rehearsal they were invited, both were taken on. The new, four-piece line-up made its debut recording a backing track for The Young Ones on February 14, 1984. He had acquired the nickname Wurzel whilst in the Army, due his scarecrow-style hair and bumpkin-like manner. (See Worzel Gummidge for an explanation of this nickname.) Lemmy demanded that Würzel add an umlaut to the 'U' in his name, for important dramatic Heavy Metal effect.
Burston saw a number of interesting changes to the line-up in the band, each involving the drummer, until he left in 1995. Although he played on the Sacrifice, he left the band before the tour. He was not replaced and Motörhead remains a three-piece.
In 1998, quasi-inspired by psychedelically-informed experiences in Ghent, Belgium, Würzel recorded and released an ambient, improvised avant-garde album entitled Chill Out Or Die. He followed this up with a piece called Trippin' Me Nuts Off - Live and Wankered in Leuven. (read more...)
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Edward Clarke, better known as "Fast" Eddie Clarke, is a guitarist who was a member of the British heavy metal bands Fastway and Motörhead.
Born on October 5, 1950 in England, Clarke began playing guitar around his hometown of Twickenham in southwest London. By the time he was 15, Eddie had been through many local bands, one of whom went under the name of The Bitter End. He continued playing local gigs until 1973, when he turned professional by joining Curtis Knight’s band, Zeus, as lead guitarist. In 1974, the band recorded an album called "The Second Coming" at Olympic Studios, writing the music to Knight’s lyrics on the track titled The Confession.
Clarke also recorded the album Sea Of Time with Zeus and with guitarist friend Allan Callan, keyboard player Nicky Hogarth, and drummer Chris Perry, attended a recorded jam session at Command Studios in Piccadilly. As a result of the tracks from this session, the quartet secured a deal with Anchor Records, and called the band Blue Goose. With a contract secured, Clarke, Hogarth and Perry left Zeus to focus on their own project with Allan Callan. Knight was so angry with their behaviour, he put the word around that if he ever met up with them again, he would beat them up for leaving him in the lurch.
An argument soon erupted between Clarke and Callan, because Callan did not have any amps, Clarke had allowed him to share his during rehearsals, but Clarke then found he could not hear his solos because Callan was drowning him out. The argument ended with Clarke being sacked. Still short of amps, the band asked him to re-join a few days later, Clarke refused, feeling that they were doing Anchor Records an injustice because they had been paid an advance to record an album, but had done nothing productive towards making it. Blue Goose released their eponymous album through Anchor Records in 1974, crediting an instrumental track titled "Over The Top" to Clarke-Hogarth-Perry, although it is nothing like the Motörhead track of the same name. (read more ...)
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Phil Taylor, better known as "Philthy Animal" Taylor, was the drummer in the British heavy metal band, Motörhead from 1975 to 1984 and 1987 - 1992. The mark IV Motörhead line-up, considered classic by fans consists of Lemmy, Philthy Animal Taylor and Fast Eddie Clarke.
Born on 21 September 1954, in Chesterfield, England, Taylor replaced Motörhead's first drummer, Lucas Fox, during the recording of the band's self-titled 1977 debut album, Motörhead. Lemmy explains choosing him to play in Motörhead 'because he had a car and could give a lift back down to the studio, the drummer they had wasn't working out very well and Phil kept saying that he could play'. Taylor introduced the band to "Fast" Eddie Clarke, having worked with him while painting a houseboat.
In 1978, Taylor, Lemmy and Clarke interrupted one of The Damned's Chiswick album sessions, turning it into a recorded 'jam session', one track from this - "Ballroom Blitz", appeared as the B-side of "I Just Can't be Happy Today". Shortly after recording 1980's classic Ace of Spades album, Taylor broke his neck after being lifted above the head of a friend in a test of strength, only to be dropped upon his head. Taylor continued to play in Motörhead with the aid of a neck brace, as is visible in the music video for "Ace of Spades". As a result, Taylor now has a prominent lump located on the back of his neck (affectionately referred to as his "knob"), thought to be a calcium deposit caused by his previous spinal trauma. Tour-disrupting injuries were not unfamiliar to Taylor at the time, as he had previously broken his hand whilst punching a man outside of his flat in London. In typical uncompromising Motörhead style, Taylor continued to drum by duct-taping his drum stick into his hand until it had sufficiently healed. (read more...)
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Larry Wallis is a guitarist, songwriter and producer. He is best known as a member of the Pink Fairies and an early member of Motörhead.
In 1968, he formed a band called The Entire Sioux Nation with Terry Nolder on vocals, Tim Taylor on bass and Paul Nichols on drums. The band split up in late 1969 at the same time as the Pink Fairies Mark 1 line-up of Steve Peregrin Took, Mick Farren and Twink (with girlfriend Silver Darling) parted company.
It was 'all change' - Twink formed Pink Fairies Mark 2 with Farren's former band the Deviants leaving Farren bandless. The original intent was for Farren and Took to form Steve Took's Shagrat with ex-Entire Sioux Nation members Tim Taylor and Larry Wallis. Very soon though, Farren left after having a fallout with Took. Shagrat played one gig at the Phun City Festival in July 1970 and recorded a few fantastic songs.
Wallis then joined Blodwyn Pig, which changed its name to Lancaster's Bombers (later shortened to Lancaster) with Jack Lancaster. They were a short-lived band although they toured supporting Yes around 1971. Also in 1971, Took, Wallis, and Dave Bidwell (ex-Chicken Shack) recorded four acoustic demos of Took's songs. (read more...)
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Brian Robertson was born on February 12, 1956 in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire. He learned cello and classical piano for eight years before switching to the guitar and drums. He played in gigs around his local area with bands like Dream Police, who later evolved into the Average White Band.
In June 1974, Thin Lizzy were auditioning for a new guitarist and a try-out for Robertson was arranged. Still a teenager, Robertson was taken on - and with Scott Gorham on the other lead guitar, formulated the twin-guitar harmony that made Thin Lizzy one of the most influential "guitar bands" in the music industry. During his time in the band Thin Lizzy scaled the heights of success releasing albums such as Jailbreak, Johnny the Fox, Bad Reputation and the brilliant Live and Dangerous. Robertson was fired from the band twice, he finally left the band in 1978 being replaced by well known rock/blues guitarist Gary Moore.
Brian's blues-influenced, classic rock style is distinctly melodic. In Thin Lizzy, the unique twin, harmony lead guitar sound, provided by Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham, contributed much to the distinctive sound of the band and influenced subsequent bands, such as Iron Maiden, Metallica and the Darkness. Brian Robertson's unconventional use of the wah-pedal as an extension of the instrument during soloing rather than as a purely rhythmic effect, as described in the Total Accuracy video "Still in Love with the Blues" (featuring Brian Robertson & Stuart Bull), is generally regarded as a pioneering, perhaps unique use of the effect. The video includes Brian's explanation of his approach to guitar playing, along with a mixture of classic Thin Lizzy lead solos, blues licks and some sublime blues improvisations. (read more... )
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Lucas Fox is a drummer who was a member of British heavy metal band Motörhead and London punk rockers Warsaw Pakt.
In 1975 Fox was invited, along with Larry Wallis, to start Lemmy's band Bastards. After taking advice, the band was renamed Motörhead. The band supported Greenslade at gigs, performing a lot of cover numbers. Their debut was at The Roundhouse, on July 20. Fox was drummer for six months before being replaced during their first album recording sessions by Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor. Fox's drumming appeared on the On Parole album track, "Lost Johnny" which, unlike the rest of the songs Fox recorded for the album, wasn't overdubbed with Taylor's drums.
In Spring 1977 Warsaw Pakt formed around Ladbroke Grove, London, comprised of lead guitarist Andy Colquhoun of The Rockets, Lucas Fox on drums, vocalist Jimmy Coull, John Walker on rhythm guitar, and Chris Underhill on bass.
The band gigged around local venues and played with Siouxsie & the Banshees at a gig in the bar of Exeter College, Oxford, Oxford. Their debut album "Needle Time" was released through Island Records, a rush job, it was recorded, mastered, produced, packaged and distributed in 24 hours, from 10 p.m. on November 26 to 7 p.m. on November 27. 5,000 copies were sold in the first week, at the end of the week Island Records decided they would not have any more pressed. The band continued to play locally for a few months more before finally splitting up in March 1978. (read more...)
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Pete Gill (born Peter Gill), is a heavy metal drummer, formerly a member of Saxon and Motörhead.
Gill formed part of the original Saxon line up in 1976. He stayed with them until 1981 when he injured his hand. Gill later spent three years with Motörhead, 1984 to 1986, recording four new tracks for the compilation No Remorse and one full album, Orgasmatron (album). The band also toured extensively in the time Gill was a member. (read more...)
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Tommy Aldridge (born on August 15, 1950, in Jackson, Mississippi), is a heavy metal and hard rock drummer who has pioneered double bass drumming. Tommy is noted for his work with numorous bands and vocalists, most notable being Ozzy Osbourne, Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers, Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake.
Aldridge taught himself how to play drums and was inspired by rock legends like Cream, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin and drummers like Joe Morello and John Bonham. Throughout his career Tommy has been regarded as a double bass drumming pioneer along with Louis Bellson and Carmine Appice.
In the 1970s, Aldridge joined up and coming rockers Black Oak Arkansas and recorded nine albums with them between 1972 and 1976. He also undertook long tours around the US with the band.
He spent 1978 to 1981 signed with Canadian blues-rock guitarist Pat Travers, and recorded five albums with him. Aldridge was then offered a place in Ozzy Osbourne's band, which he accepted. Playing alongside Ozzy and guitarist Randy Rhoads, the line up is preserved on 1987's Tribute. After Rhoads' death the band continued to record, producing a live album in 1982 called Speak of the Devil and a studio album, Bark at the Moon in 1983, after which Aldridge left the group. (read more...)
