乐队Motorhead ---“摩托党”,在70年代后期摇滚音乐顶峰时期成为引人注目的对象。在长相丑陋令人望而生畏的贝司手和歌手莱米带领下,他们用音量和速度的原始结合来投观众所好,使乐队 成为新浪潮硬摇滚鼎盛时期最持久地受欢迎的乐队 之一。
在莱米离开他原来的“雄风“(HAWKWIND*)乐队后,于1975年组成了&摩托党&(这个词是美国人对飞车党的一种叫法),前&粉神仙&PINK FAIRIESF吉他手拉里。沃利斯LARRY WALLIS和鼓手卢卡斯。福克斯LUCAS FOX参加了这个乐队。他们经常参加一些小型演出,并为“蓝牡蛎崇拜“(BLUEOYSTER CULT*)乐队做暖场,传媒讨厌他们,称他们是&世界上最糟糕的乐队&。“摩托党“在美国的UNITED ARTISTS公司录制了一个专辑,与此同时,福克斯被人们鲜为人知,叫做菲尔。泰勒PHIL TAYLOR(1954年9月21日生于德比郡切斯特菲尔德)的人取代了鼓手的位置,紧接着是吉他手法斯特。埃迪。克拉克FAST EDDIE CLARKE取代了沃利斯。
UA拒绝出版他们的唱片,当乐队与UA的关系陷入僵局的时候,杰克。里维埃拉JAKE RIVIERE建议他们在新的STIFF公司录制一首单曲,WHITE LINE FEVER应运而生,但UA从中作梗,这首歌也不了了之。最后,UA 放弃了该乐队,才使乐队有机会在一个独立的CHISWICK公司录制专辑(1977)。在和一个新的美国经理人托尼。塞昆达TONY SECUNDA毫无成果的合作之后,他们又回到了老经理人道格。史密斯DOUG SMITH身边,道格 为他们找到BRONZE唱片公司,让他们签了约。他们在BBC电视流行金曲节目中演唱了他们出版的第1首单曲 LOUIE LOUIE,这是&金斯曼&KINGSMEN热门曲目中的一个翻版,但这首歌曲在1978年9月收效甚微。
随着第2张专辑OVERKILL在1979年3月的问世,&摩托党&开始连续3年不间断的录音和巡回演出,这段时间最成功的要数现场专辑,它在1981年6月27日获得英国排行榜榜新首,并奠定了他们作为一流乐队 的地位。为在国际乐坛争得一席之地,&摩托党&与奥兹。奥斯本OSBOUR OZZY做了为斯40天的美国巡回演出。
IRON FIST于1982年问世,当乐队正为提高此专辑知名度而巡回演出时,埃迪。克拉克突然离开了乐队。克拉克在&摩托党&以外的活动越来越多,比如 他想与&女子学校&GIRLSCHOOL乐队合作出一张EP(ST。VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE)。&瘦利兹&(THIN LIZZY*)乐队的吉他手布赖恩。罗伯逊BRIAN ROBERTSON暂时取代了克拉克,又在1983年底离队而去。下一张唱片ANOTHER PERFECT DAY在同年问世,乐迷们争相购买,这表明&摩托党&的影响力并非由于内部变动而受影响。
下一个专辑NOREMORSE两年后才出版。这时的&摩托党&已面目全非。泰勒已离队,新成员有:皮特。吉尔PETE GILL鼓手,两个吉他手沃泽尔WURZEL真名迈克尔。伯斯顿MICHAEL BUIRSTON和菲尔。坎贝尔PHIL CAMPBELL。外界虽有闲言碎语,但&摩托党''已向他的歌迷们证明他们仍如以往那样富有生机。1986年,他们和GWR签约,出了一首单曲DEATH FOREVER 及一个专辑ORGASMATRON。的成功 使他们继续在英美保持大量的歌迷,同时评论界对这张专辑的反映也不错。第2年他们又出版了ROCK N'ROLL,同样成功。1990年,乐队与WTC公司 签约,出版了一张THE BIRTHDAY PAYTY。1991年出版了。鼓手迈基。迪伊MIKKEY DEE加入乐队,录制了专辑MARCHOR DIE,专辑在美国反响不好,但在英国仍有大量的追随者。这张专辑出版后,WTG公司与他们解除了合同。后来乐队 自己成立了公司MOTORHEAD,他们 在自己的公司 出版的第一张专辑是BASTARDS。
在90年代剩余剩的时间里,&摩托党&把精力主要集中在巡演而不是录制专辑上,1997年,乐队 与独立公司RECEIVER签约,出版了STONE DEAD FOREVER。
Motorhead获得第47届美国格莱美音乐大奖的最佳金属演奏。
Motörheads overwhelmingly loud and fast style of heavy metal was one of the most groundbreaking styles the genre had to offer in the late 70s. Though the groups leader, Lemmy Kilminster, had his roots in the hard-rocking space rock band Hawkwind, Motörhead didnt bother with his old groups progressive tendencies, choosing to amplify the heavy biker rock elements of Hawkwind with the speed of punk rock. Motörhead wasnt punk rock — they formed before the Sex Pistols and they loved the hell-for-leather imagery of bikers too much to conform with the safety-pinned, ripped T-shirts of punk — but they were the first metal band to harness that energy and, in the process, they created speed metal and thrash metal. Unlike many of their contemporaries, Motörhead continued performing into the next century. Although the band changed its lineup many, many times — Lemmy was its only consistent member — they never changed their raging sound.
The son of a vicar, Lemmy Kilmister (born Ian Fraiser Kilmister; December 24, 1945) first began playing rock & roll in 1964, when he joined two local Blackpool, England, R&B bands, the Rainmakers and the Motown Sect. Over the course of the 60s, he played with a number of bands — including the Rockin Vickers, Gopals Dream, and Opal Butterfly — as well as briefly working as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix. In 1971, he joined the heavy prog rock band Hawkwind as a bassist. Lemmy was originally slated to stay with the band only six months, yet he stayed with the group for four years. During that time, he wrote and sung several songs with the band, including their signature song, the number three U.K. hit Silver Machine (1972).
Lemmy was kicked out of Hawkwind in the spring of 1975, after he spent five days in a Canadian prison for drug possession. Once he returned to England, Kilminster set about forming a new band. Originally, it was to have been called Bastard, but he soon decided to call the band Motörhead, named after the last song he wrote for Hawkwind. Lemmy drafted in Pink Fairies guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox to round out the lineup. Motörhead made its debut supporting Greenslade in July. Two months later, the group headed into the studio to make its debut album for United Artists with producer Dave Edmunds. Motörhead and Edmunds clashed over the direction of recording, resulting in the group firing the producer and replacing him with Fritz Fryer. At the end of the year, Fox left the band and Lemmy replaced him with his friend, Philthy Animal (born Philip Taylor), an amateur musician.
Motörhead delivered its debut album to UA early in 1976, but the label rejected the album. Shortly afterward, former Blue Goose and Continuous Performance guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke joined the band. Following one rehearsal as a four-piece, Wallis left the band, leaving Motörhead as a trio; this is the lineup that would later be recalled as the groups classic period. However, the band spent most of 1976 struggling, performing without a contract or manager and generating little money. At the end of the year, they cut a single, White Line Fever/Leavin Here, for Stiff Records which wasnt released until two years later. By the summer of 1977, the group had signed a one-record contract with Chiswick Records, releasing their eponymous debut in June; it peaked at number 43 on the U.K. charts. A year later, the band signed with Bronze Records.
Overkill, Motörheads first album for Bronze, was released in the spring of 1979. The album peaked at number 24, while its title track became the bands first Top 40 hit. Motörhead continued to gain momentum, as their concerts were selling well and Bomber, the follow-up to Overkill, reached number 12 upon its fall release. The band was doing so well that UA released the rejected album at the end of the year as On Parole. Ace of Spades, released in the fall of 1980, became a number four hit, while the single of the same name reached number 15.
Ace of Spades became Motörheads first American album, yet the group was making little headway in the U.S., where they only registered as a cult act. Back in England, the situation could hardly have been more different. Motörhead was at the peak of its popularity in 1981, releasing a hit collaboration with the all-female group Girlschool entitled Headgirl and entering the charts at number one with their live album, No Sleep Til Hammersmith. Though the group was rising commercially, there was tension within the band, particularly between Clarke and Lemmy. Clarke left the band during the supporting tour for 1982s Iron Fist, reportedly angered by Kilmisters planned collaboration with Wendy O. Williams. Former Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson replaced Clarke.
The new lineup released Another Perfect Day in the summer of 1983. Another Perfect Day was a disappointment, only reaching number 20 in the U.K. Robertson left two months later, being replaced by two guitarists: former Persian Risk member Phillip Campbell and Wurzel (born Michael Burston). Shortly afterward, Taylor left to join Robertsons band Operator, and was replaced by former Saxon drummer Pete Gill. This lineup released a single, Killed by Death, in September of 1984, but shortly afterward the group left Bronze and the label filed an injunction against the band. As a result, Motörhead was prevented from releasing any recordings — including a bizarre collaboration between Lemmy and page-three girl Samantha Fox — for two years.
Motörhead finally returned to action in 1986, first with a track on the charity compilation Hear n Aid and later with the Bill Laswell-produced Orgasmatron, which was released on their new label, GWR. Orgasmatron was successful with the bands still-dedicated cult audience in England and America, and received some of the groups best reviews to date. The following year, they released Rock N Roll, which was equally successful. In 1988, the live No Sleep at All appeared, and Lemmy made his acting debut in the comedy Eat the Rich. Two years later, the band signed to WTG and released The Birthday Party. Taylor briefly rejoined the band in 1991, appearing on that years 1916, before Mikkey Dee, formerly of King Diamond, took over on drums. Dees first album with the band was 1992s March or Die, which didnt chart in the U.S. yet played to their U.K. cult following. WTG dropped the band after the albums release and the band started their own label, appropriately called Motörhead, which was distributed through ZYX. Their first album for the label was 1994s Bastards.
For the remainder of the 90s, Motörhead concentrated on touring more than recording. Outside of the band, Lemmy appeared in insurance commercials in Britain. He also acted in Hellraiser 3 and had a cameo in the porno movie John Wayne Bobbit Uncut. In 1997, the group moved to the metal-oriented indie label Receiver and released Stone Dead Forever; the live Everything Louder Than Everyone Else followed in 1999, and a year later they returned with We Are Motörhead. Hammered appeared in 2002 and was followed by 2004s Inferno. In 2005 the Sanctuary label reissued some of the bands classic albums (Overkill, Ace of Spades, and Iron Fist) in two-CD deluxe editions. A collection of all-new material, Kiss of Death, arrived in 2006.