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Thursday, 31 January 2008 21:36 |
 Classic Rock Revisited recently spoke in depth with Motorhead main man Lemmy Killmeister about his career both before and with Motorhead, touch on his parting with Hawkwind, and the recording of the first Motorhead album. Several excepts of the interview are included below.
Classic Rock Revisited: Motorhead has inspired bands like Metallica and Guns & Roses. Is it nice when they tip the hat to you and give you credit?
Lemmy: It is nice when they acknowledge you. Metallica recorded four of our songs on the Garage album - that was a handy little paycheck. Motorhead never had a hit record in the States; we never even hit the Top 100.
Jeb: Does it bother you that Metallica went on to fame and fortune to a level Motorhead didn't?
Lemmy: It is just the luck of the draw; it is just that simple. You have to be in the right place at the right time. We were too late for the first British Invasion and too early for the second one.
Jeb: You have become more popular as Lemmy in America than Motorhead.
Lemmy: I'm grateful for what I've got; I'm not complaining. I think I have become popular because I don't let people down. The worst thing is to admire someone and then have them let you down; that's awful. You meet someone who you think is going to be excellent and they end up being a complete fucking asshole.
Jeb: Neither Motorhead or Lemmy have given into trends.
Lemmy: Trends are bullshit. The funniest one was when they tried to make us get our hair cut. We had an old manager who thought we could reach a much broader audience if we would get our hair cut. I said, "That's it then, I guess we are not going to reach a much broader audience."
Jeb: I also like Hawkwind.
Lemmy: Me too.
Jeb: Just think if you had not got busted for drugs coming across the boarder of Canada then Motorhead may never have happened.
Lemmy: I know; it's weird. You never know what is going to do you a favor. You can't know what events will be good for you in the long run. At the time it was terrible but it turned out okay. I was pissed at the time because the band just left me there. When they couldn't get my replacement there in time they flew to Toronto and then fired me after the show, those motherfuckers.
Jeb: What makes it harder to believe is that when you came into Hawkwind they had their greatest success.
Lemmy: I was the pusher. I pushed them forward and I drove the pace of the band. I was always like, "Come on you fuckers, you can play faster." I put a lot of power into the band. They picked the wrong guy to replace me.
Jeb: They really took off on you?
Lemmy: That's cold.
Jeb: Did you spend time in jail?
Lemmy: I was in jail for two days while they figured it out. I was on my way to the holding jail in Essex County Ontario when I got bailed.
Read the full interview here
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