Motorhead (song)

"Motorhead" was the last song that Lemmy wrote for Hawkwind before being fired from the band in May 1975. It was originally released as the B-side of the single "Kings of Speed" on United Artists Records in March 1975. The song was written in the Hyatt Hotel (a.k.a. 'Riot House') in West Hollywood, California. Lemmy explains how it was created: I was on tour with Hawkwind in 1974, we were staying at the Riot House and Roy Wood and Wizzard were also in town. I got this urge to write a song in the middle of the night. I ran downstairs to the Wizzard room, got Roy's Ovation acoustic guitar, then hurried back to mine. I went on to the balcony and howled away for four hours. Cars were stopping and the drivers were listening then driving off, and there I was yelling away at the top of my voice." - Lemmy. The title of the song is British slang for a speed freak. The lyrics were explained by Lemmy: The six thousand miles was a reference to Los Angeles, and the rest is self-explanatory. And yes, I am the only person to fit the word 'parallelogram' into a rock'n'roll number! I'm very proud of that. There is a jazz-inspired violin solo break by keyboard player Simon House which, based on the verse/pre-chorus/chorus pattern, occurs after the second chorus. The original backing tracks for "Kings of Speed" were taken by Dave Brock from the Olympic Studios recording session, and he later added overdubs and re-released it through independent record companies. In July 1981 "Motorhead" was released as the A-side to a 7" and 12" single on the Flicknife label, this time having a Brock vocal and synthesizer overdubs, the B-side being "Valium Ten". Flicknife re-released the single as a 12" vinyl in October 1982. "Motorhead" was also used by Hawkwind on their 1986 single "Motorhead"/"Hurry on Sundown", released on Flicknife Records. From 1992 the song has been added to CD re-issues of Hawkwind's Warrior on the Edge of Time album. The song has also appeared on various compilation albums, such as British Tribal Music, The Hawkwind Collection and The Hawkwind Anthology Vol. II. ==Motörhead versions==

}} The song was re-recorded by Lemmy's subsequent band Motörhead and released on their 1977 debut album, Motörhead. It was also chosen for release as a 7" vinyl single in June 1977, although it failed to chart. Recorded at Escape Studios, Kent, it was initially issued with the 'Map of Chiswick' label, later it was switched to the 'Big Beat' label and pressed in other formats. Chiswick also released a special 12" vinyl edition which was limited to 12,500 copies. In September 1979 Chiswick released a 7" vinyl picture disc in two pressings, black & white, and blue & white as well as single colour pressings in black, blue, pink, orange and white vinyl. It fared much better than the original single and reached number six in the UK Singles Charts. Whereas the previous recording plays in E major, this recording plays in E♭, the same as the original Hawkwind version. and in 2021, Louder Sound ranked the song number seven on their list of the top 50 Motörhead songs. ==Other cover versions==

• 1981 - Cockney Rejects on Greatest Hits Vol. 3 - Live & Loud • 1990 - Lawnmower Deth on ''Ooh Crikey It's... Lawnmower Deth'' • 1993 - Corduroy as a single and on their Out of Here album • 1994 - The Nomads on their Showdown 1981-1993 album • 1995 - Poison Idea on "Pajama Party" • 1997 - Primal Scream on their Vanishing Point album • 1999 - Acid King as bonus track on the re-release of their Busse Woods album • 2003 - Unkle sampled the bass intro from the Hawkwind version for their song Blackout, featured on Never, Never, Land. • 2015 - Dutch band Death Alley released it as a 7" single which was sold during shows during 2015, but with the passing of Lemmy Kilmister they made it available online. • 2016 - The Go Getters on "Born to Raise Hell - A Rockabilly & Psychobilly Tribute to Motörhead in Memory of Lemmy Kilmister by various artists" ==References==