LEMMY: The BAM Interview, Pt. 2

[C.E. Anderson]

        And here's the second half ...

Forwarded message:
> Date: Fri, 13 Oct 1995 10:45:40 -0700
> From: LorryMU at eworld.com
> To: cea20 at cus.cam.ac.uk
> Subject: Re: Lemmy article in BAM
>
>
> You must upset a lot of people when you discuss these things with them!
>
> Yeah. Well, people don't like the truth. But I do like the truth. I like it
> because it upsets them. 'Cause if you show their arguments to be bullshit,
> then, you know, maybe just one of them at some time will go, "Oh! Wait a
> minute--I was wrong." That'd be good, wouldn't it?
>
>
> How do you think the music industry's changed over the past 20 years, since
> Motorhead began?
>
> Well, the music industry has always been shit. Good business is theft. I
> mean, if you had a good business day, you stole somebody's money. That's what
> good business is. People in the music industry think it's a commodity,
> salesmanship thing--you know, selling cans of beans. I mean, most of the
> people that promote bands have not even heard the bands they promote. They
> just get a name that comes up in the shuffle every month, and you go out and
> promote that, you know. And it's ludicrous when you see them trying to push
> that, 'cause they don't know what we are.
>
>
> Did you see music business people trying to push Hawkwind?
>
> Oh, yeah.
>
>
> What did they do?
>
> You know, Hawkwind representatives got a free tie-dyed T-shirt and shit, the
> usual. Dave [Brock, Hawkwind band leader] said we should send them all a tab
> of acid! One time, with Jimi Hendrix, the press all came down to the studio
> to get a free sandwich and a free drink and listen to "Axis: Bold As Love,"
> and we spiked all the sandwiches with acid, and all the coffee. And, of
> course, these record business bastards were all lapping it up, you know,
> cramming sandwiches in their mouths! In the fucking parking lot after the
> thing, it was like Fellini's "Satyricon." You should have seen it! People
> hiding under their cars, people hiding from their cars, people thinking they
> were a car. There was all kinds of shit going on there. There was one guy
> they never found again! I think he went to Malaysia. He just thought that the
> Western world wasn't the thing for him, and off he went to find the true
> golden path. He wrote back a few months later and said that's where he was.
> Another promising career in theft ruined. He's probably much happier where he
> is. He's probably dead, actually--probably got his throat cut on the way to
> Mecca by a band of brigands.
>
>
> How long have you lived in America now?
>
> Five years. Almost to the month.
>
>
> Do you enjoy living here?
>
> I can't imagine living in England again. I can't imagine how I lived there
> all that time. But that doesn't mean that America's better; it's just
> different. The sun shines, it's nice and everything, but I could do without
> that if I had to. But over here, there's many more amenities. I mean, I can
> get my shit delivered to the door from the grocers, stuff like that. And
> there's a lot more emphasis over here on give the customer what he wants,
> instead of what you think he needs, and I like that. But having said that,
> America's in a lot of trouble. It's a very racist place, from both sides.
>
>
> Is it more racist than England is?
>
> Oh yeah--well, England is probably about the same, but they're sneakier about
> it. See, we're great veterans of the diplomacy thing--you know, smile while
> sticking a knife in your neck, you know. We're very good at that shit. Like,
> we appeased Hitler, you know. There again, America never said, "No, don't!"
> Did you know Charles Lindberg was visiting Hitler?
>
>
> That's right! There's something else a lot of people would like to forget!
>
> Well, they don't want to hear about it, do they? It upsets their vision of
> the world. If their beliefs are shown to be bullshit, what have they got
> left? And it's too much trouble for people to change, you know. But they have
> to, sooner or later. I just like nudging them.
>
>
>
>