MotorHead & Legendary Pink Dots Reccommendations please

[Andy Gilham]

OK.

If you like compilations, _No Remorse_ is hard to surpass, an excellent
record of Motorhead up to whenever it was, mid-80s or so.

However, my favourite is still the first, _Motorhead_.  It's a different
beast from what Motorhead later became, it's more of a hard'n'heavy
blues-rock album than the slight self-caricature they later became; but you
do get seminal classics like "Iron Horse (Born to Lose)", "Motorhead"
itself, and the utterly superb "Keep us on the Road".  The CD comes with the
other tracks from the session, which became a b-side and the "Beer Drinkers"
ep.  Eclectic choice of cover versions, from ZZ Top to John Mayall, and with
tracks from Larry Wallis, even though he'd left by then, and the songs Lemmy
had written for Hawkwind.  Recorded in a couple of days, basically they just
went through their stage set two or three time in the studio and put it on
vinyl.  Rough as a badger's arse, but vital and awesome.

Motorhead live:  Bomber tour, Cambridge Corn Exchange, Easter 1980.  Me and
my pal Mark get there early so we're at the front.  Means we have a bit of a
dialogue with Biff from Saxon, who claim to be louder than Motorhead.  We
laugh a lot.  Anyway, Motorhead arrive, and they're bloody loud.  Like a
freight train a yard away.  So obviously, we shout "it's not loud enough",
"can't hear you", etc etc.  Gradually it gets louder.  Now it's like 88mm
cannon going off in your head.  Finally, as in madness we're still going,
"turn it up", Lemmy looks down at us, shakes his head apologetically, and
says, "sorry, can't get it no louder", turning his guitar and stage amps to
the maximum to prove it.  Secretly we're relieved, but we still shout, "it's
STILL not loud enough, can't you turn it up a bit PLEASE!!!"  So Lemmy waves
at the sound guy at the back, and says, "there's a couple of blokes down
here who say it's not loud enough.  So turn it up!"

Sound guy clearly forgets about mixing and just pushes everything to 10.
Don't think I could ever tell what the next number was, but hardened
headbangers fled from anywhere near the speaker bins.  Leaning against the
stage as we were, we were out of the direct line of fire of the PA, but it
was still like the First World War in a phone box.  My ears rang for three
days and nights and my left ear still isn't quite what it was.

What a great gig!

(Saw them last year, though, and they just weren't loud enough.)

- Andy

mailto:Andy.Gilham at btinternet.com; http://www.btinternet.com/~andy.gilham