ROCK IN PEACE (Dec 2015) LEMMY..The Man , The Myth, The Legend

When I heard Lem had passed, I was a bit stunned, but I sort of knew he had a rough year (if the pictures are anything to go on) and just maybe he wasnt long for this world...

What can I say about the legend called Lemmy that wont show me up to be a quivering super fan...He was a genius, He was indestructible, he played a mean fkn bass...His gone, Its fair to say that he got me through all sort of shit (that I dont care to think about)...Bottom line, The World is now a lesser place without him in it.....I've  had the pleasure of seeing Motorhead in London in '87, and '91 in Melbourne  i was deaf for two days afterwards both times BUT they had me hooked well and truly...I have since proceeded to get a goodly percentage of Motorhead releases...must say my favourite line-up was the one with Wurzel, Phil Campbell, Lem and Philthy Animal Taylor on drums...mind you the current lineup is a roaring success .....SO ...to the man himself

Lemmy positions his microphone in an uncommonly high position, angled so that he appears to be looking up at the sky rather than at the audience. He said that it was for "personal comfort, that's all. It's also one way of avoiding seeing the audience. In the days when we only had ten people and a dog, it was a way of avoiding seeing that we only had ten people and a dog"

Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister born on 24 December 1945 in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England...you know, where Slash was born....,

He is best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, principal songwriter and the founding and sole constant member of the rock band Motörhead....he said in an interview that after he travelled to Liverpool and saw the Beatles at the Cavern, he was hooked....

.in 1965 he joined The Rockin' Vickers who signed a deal with CBS, released three singles and toured Europe, reportedly being the first British band to visit Yugoslavia....after the Vicars became a cabaret act who couldnt get arrested south of Birmingham, Lem joined the space rock band, Hawkwind, in 1971 who were based in Ladbroke Grove, London, as a bassist and vocalist.

Although he is well known for banging away at Rickenbackers initially in the early Hawkwind days he had no previous experience as a bass guitarist, but quickly developed a distinctive style that was strongly shaped by his early experience as a rhythm guitarist in the Vicars, 

often using double stops and chords rather than the single note lines preferred by most bassists. His bass work was a fundamental part of the Hawkwind sound during his tenure, perhaps best documented on Space Ritual. He also provided the lead vocals on a number of songs, including the band's biggest UK chart single, "Silver Machine", which reached No.3 in 1972.....

then they sacked him due to, as Lem puts it, drug snobbery...they were on pot and mushrooms while Lemmy was a speedfreak...so anyway, Lem went back to London, shagged three of Hawkwinds members wives, and got on about creating a band that the likes of which the world had never seen....MOTORHEAD

Lemmy has also worked with a number of other musicians over his career and occasionally guests with Hawkwind. He wrote the song "R.A.M.O.N.E.S" for the Ramones, which he still plays in his live sets as a tribute to the band. He was brought in as a songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's 1991 No More Tears album, providing lyrics for the tracks "Hellraiser", (which Motörhead would later record themselves and release a single), "Desire", "I Don't Want to Change the World" and the single "Mama I'm Coming Home". Lemmy has noted in several magazine and television interviews that he made more money from the royalties of that one song than he had in his entire time with Motörhead.

After being diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes in 2000, which led to a brief hospitalisation, Lemmy again appeared with Motörhead at WrestleMania 17. Lemmy published his autobiography, White Line Fever in November 2002.

Lemmy is well known for his lifelong large intake of alcohol. In the ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC documentary Live Fast Die Old, it was revealed that he drinks a bottle of Jack Daniel's every day and has done so since he was 30 years old.

During Lemmy's time with Hawkwind, he developed an appetite for amphetamines and LSD and was to become renowned for his use of amphetamines. Before joining Hawkwind, he recalled Dik Mik, a former Hawkwind sound technician, visiting his squat in the middle of the night and taking speed with him. 

He'd jump about without stopping", which they did for a few months, until Mik ran out of money and wanted to return to Hawkwind, taking Lemmy with him.....Lem says his tried a vast variety of drugs— except smack and morphine: I've never shot up anything he says

In November 2005, he was invited to the Welsh Assembly as a guest speaker by Tory Welsh assembly member William Graham. He was asked to express his views on the detrimental effects of drugs.

However he shocked the Assembly members and Welsh public when he called for the legalization of heroin: "I have never had heroin but since I moved to London from North Wales in '67 I have mixed with junkies on a casual and almost daily basis," he said. "I also lived with a young woman who tried heroin just to see what it was like. 

t killed her three years later. I hate the idea even as I say it, but I do believe the only way to treat heroin is to legalise it." He stated that legalization would eradicate the drug dealer from society

Recently some film making genius's made the highly successful doco LEMMY 49 % Muthaf**ker- 51 % Son of a bitch....I got the dvd AND the fkn t-shirt....go get yourself a copy,  its the best thing made about him EVER

A PRETTY FAIR LIST LEMMY'S NON-MOTORHEAD RELEASES:

As a member of The Rockin' Vickers

1965 – "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" / "Stella" (7" single)

1965 – "It's Alright" / "Stay By Me" (7" single)

1966 – "Dandy" / "I Don't Need Your Kind" (7" single)

2000 – The Complete: It's Alright (compilation)

As a member of Hawkwind

1972 – "Silver Machine" / "Seven by Seven" (7" single)

1972 – Glastonbury Fayre – contains "Silver Machine" and "Welcome to the Future"

1972 – Greasy Truckers Party – contains "Born to Go" and "Master of the Universe" (

1972 – Doremi Fasol Latido

1973 – "Lord of Light" / "Born to Go" (7" single)

1973 – "Urban Guerrilla" / "Brainbox Pollution" (7" single)

1973 – Space Ritual

1974 – Hall of the Mountain Grill

1974 – "Psychedelic Warlords" / "It's So Easy" (7" single)

1975 – "Kings of Speed" / "Motorhead" (7" single)

1975 – Warrior on the Edge of Time

1983 – The Weird Tapes (live and out-takes, 1967–1982)

1984 – The Earth Ritual Preview EP

1985 – Bring Me the Head of Yuri Gagarin (live 1973)

1985 – Space Ritual#Volume 2 (live 1972)

1986 – Hawkwind Anthology (live and out-takes, 1967–1982)

1991 – BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (live 1972)

1992 – The Friday Rock Show Sessions (live 1986)

1997 – The 1999 Party (live 1974)

Side projects and career spanning

1990 – Lemmy & The Upsetters – Blue Suede Shoes

2000 – Lemmy, Slim Jim & Danny B (aka The Head Cat) – Lemmy, Slim Jim & Danny B

2006 – The Head Cat – Fool's Paradise

2006 – The Head Cat – Rockin' the Cat Club: Live from the Sunset Strip

2006 – Lemmy – Damage Case (Compilation)

2007 – Keli Raven & Lemmy Kilmister "Bad Boyz 4 Life" (single).

2011 – The Head Cat – Walk The Walk... Talk The Talk

Gimme a D..Gimme a ARKNESS

The last time I saw a leopard skin jumpsuit was...shit, last week on a Steel Panther video, but before that, the last time I saw one was when Justin Hawkins had squeezed his arse into one..HUH, WHAT, you dunno who Justin Hawkins is ....geez, I best learn you up, hey?...

The music industry trumpeted loudly (and proudly I suspect) when grunge showed up and announced that Glam / hair metal was dead...and maybe it was..FOR A LITTLE BIT, then the Hawkins brothers showed up and turned the music world on its earhole...

The first time I saw the clip for I believe in a thing called love, I was hooked, the album was just awesome, it had the riffs and the hooks required to have the listener having a grouse time, the second album was just as good, the modern classic  "One way Ticket to hell and back" was, probably, the best song they had done...lyrically it suggests that the Justin might of had a minor peruvian marching dust problem, which funnily enough HE DID....I had the pleasure to see them at the Big day Out in Sydney, I was probabaly the oldest bugger at the gig, but I cared not a jot....

Anyway the guys have the tunes, they got the look, they got the sense of ridiculous..they got IT...I think its fair to suggest that Justin and his bro are BIG fans of Freddie Mercury, Slade, The Sweet, among others...mind you, Lemmy wasnt a fan of Justins, but me and Lem cant agree on everything....NOW a bit of hystery on the guys

The Darkness formed Lowestoft, Suffolk, England in 2000. The band as it stands consists of Justin Hawkins (lead vocals, guitar), his brother Dan Hawkins (guitar, backing vocals), Frankie Poullain (bass, backing vocals) and Ed Graham (drums)

The Darkness came to prominence with the release of their debut album, Permission to Land, in 2003. Backed by the singles "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", "Growing on Me", "Get Your Hands off My Woman", and "Love is Only a Feeling", the album was certified quadruple platinum in the United Kingdom, with sales of over 1,300,000.

After extensive touring in support of their debut album, Frankie Poullain left the band in 2005, and was replaced by former guitar technician Richie Edwards. The band's second studio album, One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back, was released in November 2005 and the title track continued on in the vein of the ridiculous the guys had created.

 The following year, Justin Hawkins departed from the band after succumbing to and then successfully completing a course of rehabilitation from alcohol and cocaine problems.

As a result, the remaining members formed Stone Gods, which I must admit to not have heard any of their stuff, Dan and the rest continued to perform and record without Justin, who subsequently fronted his own project, Hot Leg, which I have heard and is the grouse

On 15 March 2011, much to my sheer delight, The Darkness announced reunion shows, with original bassist Frankie Poullain, including Download Festival 2011, and the Isle of Wight Festival 2012, and stated that they were currently working on their third studio album.... which they have completed and its called Hot Cakes

http://www.theactualdarkness.com/home/

4500 TIMES (I've played a Quo album)

First time I'd heard of the boys, was when I saw Status Quo at Randwick racecourse (with Slade and aussie bands, Caravan and Lindisfarne) in late 1973..suffice it to say, I was hooked totally...they were loud, they were cool and they rocked, yeh, yeh, Slade looked great, BUT Quo were dressed like us in the audience..I saw them again on the Rocking All Over the World tour in 78 at the Hordern Pavillion...

and I was surprised to see Alan Lancaster on stage, cause he didnt show up to flim the video of Rockin, the band actually had a Alan size puppet playing bass on the video..I thought he was out of the band..anyway, I, like anybody else in the Denim Army, bought a few Quo albums, my favourite, probably still is, was the Live in Glasgow album...what a rocking album...I can shut my eyes and still, to this day hear the bloke introducing the band..

IS THERE ANYBODY THATS WANTS ROCK..Is there anybody who wants to ROLL..and ..IS there anybody out there who wants to BOOGIE...TONIGHT...live at the Apollo GLASGOW, we have the number One rock'n'roll band in the land..will you welcome the MAGNIFICENT ...STATUS QUO...

Hey, what about that for an intro...AWESOME....the next time I saw the band live in any way, was on the End of the Road '84 vhs tape...I thought it was a good gig, recently I saw a Francis interview and he said they were all coked of their nuts and you can tell the chemistry between them was just about history..I went back and checked and his right, it was a bit of a shocker..I must had a guts fulla bourbon when I watched it the first time...HAHAAAAA.

ANYWAY...some history of the boys for ya....

The origins of Status Quo were in the rock and roll band "The Spectres" formed in 1962

 The Spectres signed a five-year deal with Piccadilly Records, releasing two singles that year, "I (Who Have Nothing)" and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" (written by Alan Lancaster), and one the next year called "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" ...All three singles bombed miserably.......Then after a spell in the toilet writing some songs Francis came up with Pictures of Matchstick men, which turned their fortunes about ....

BUT...after seeing Fleetwood Mac one night , the boys all realised they liked the "shuffling" boogie beat and decided from  that point to ditch the flower power clothes and grow the hair and become a boogie band......and we all know what happened after that....

ONE OF THE GREATEST LIVE ALBUMS ....EVER !!

From 1977 onwards, the band's sound became more polished as they used more famous producers, these included Roger Glover from Deep Purple, who was the first outside producer to work with Quo since Pye's John Schroeder in the early 1970s and produced "Wild Side of Life" and its B-side "All Through The Night" in 1976.

1977's Rockin' All Over the World's title track, a minor hit for its writer John Fogerty (formerly of Creedence Clearwater Revival) became one of Status Quo's most enduring anthems. Sales remained high in the UK throughout the 1980s, but tensions within the band and a serious drinking problem saw John Coghlan leaving the band late in 1981.

His replacement was Pete Kircher from the 1960s pop band Honeybus. This line-up played its last  gig at the infamous 1984  Milton Keynes Bowl show, although the band were contracted to record more albums. Status Quo's final appearance with the Kircher line-up opened the Live Aid charity event at Wembley in July 1985.

Rossi recorded and released two solo singles with long-time writing partner Bernie Frost.

Rick Parfitt however recorded a solo album, Recorded Delivery, with bass player John "Rhino" Edwards and drummer Jeff Rich...then in mid 85, Rossi, Parfitt and Bown, along with Edwards and Rich, started work on a new Status Quo album.

Then came the legal shit storm by Alan Lancaster, who by this time had settled in Australia, joining the Party Boys and forming  The Lancaster Bombers,  took out a legal injunction to stop the band from using the Status Quo name on any records, citing his increasing musical differences with the group.

 The specific dispute concerned two tracks which became hit singles for the group around that time. Lancaster had written the track "Ol' Rag Blues", but was angered when the producers chose to release a version with Rossi singing the lead vocal in preference to the one sung by himself. The injunction also prevented the release of a single, "Naughty Girl", for which a catalogue number was issued by Vertigo....yeh, petty hey?

An out-of-court settlement was made in January 1986, enabling the new Status Quo to continue recording the In The Army Now album, of which "Naughty Girl" was reworked as "Dreamin'". and Alan Lancaster formally left Status Quo formally in 1987.

On 12 July 1986 they played at Queen's Live at Wembley '86 concert.

The commercially successful In the Army Now album was released in 1986, the single of the same name becoming one of the band's biggest selling UK singles, reaching number 2. The following album, Ain't Complaining, released in 1988, didnt do as good but did the rocking tune "Burning Bridges" on it which got to number 5. .....

This was later turned into the greatest song in the history of human existence  when it was re-recorded (with new lyrics) in April 1994 with Manchester United F.C. as "Come on You Reds" ...excuse me, I slipped on my soccer hat there for a second...HAHAHAHA....Bands have done some unique things to promote an album BUT..to promote the release of the "Rock 'Til You Drop" album (1991), Quo performed four arena gigs across the UK in the space of a single day, earning them a place in the Guinness Book of Records..

Then came an album I quite enjoyed , Famous in the Last Century (2000) consisted almost entirely of covers (with the only exception being the title track to the latter). The former brought some chart success for Quo with covers of Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" and The Beach Boys' "Fun, Fun, Fun". The band became involved in an acrimonious dispute with pommy radio after the station refused to include the "Fun Fun Fun" single on the radio station's playlist.

In December 2005, it was announced that Parfitt had been taken ill and was undergoing tests for throat cancer. All subsequent dates of the UK tour were cancelled as a result. However, the growths in Parfitt's throat were later found to be benign and were successfully removed.

 In May 2006, a fully recovered Parfitt and the band returned to the NEC Birmingham to play the show that they had postponed in December. This was their 40th show at the venue, and was recorded for a DVD, entitled "Just Doin' It", which I own and have roaring through the cans on a reglar basis....

On the 1 July 2007, they performed in front of 63,000 people at the newly built Wembley Stadium as part of the Concert for Diana. .....Their twenty-eighth studio album, In Search of the Fourth Chord, was released on the band's own Fourth Chord label in September 2007 in the UK

In 2008, they teamed up with German techno group Scooter to record a jumpstyle version of their 1979 single "Whatever You Want" entitled "Jump That Rock (Whatever You Want)"...... In December 2008, they released their 75 th single and first Christmas single, entitled "It's Christmas Time", which peaked at No. 40 in the UK Singles Chart

And then came something that Francis and Rick (and me just quietly) would never have expected, they both were awarded an  OBE  each in the New Year Honours 2010 for their services to music.

There will be a reunion of the original four members (Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan) in March 2013, and the original lineup will also record an album in 2013.

But unlike KISS, the project will exist alongside the current lineup of the band, which will also release a new record next year a soundtrack to their movie Bula Quo! which will have 6 re-recorded classics and 6 new songs........AND...Just recently the Quo and their song "Down Down" has been showing up on Coles Supermarket commercials ( must of got a quid or six for that I reckon) so, there you go...

QUO's Website

http://www.statusquo.co.uk/index.html

TIME TO BOOGIE....seeya next time