The Jukebox Rebel

Following an aborted attempt a couple of years earlier, Motörhead finally emerged with a debut album right in the middle of the punk explosion. The trio line-up: Lemmy Kilmister (31, lead vocals, bass), Eddie Clarke (26, guitar, backing vocals) and Phil Taylor (22, drums). With the band on the verge of calling it quits, they found a sympathetic ally in Ted Carroll, founder of Chiswick Records, who knew Lemmy as a customer from his London record store. One final gig, led to one final recording session for a farewell single, which led to a weekend recording session never to be forgotten as 'Fast' Eddie Clarke explained: “we had all Saturday and Sunday. We'd been playing these songs for a year, so we thought fuck it, we can do an album. In a few hours we had all the backing tracks down. Put the vocals down. Bit more speed, put some more guitars on. Few more beers – we were fucking steaming. Come Saturday night, we'd nearly finished it.” Gotta love them! In the circumstances, complaints about a muddy production (even from the band themselves) seem harsh; it has plenty to commend it as far I can hear, not least of which is the filthy adrenaline-fueled punker, “Motörhead”, which opens the set, putting the group's manifesto front and centre for all to see and hear. “A motorhead,” explains Lemmy, “is someone who talks all the time. I heard the expression and I thought it was rather apt. We play loud, fast, raucous, arrogant, paranoid, speed-freak rock’n’roll”. He talks the talk and walks the walk; they were all buzzing on amphetamines during the legendary weekender recording with the appropriately named ‘Speedy’ Keen as producer. “We were out of our heads. Speedy did 19 fucking mixes of Motorhead and said: ‘Which one do you like the best?’ I just pointed at one and said: ‘That one.’” And thus, his 1975 Hawkwind b-side was fully realised. All parties were rewarded with a #43 placing in the UK album chart. Forward march.

The Jukebox Rebel
09–Dec–2008

A1	[03:13] Motörhead - Motörhead (Ian Kilmister) Punk
A2	[03:39] Motörhead - Vibrator (Larry Wallis, Des Brown) Rock
A3	[04:15] Motörhead - Lost Johnny (Ian Kilmister, Mick Farren) Rock
A4	[05:21] Motörhead - Iron Horse / Born To Lose (Phil Taylor, Mick Brown, Guy Lawrence) Rock
B1	[02:38] Motörhead - White Line Fever (Eddie Clarke, Ian Kilmister, Phil Taylor) Rock
B2	[05:57] Motörhead - Keep Us On The Road (Eddie Clarke, Ian Kilmister, Phil Taylor, Mick Farren) Rock
B3	[04:30] Motörhead - The Watcher (Ian Kilmister) Rock
B4	[03:19] Motörhead - Train Kept A Rollin’ (Tiny Bradshaw, Howard Kay, Lois Mann) Rock

ratings by TJR