Ian "
Lemmy" Kilmister
died this week at the age of 70. If you don't know what Lemmy means to metal, or just rock in general, then I'm not going to be able to explain it to you. Exhibit A: NPR did a story
about his passing. NPR. Think about that. Words like "icon", "legend", and "pioneer" are often casually tossed around, but in this case they're appropriate. Quoting from a
Guardian story from this summer:
Lemmy is as much a collection of myths and legends as a man. In the popular imagination, he’s made up of equal parts Jack Daniel’s, amphetamine sulphate, Nazi memorabilia and extreme-velocity noise. The myths and legends cloak him as surely as the black shirt, the black jeans, the custom-made boots, the cowboy hat with its “Death or Glory” insignia and the Iron Cross around his neck.
Of course, Lemmy is best known as the vocalist & bassist -- and only permanent member -- for
Motorhead. Motorhead, of course, is the seminal band that first combined outlaw biker imagery with a
punk style / ethos & metal heaviness, although Lemmy always insisted they were simply a "rock-n-roll band". Furthermore, he was innovative in that he played bass like it was a lead instrument and not rhythm. But before there was Motorhead, there was
Hawkwind -- the seminal space rock group, featuring
fluid membership,
Michael Moorcock inspired imagery & lyrics, and nearly limitless
Spinal Tap-esque cliches (including one of the first appearances of the
heavy metal umlaut).
I could memorialize Lemmy with any of numerous excellent Motorhead songs, but instead I'll choose Hawkwind's 1972 single, "
Silver Machine", which he didn't even write but I believe was the first song on which he sang lead (he was not the primary vocalist for Hawkwind), and turned out to be Hawkwind's only "hit" song. Although Lemmy would not be
fired from Hawkwind for another three years, this is probably the song that set him on the path from "band member" to "band leader".
I believe
this video is the one shown on
BBC's Top of the Pops in 1972 (instead of having the band in the studio lip syncing). It features Lemmy in his pre-Motorhead, all black garb. The sound is early-70s groovy, the studio version is badly synced with the concert footage, which features bubbles, a
flautist (!) and, of course, a
dancer. You can't make this stuff up. Despite (because of?) all that, the song rawks and I love it. Danette hates it, for all of the same reasons listed above, though she does like Motorhead in general.
A month ago, The Atlantic had an article featuring Lemmy and entitled "
Twilight of the Headbangers: How long can the legends of heavy metal keep on rocking?". Not long enough, though I think we have to count ourselves lucky that he made it to 70.
Hawkwind - "
Silver Machine"
