Motorhead – Motorhead.

In 1981 I walked into my local Woolworths. As usual I checked what the Number 1 album was. In this instance it was No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith by Motorhead. A band I had heard but not paid that much attention to. Soon the Motorhead logo was everywhere. T shirts on older kids in the park, patches on jackets – all the things an 11 year old notices as signs of cool. Weird thing is Motorhead naturally peaked with this album – a live album that took the bands hippier roots and smashed the post Punk scene apart with brutal Heavy Metal.

I bought the 7 inch picture disc of Motorhead – Motorhead (which peaked at Number 6 in the Singles chart) and it was a favourite of mine for a good while. Almost a pre-cursor to the Noise scene in the late 80’s the song is steeped in its past yet it’s speed and energy made it unique. The timing of success is a funny thing and Motorhead were pivotal in the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal even though they sounded like a Punk band with extra balls rather than Iron Maiden and their near classical interpretation of Heavy Metal. 1981 belonged to Motorhead and seemingly they stayed awake for its entire duration.

A Classic…