"Napalmed To The Bone" - It's Motörhead! Quiz

Answer: Hawkwind

It is said that revenge is a dish best served cold; if that is the case then that which Lemmy visited upon his former band mates came straight from the deep freeze! Lemmy didn't leave Hawkwind, he was sacked. Whilst on tour with the band in Canada during 1975 he was arrested for being in possession of drugs and during his five day incarceration he was, in his own words, "voted out" of Hawkwind. Released without charge, Lemmy returned to the United Kingdom where he supposedly extracted his revenge on his former band mates in a singularly effective manner. For those of you intrigued by this I suggest further reading as it cannot be discussed further on this family friendly site!

Answer: Rickenbacker

The distinctively styled Rickenbacker series basses have a natural raucousness to their tone at high amplification levels, a tone that complements Lemmy's gravelly voice perfectly. The first Rickenbacker basses, the 4000 series, entered the market as far back as 1957 and with few radical changes to the basic design and levels of equipment have remained basically unchanged since.

Other notable users of these fine instruments include Chris Squire of British art rock band Yes, Geddy Lee of Rush, who used this instrument in his band's early days, and Bruce Foxton of British mod-rock band The Jam.

The signature bass produced by the Rickenbacker Company for Lemmy, the limited edition 4004LK, features a three pickup equipment specification, special carvings and was made in a production run of just sixty units worldwide.

Answer: Silver Machine

Hawkwind's only hit single, 'Silver Machine', was released in June 1972 and reached the dizzying position of number three on the UK Singles Chart. 'Silver Machine' has been re-released on a number of other occasions during 1978 and again in 1983 where it achieved UK Singles Chart placing at numbers 34 and 67 respectively.

This single is also believed to have been re-released during 1976 but there appears to be no record of singles bearing this date in circulation. The lyrics to the song are based on the essay 'How to Construct a Time Machine' by Alfred Jarrey and interpreted by Hawkwind lyricist Bob Calvert who penned the song in collaboration with fellow Hawkwind member, Dave Brock.

Answer: The Roundhouse, London

The first performance made by the band with a line-up consisting of Ian 'Lemmy' Kilmister on bass and vocals, former Pink Fairies guitarist Larry Wallis on six string duties and Lucas Fox on drums took place at the Roundhouse, London on the 20th of July 1975 in support of the English progressive rock band, Greenslade.

The Roundhouse itself was officially opened in 1847 for the London & Birmingham Railway Company and was built by Robert Stephenson, son of the noted railway engineer George Stephenson, and architect Robert Dockray.

By the beginning of the Second World War it had fallen into disrepair and was virtually derelict. In 1964 the building was renovated and reopened as an arts centre named Centre 42, although the venue has always been known by audiences as The Roundhouse.

Many of the world's greatest music acts have performed at The Roundhouse over the decades, acts which include Pink Floyd, David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix. The Roundhouse possesses a Grade II* listing and was granted National Heritage Site status in 2010 which will ensure its future, as a building at least.

Answer: False

Why was Motörhead's guitarist named 'Fast' Eddie Clarke? Was it his playing style or his capacity to produce a song at the drop of a hat? Or was it his ability to obtain recreational drugs almost immediately on arrival at a gig? No, it was nothing so glamorous or as rock 'n roll as that; he gained his nickname whilst the band were being introduced to the crowd at a concert at the Electric Ballroom in the city of Manchester. Lemmy had introduced drummer Philip Taylor as 'Philthy Animal' and, stuck for something to say, he introduced Eddie Clarke as 'Fast Eddie'.

In an interview with on-line magazine 'Classic Rock Revisited' in 2014 the guitarist explained that he wasn't keen on the name in the beginning but it stuck and it certainly did his career no harm! 'Fast Eddie' Clarke has been credited with using both Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster guitars but on each and every occasion that I have seen Motorhead in live performance, it was the Fender that was his instrument of choice.

Answer: Leather jacket and bullet belt

At this stage in the band's career they were all living in squats and were surviving, according to Lemmy, on "a tenner (ten pounds) a week". At this time drummer Phil Taylor was working on renovations to a canal boat when he met Eddie Clarke who was also desperately short of money. Taylor invited Clarke to audition for Motörhead which resulted in the existing guitarist, Larry Willis, immediately leaving the band. Eddie Clarke has stated in interview that it took a few days for the band to get back to him after his audition and, when they did, he was woken one morning by Lemmy who simply thrust a leather jacket and bullet belt into Clarke's hands; with this Clarke officially became a member of Motörhead and completed their classic line-up.

Answer: Top of the Pops

Yes... You read that correctly; Motörhead actually appeared on the long-running television music show 'Top of the Pops' and guess what? Not just once. Their first appearance on this show took place on the 25th of October 1978 when they performed in support of their single 'Louie, Louie' which achieved a highest placing at number 68 on the UK Singles Chart. Their second occurred on the 9th of March 1979 in which they appeared to promote the single 'Overkill' from their album of the same name. This album reached the dizzy heights of number 24 on the UK Album Chart with the single also performing admirably to achieve a highest placing at number 39 on the UK Singles Chart. Motorhead also appeared on TOTP promoting their single 'Please Don't Touch' taken from the 'St. Valentine's Day Massacre EP', a collaborative project recorded during 1980.

'The Tube', which was broadcast on Channel 4 during the 1980s, was a more serious show in which the bands featured were required to perform their set entirely live with no pre-recording being permitted. 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' was broadcast on the BBC2 channel and featured a more eclectic mix of performers than any other music show then being broadcast. The show 'Supersonic' was aimed squarely at a teen audience and was broadcast on the ITV network in the very early evening when its core audience would have just arrived home from school.

Answer: Bomber

The album 'Bomber' was released on the Bronze record label on the 27th of October 1979 and was Motörhead's third studio album. Ultimately achieving a highest chart position at number 12 on the UK Album Chart, the album was released hot on the heels of the band's previous album 'Overkill' which was itself released almost seven months earlier in March 1979.

The album is notable for the track 'Step Down' in which the vocals for the song are provided by 'Fast Eddie' Clarke. Although 'Bomber' was never as popular with the band as their 1980 hit album 'Ace of Spades', the recording has highly proved popular with the band's fan base.

The track 'I Got Mine' from the unpopular 1983 album 'Another Perfect Day' is a personal favourite and the 1986 track 'Orgasmatron' from the album of the same name is, in my view, one of the heaviest rock tracks ever recorded to vinyl.

Answer: Hammersmith

Recorded during the last week of March 1981, the double live album 'No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith' was their second live recording. Released on the Bronze record label, the album achieved the number one position on the UK Album Chart gaining a gold certification in the process. Surprisingly, and I'm sure that it would've brought a smile to the faces of each band member at the time, none of the tracks on the album were recorded anywhere near the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham; in fact the closest city to London that any track from 'No Sleep...' was recorded is Leeds in South Yorkshire, some two hundred and five miles to the north! 'No Sleep...' has an entry at number 487 in the 2013 edition of the book '1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'; personally, I think it ought to be much higher than that, but you'd need to give it a listen and make a judgement about that for yourselves.

Answer: Girlschool

The collaboration between Motörhead and Girlschool began as far back as 1979 when Girlschool supported Motörhead on their tour promoting their album 'Overkill'. Eddie Clarke provided vocals, one of only five occasions that he did so during his career with Motörhead, on the song 'Emergency', a song recorded for the B-side of the collaboration EP 'The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre' with British all-female rock band Girlschool under the title Headgirl.

The single reached the number five spot on the UK Singles Chart. Musical duties on the EP were shared out amongst the members of both bands with the exception of the drum tracks; these were recorded exclusively by Girlschool's Denise Dufort. Phil Taylor took little part in the recording, the making of the accompanying video or television appearances promoting the single as he had broken his neck whilst playing a game of 'see who can lift everyone else above their head'! Considered to be the equal of any male guitarist by Lemmy himself, Girlschool's Kelly Johnson sadly passed away in 2007 after having suffered with cancer of the spine for a number of years. Girlschool are one of the world's longest lasting all-female rock bands and celebrated their thirty-eighth anniversary in the music business during 2016.

Answer: Wendy O. Williams

In 1982 Lemmy and Wendy O. Williams of US punk band The Plasmatics, duetted together to record a cover version of the song 'Stand By Your Man' made famous some years earlier by US country singer Tammy Wynette. Clarke felt deeply that this collaboration had compromised all of the band's principles and as a result he refused to play on the recording, resigning from Motörhead shortly afterward. Throwing the band into a panic as they were in the midst of a North American tour, this forced both Lemmy and Phil Taylor to the task of securing the services of a guitarist to take Clarke's place and complete the tour. Former Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson, who was at this time recording his own solo album north of the border in Canada, agreed to step in and finish the tour with Motörhead.

This led to Robertson also signing with the band for the recording of the band's next album during 1983. The singers Mark Mothersbaugh, Michael Monroe and Fee Waybill are, or were, the vocalists with the bands Devo, Hanoi Rocks and The Tubes respectively.

Answer: Another Perfect Day

During a live performance during 2010, Lemmy himself declared that this fine album had only sold "about twenty five copies and most of them were bought by Brian's (Robertson's) mum". Like a fine wine, 'Another Perfect Day' matured over the years and many of the songs included on it became great live performance favourites with the fans; these include 'I Got Mine', 'Back at the Funny Farm' and 'Rock it'.

This album's recording was fraught with difficulties; the former Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson had been drafted in to replace Fast Eddie Clarke and it quickly became apparent that he was a square peg in a round hole.

Although technically a finer musician than any of his band mates, Robertson's attitude toward the band set him off on the wrong foot almost from day one. Unsurprisingly, turning out on stage with Lemmy and Taylor wearing shorts and dance shoes did not enamour him to his leather clad band mates! Lemmy is on record as saying that the band line-up on 'Another Perfect Day' was the lowest point in his band's career.

Answer: Liver failure

Born near Chesterfield, Derbyshire on the 21st of September 1954, Philip 'Philthy Animal' Taylor had a colourful youth at one stage being a proud member of the band of football hooligans that followed his favourite team, Leeds United F.C. Taylor only began playing the drums after his father, sick to death with his son's exploits, gave him a drum kit and told him that from that day onward the only thing he wanted to see his son beat was the drum kit. Philip Taylor met Lemmy and became great friends after he had given the bassist a lift to the recording studio in which Lemmy's band were recording their first album. Taylor's drumming style, a double bass drum barrage, has often been cited as being the defining factor in the birth of the thrash metal genre.

He didn't gain his 'Philthy Animal' moniker for no good reason either as he was renowned for never washing whilst the band were on tour! It was inevitable that his rock and roll life of excess would eventually be his undoing; he was the only member of the band and its entourage that was willing to and could keep pace with Lemmy when it came to the intake of drugs and alcohol, an excess which finally led to his death from liver failure.

Answer: Snaggletooth

'Snaggletooth'... a word used to describe a projecting tooth. No-one can deny that Motörhead's mascot possesses more than its fair share of projecting teeth! The band's mascot was designed by American artist Joe Petagno in 1975 whilst working on artwork for another of Lemmy's early bands, whose name cannot be repeated here (once again) on this family friendly site! Inspired by a book about animal skulls that Petagno had come across one evening in Chelmsford Library, Snaggletooth is a hybrid of the features of the skulls belonging to the wolf, gorilla and wild boar accentuated by chains, an Iron Cross and a human skull.

This mascot is purported to represent individuality, resistance and rebellion. The other mascots mentioned here, Eddie, Not Man and Pinhead are the mascots for the bands Iron Maiden, Anthrax and The Ramones respectively.

Answer: Bourbon

If there is a single fact about the life and career of Lemmy that should come as a surprise, it's the fact that he actually reached the ripe old age that he did! If you've played this quiz and have got this far, you're a fan and there is little point in me telling you too much about the career of this individual. Lemmy, real name Ian Kilmister, was born in Stoke-on-Trent, England on the 24th of December 1945, but raised in North Wales. Moving back to Stockport, Cheshire (now Greater Manchester) as a teenager, Lemmy spent the 1960s as a member of a number of largely unheard of bands, although he did enjoy some limited success as the rhythm guitarist with the Rockin' Vickers, a band who had some success with three singles and who embarked on a European tour. In 1967 Lemmy was sharing a flat with Noel Redding of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and found employment for a time as a roadie for that band. In 1971 Lemmy joined the London based space rock band Hawkwind; his tenure with this band is well documented and further comment here is unnecessary! It would not be overstating the case to say that, as a band, Motorhead quickly garnered a reputation for hell-raising, womanising, drinking, smoking and gambling and tales of their exploits have become legendary. As he grew older Lemmy developed diabetes and also experienced problems with his heart which curtailed the behaviour of the previous three decades, so much so that he actually gave up drinking his beloved Jack Daniels! Diagnosed with a particularly aggressive cancer that had been revealed in his head and neck after a scan, Lemmy passed away peacefully in his sleep on the 28th of December 2015 just four days after his seventieth birthday.

"Death is an inevitability, isn't it? You become more aware of that when you get to my age. I don't worry about it. I'm ready for it. When I go, I want to go doing what I do best. If I died tomorrow, I couldn't complain. It's been good."

That says it all.