Song:Ace Of Spades
Album:Best Of
I guess it could be said that Motorhead is the definitive power rock trio. They were mostly an album and touring band though they scored some hit singles in England. Ace Of Spades was one of their early hits and a signature song. Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister was the leader of Motorhead. He was fired from the popular space rock band Hawkwind for a 1975 drug possession arrest in Canada. So he formed a new band Motorhead after the last song he wrote for Hawkwind. Motorhead was heavily influenced by MC5. Kilmister wanted the music to be loud and fast. He brought in guitarist Larry Wallis who had been in The Pink Fairies among others and drummer Lucas Fox. After a few gigs, Motorhead signed with United Artists which was Hawkwind's label. They recorded with Dave Edmunds producing. During the sessions, Fox proved to be unreliable and he was replaced by Kilmister's friend Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor. UA didn't like the album and shelved it. When Motorhead added second guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke, Wallis left. They were going to split up and Ted Carroll of Chiswick Records was going to record their farewell gig. Instead they recorded the 1977 album Motorhead which Chiswick released. Then they got a new manager who got them out of the UA contract and signed them to Bronze Records. They had chart success with singles like Louie Louie, Overkill and Bomber. This led to the 1980 album Ace Of Spades produced by Vic Maile who produced Hawkwind. This was Motorhead's first US release on Mercury. The single Ace Of Spades reached #15 on the British Singles chart. And the album was certified Gold in England. After that Motorhead had international success as an album and touring band. Clarke left in 1982 to form Fastway. He was replaced by Phil Campbell and Michael "Wurzel" Burston. Taylor left in 1984 but returned in 1987. After a legal dispute with Bronze, Motorhead eventually signed with Epic. They also recorded for the German label Steamhammer. Sanctuary now owns the rights to Motorhead's catalog and they released this budget comp. Motorhead continued to record and tour until Kilmister died on Dec. 28, 2015 at age 70. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Motorhead's popularity with WWE fans after performing the theme for Paul "HHH" Levesque. Kilmister and Levesque became close friends and Levesque spoke at his funeral. Here's the video for Ace Of Spades by Motorhead.
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