A

Ace Of Spades: Though it's the most popular of all Motorhead songs, Lemmy is fed up with this one. He despises that this is the only song that most people associate the group by. The last few years he's in fact been singing "The Eight Of Spades" and people cannot notice. One thing that most people don't know is that on the album cover (where the band are dressed as the cowboys from Hell), the spades on Lemmy's trouser are only on one leg which is why he could only be photographed from one side.

Alcohol (and drunkeness!): Lemmy's favourite drink is Bourbon with coke. He can't stand Scotch. His favourite bourbon is Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Wild Turkey, Maker's Mark. He goes through one bottle of whisky a day, whether he needs it or not, yet he never gets drunk anymore. That is bad news for any young band that tours with Motorhead and attempt to keep up with the big man's drinking - with regrettable consequences! Apparantly, Phil and Mikkey are very entertaining when drunk. Phil is a cider drinker whereas Mikkey drinks Amstel.

B

Bastard: Motorhead's original name, hence the name of the album "Bastards". They were forced to change it because they were told they couldn't appear on the TV show Top Of The Pops with a name like that.

Biker Image: Despite the Hell's Angels/biker image that surrounds Motorhead, Lemmy in fact does not ride a motorbike. He hates them and cannot ride them anyway. He fell off the one he rode in the "Killed By Death" video. Also see Hell's Angels and Driving.

Blues: Lemmy describes Motorhead as a blues band, only they do it faster. His greatest influence is Little Richard and the song "Good Golly Miss Molly" which is what got him started.

Bomber lighting rig: The legendary lighting rig shaped as a WWII bomber with spinning lights was last used about 20 years ago. It was put away for storage in a shed at Norfolk, England. When the shed was on the verge of collapsing, the rig was left to hold the shed up. Later, gypsies stole parts of the Bomber. Motorhead always loved to have it back for their gigs, but had no plans... until the 25th Anniversary concert on 25th October 2000, for which the Bomber was rebuilt and used in the show to delight the audience with its comeback.

C

Christianity: Lemmy hates religion. And it's ironic that he was born on 24th December 1945, yes - Christmas Eve folks! And to top that, his father was a vicar! But on of his pre-Motorhead bands - The Rocking Vicars - had nothing to do with his father's occupation.

Coma: Lemmy's words on his greatest achievement: "When we made a tape for a kid and brought him out of a coma. Back in, what was it, 1980 I think. Or '81. This kid was in a hospital after his back was crushed, in a coma. And we made a tape, you know. All three of us going, wake up and all that type of stuff. . And he woke up. I don't know if it was just our tape, but it's a nice feeling."

D

Damage a Trois: A strange and humorous name, this is one of the titles previously suggested for Motorhead's "Snake Bite Love" album, but it was changed because nobody seemed to get it.

Death: Lemmy promises that Motorhead will keep going until the day he dies. He quotes "After I die, there'll be no Motorhead because you couldn't get a singer to do this or play bass like that. You probably could but it wouldn't really work. I'll continue until I drop fuckin' dead." When suggested that he might die on stage he laughed, "Lets hope that I fall with some grace. I'll probably land on some ugly tattooed woman."

Driving: Lemmy doesn't drive anymore - he hasn't done so since 1966!!!

Drugs: These days, the drugs of Lemmy's choice are Alcohol (becaue it's legal) and Amphetamine (speed). Before forming Motorhead, Lemmy was thrown out of Hawkwind for being arrested at the Canadian border for the possession of a drug which the police suspected of being cocaine - it turned out to be speed. Go to http://www.hawkwind.com/cutting6.htm for article on this. Lemmy was once advised by a doctor not to stop taking speed or his heart would pack up because of the way his body adjusted towards it. Lemmy jokes that his blood is no longer blood but a chemical compound of some sort - changing it to whole blood would now kill him. Speed is also referenced in the band's name - see Motorhead, the name and song.

In 1968 Lemmy was arrested for the possession of cannabis resin.

E

Eddie "Fast Eddie" Clarke: From Motorhead's classic line-up, he quit in 1982 upset over a song Lemmy recorded with Wendy O. Williams from the anarcho-punk band The Plasmatics - the song was a comical cover of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man". But on January 12th 1997, Eddie appeared as surprise guest when Motorhead played at the London Astoria. Eddie joined them for the closing song "Overkill". Lemmy introduced him to the audience as "Clarkey!" and funny enough nobody recognised him with his short grey hair. He was more recognisable at Motorhead's 25th Anniversary concert on 22nd October 2000 when he grew his locks. There he was guest guitarist for the songs "The Chase Is Better Than The Catch" and "Overkill".

F

Fights: As a kid, Lemmy used to get into a lot of those for being the only English pupil at a Welsh school. He never used to win any because he was always outnumbered 700 to 1! Lemmy says that's the reason why he's still very fit for his age - because he used to run a lot to avoid getting caught by bullies.

First Shag: Lemmy: "Fucking disastrous. But I've made up for it since. I was 13. You don't know what you're fucking doing. You're just hoping for the best and diving in there. It was on a beach, as well. That fucking sand gets everywhere - even under your foreskin."

Flares: Check out this skeleton-in-the-closet - when Lemmy played with the Rocking Vicars in his pre-Motorhead days, he and the rest of the band were wearing bright clothes and flare trousers. If you want to see Lemmy as you would never imagine him, just take a look at any photo of him with that band!

Football / Soccer: Lemmy hates football, probably because his stepfather played for Bolton Wanderers and that's all he would talk about. Lemmy once commented "In the Battle of The Somme in 1916 the 'boys' apparently went into battle kicking a football ahead of them... just before they got mowed down in their thousands." Phil Campbell is a fan of U.K. football team Manchester United.

Forgetting Lyrics: Though Lemmy does have a great memory, there are times when he forgets the words to songs he's singing on stage. He sometimes sings the first verse three times when this happens - and he gets away with it. He says that nobody can hear him anyway because he sounds like a gorilla on valium.

G

Gambling: This is Lemmy's greatest vice. He has his own one-armed bandit which he satisfies his gambling thirst by. If those machines were made legal in California then he wouldn't be able to afford his war memorabilia collection.

Girls: see Women and First Shag.

Ghost: Lemmy: "I've seen a ghost. We hired a cottage on the Yorshire Moores one winter and got snowed in on the first night. About four o'clock in hte morning, our manager started screaming so we went into his room. He was totally white and he said, 'Something's got hold of me'. He insisted we have a seance, so we sat around a table and and held hands and he said, 'Spirit of the house, come down'. The front door slammed shut - and at that point I was shitting myself. Then we heard footsteps coming up the corridor outside. They stopped outside the door and then the door in the other room opened and slammed shut, and a girl started crying upstairs. She cried all night until daylight.

Guitar playing: Lemmy quotes on being a lead guitarist: "I was a really bad guitarist. I used to fool people by moving my fingers around really fast." He was rhythm guitarist with The Rocking Vicars in his early days and handled that better. He switched to playing bass when he joined Hawkwind - the story is that he auditioned for lead guitar, then they decided they didn't need one, the bass player in the meantime had left his bass in the van so Lemmy jumped in and took his job!

H

Hell's Angels: As suggested by songs like "Iron Horse (Born To Lose)", Lemmy has close ties with the legendary biker gang, yet has never been part of it despite rumours saying that he was kicked out of it. He used to live with a couple of them when Motorhead just started. As a tradition, Hells Angels are often invited backstage when Motorhead play in England.

History: Lemmy has a vast interest in history and says that he wouldn't mind switching his career into that direction. He is especially interested in the WWII period because that ended on the same year he was born (1945) and he was surrounded by men coming back home with medals.

Hobby: Lemmy's hobby is collecting war memorabilia. He has the fifth biggest collection in America. Speaking about one thing he would like to add to his collection: "I should get a Tiger tank and go to the Rainbow (bar and grill in L.A.) in it. I'd like see them give me a ticket in that thing." His most prized piece is a small square flag that was Hitler's personal standard. "It was a funeral sash and token. And that came from the Brown House in Munich at the end of the war. It's a real piece of the shit. So I'm quite pleased with that." However, Lemmy wants to dispel rumours that he owns a pair of Hitler's boots that used to be on display at the Berlin Museum. He did joke on the Official Motorhead website that he owns them but when asked about it at a recent interview on Motorheadbangers World fanzine, he replied, "Forget it! No! You can put it back on the Internet! I don't have Hitler's fucking boots! I don't have his hat, I don't have his fucking shirt, you know, I don't need pieces of Hitler!"

I

Intelligence: Lemmy is a very intelligent man and doesn't believe in dumbing down as often associated with rock 'n' roll lifestyle. He quotes: "Your life is as stimulating intellectually as your intellect can handle. If bands can't think of anything else to do but be morons, then I'm afraid they're stuck with it." At school he was very good at English and passed O-Level English at the age of 13. The normal age for candidates taking an O-Level is 16. He says that his English teacher probably has the greatest impact in his life because she made him interested in words and encouraged him to progress when she saw he was good at it. See also Vocation In Factory

J

Jail: When Lemmy was asked where he would be without Motorhead: "I'd be in jail. No contest. I'd be in the one furthest down on the left, next to Hannibal Lecter."

Joe Petagno: See Logo.

K

Knob: Concert venues are well known for inadequate shower facilities. Very few places have showers and if they do then chances are high that the water is cold. After a show Lemmy has to therefore make do with what's there, even if it means that he has to rinse his knob in the sink! (blame the Kerrang magazine interview for this one - I'm not making this up!)

L

Lemmy, the name: His real name is Ian Fraser Kilmister. But how did he get nicknamed Lemmy? It comes from the term "lend me". In the early days he was always broke and asking people "lemmy a fiver!"

Lifestyle: Sex, drugs and an awful lot of whiskey - Lemmy doesn't recommend his lifestyle. It would kill a lot of people. For him it was tuned over a very long time.

Logo: The creature in the band's logo is called a warpig. This particular one is christened "Snaggletooth B. Motorhead", the 'B' stands for Bastard. The logo was designed by Joe Petagno. It used to have a Nazi symbol on it but it was then removed because it caused offence. Lemmy's original idea was to have a cross between a knight in armour and a robot gone wrong. The medieval-type lettering used for the band's name made them the first band ever to use this style, influencing its popularity as we can now see in other metal bands' logos like Iron Maiden, Whitesnake and thousands others.

LOUD!!! Motorhead play loud at their live gigs just because they prefer it that way. They used to be the loudest band in the world and were in the Guinness Book of Records for five years with that belt. The title has now been taken by AC/DC. Motorhead don't use distortion when playing live. If you ever think you can hear it, it's actually the building work vibrating with all those decibels!

Lyrics: Lemmy talking about the effect his lyrics has on listeners: "Yeah, I hope to have a very bad effect on people. Motorhead are supposed to to make people wonder what's the next bad thing that will happen to them. Life is about brief periods of bliss followed by terrible long periods of depression, anst and brutality."

M

Madonna: Though not a likely character to be associated with the heavy-rock scene, Madonna sent Lemmy a telegram on his surprise 50th birthday party. The message was read out: "To Lemmy, Happy Birthday you old fart!" In a recent interview when Lemmy was asked who he would like to shag, he replied "I would have liked to have fucked Madonna before she had the kid. The tits go South don't they?"

Marriage: see Women.

Metallica: When they played at Lemmy's 50th birthday party, Jason Newstead the band's bass guitarist wrecked his voice when he sang the cover of Motorhead's "We Are The Road Crew". He couldn't speak for a couple of days after that.

Millenium: Lemmy: "The Millenium is the most over-rated bullshit ever."

Motorhead, the name ands song: The term 'Motorhead' is slang for speed-freak. But we are NOT talking speed as in amphetamine, as most people have been misinterpreting, we are talking velocity, acceleration, etc. In a quote from Lemmy himself when I asked him about this: "The name comes from an old American slang for speedfreak, or lover of speed as in cars, etc. Vroom vroom." Lemmy wrote the song "Motorhead" when he was bassist for his previous band Hawkwind. But here the word is used as a metaphor for amphetamine-user and, allegedly, he was under the influence of the drug at that time of writing it. On its completion, around 2am, Lemmy performed it for the first time on the hotel balcony at the top of his voice with an acoustic guitar - to not such a good reception! After leaving Hawkwind, he took ownership of the song and used the title as the name of his current band when he couldn't use the name "Bastard". Also, the song is said to be the only one containing the word 'Parallelogram'.

N

Nazism (and racism): Lemmy has been accused of Nazism but he is in fact very much anti-Nazi. He has no racist intentions whatsoever. Though he possesses a collection of Nazi memorabilia, he does so only because he likes the workmanship. "I collect it because it looks good. The bad guys always make the best shit. It's true, it's not my fault." The band's warpig emblem used to have a swastika but it was then removed to avoid offence. There was an incident involving death metal group Morbid Angel when they supported Motorhead. The lead singer of that time, David Vincent, was a Nazi. He showed Lemmy a book on American Nazism, to which Lemmy responded by tearing it in half, pissing on it and handing it back over! The twat kept quiet after that! (He's now left the band). Besides, some of Lemmy's girlfriends are black, one of his manager's is a Jew and I'm an Asian and I still got to meet him backstage - so despite accusations on the big man being a racist, I think we can knock this one on the head. :-)

O

Ozzy Osbourne: Lemmy says that the first time he had more than £2000 in the bank was after writing some lyrics for Ozzy's "No More Tears" album.

P

Philthy Animal Taylor, the nickname: Phil Taylor, an early drummer of the band. His nickname comes from when he was a kid, his mother used to call him "a filthy animal" whenever he came home dirty after playing outside. When older, he told this to his girlfriend and she started to nickname him "Philthy Animal" because of his sexual deviations. Friends found it appropriate to call him "Animal" because he looked and behaved like the character Animal from The Muppet Show.

Politicians: Lemmy hates politicians and finds every one of them to be "lying, thieving twats" because he hasn't seen a single one keep his word. Motorhead's songs never carry political messages. The band describes itself as apolitical. Recently, Motorhead gave their views on dishonest politicians in the song "Take The Blame" from the "Snake Bite Love" album. Lemmy's quote on the British Prime Minister: "Tony f**king smiley Blair - he's just the same c**t as the last c**t. His suit's different, that's all."

Prison: Lemmy was arrested and put in prison for possession of amphetamine, which was mistaken for being cocaine. He was released a week later after Hawkwind, his then current band, paid his bail. Go to http://www.hawkwind.com/text/cutting6.htm for an interview with Lemmy regarding his arrest - the article is on the Hawkwind web-site.

Q

Queen of England, The: Lemmy says about the English Queen, "The Queen was a really cute chick when she was still a Princess - her and Pricess Margaret were both really horny.". But Lemmy doesn't feel offended about someone being born into a certain family being considered better than himself. "...when you've been born into power and trained for it you'll handle it much better than a fucking swamp-water lawyer from Arkansas. How would you like to go around the world shaking all those hands and watching all those native dances?"

R

Recording procedure: Motorhead does not prepare demos of new tunes before anyone hands them to the rest of the band. Lemmy says, "No I've never done that, we've never done demos (laughs). It saves a lot of time and money, you know. We write about 5 weeks before the initial recording. We write the bare bones of the music and bring them into the studio and work the lyrics out there."

Rider: According to Lemmy, a typical Motorhead rider would be: "A couple of bottles of bourbon, a bottle of vodka, a bottle of tequila. Bunch of Cokes. Bunch of beer. Bunch of cheese platters, you know. All that stuff. Two goats, a donkey, three Playboy bunnies (retired), and one Playboy bunny (current)."

S

Sex: see Women.

Showers: see Knob

Snaggletooth: see Logo

Spontaneity: Motorhead do not believe in making plans and working according to them - they find this runs him down. Instead they go for spontaneity and believe that's why the band has still survived.

Snake Bite Love, the song: This song was written in only ten minutes! Lemmy says, "It's an exercise in word association football. It doesn't have to make sense. It's rock 'n' roll, isn't it?"

Stance: Everyone knows the Lemmy posture: stand with your legs wide apart, throw your head back, look up at the microphone and sing very, very loud. Lemmy does that when singing just because he feels comfortable that way. He's joked that he can't stand the sight of the audience so he'd rather look away from them.

T

Tito, President: Lemmy had dinner with President Tito of Yougoslavia in 1965. They were the first band that played behind the Iron Curtain when he was in the River and Back

Touring / Travelling: Though people say that Motorhead are a failing band, the world tours would not be possible if they were! Lemmy says: "We go to places people only dream of visiting. Travel is the only education. You get to meet people on their own turf. If you ask me, it's stupid to go abroad and go to an English pub. Eating cheese and onion crisps in fucking Barcelona. Eat some paella - see how they do it. Then you'll know more about the world."

U

UFO: Lemmy saw a UFO when with Hawkwind. It wasn't an acid trip because they all saw the same thing. When they were driving one night, an oject flying overhead stopped and hovered above them for a while. It then sped off into the distance. The object obviously wasn't man-made, simply because of the way it moved.

V

Vocation in factory: Lemmy used to work in a Hotpoint factory (they make washing machines, vacuum cleaners, etc) and hated it. He says: "Ever since I left that job I've appreciated every day I'm not in it. I could feel it rotting my mind. Any intelligence would drive you nuts. So you become less intelligent. You knock yourself down intellectually to cope. All they'd talk about at work is football. I fucking hate football..."

W

War: Lemmy has a passion for war and the military, especially WWII-related. He has written numerous songs about it. His hobby is collecting war memorabilia including Nazi artefacts. He once quoted in an interview "It's the most popular past time known to man, isn't it? We keep doing it. Apparently it doesn't go out of style." - see also Hobby.

Warpig: see Logo.

Whiskey: see Alcohol.

Women (and marriage): In an interview Lemmy quoted "I've been to all continents of the earth and screwed chicks of all colours, sizes, shapes and political and religious persuasions." He's had over 1500 women. When asked about his preference to chase women rather than to settle down and marry one, he said "I haven't found one that'll stop me doing that yet. When I do, I'll marry her [laughing]. She'll probably say no!" The woman whom Lemmy said could have been the ideal wife for him unfortunately died of a heroin overdose. See also First Shag.

X

X-Rated Porn: When on tour, Lemmy watches such videos on the bus.

Y

Young Ones, The: An anarchic comedy TV series shown in the UK about a group of students sharing a rented house together. Motorhead appeared in the hilarious episode "Bambi", singing The Ace Of Spades in its entirety. This is the nation's most popular "Young Ones" episode ever and this particular one is often repeated on British TV as a one-off. Also, sometimes in the series the punk medical student Vivian (played by Ade Edmonson) wears a Motorhead T-shirt. Since then, Motorhead have had other involvements with The Comic Strip team who produced the series. Lemmy had a major role in the film "Eat The Rich" which also had Motorhead tracks played throughout, mainly from the Orgasmatron album. In 1986 Lemmy and Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor had small parts in "More Bad News", about a no-hope heavy metal band, set in the prestigious Donington Monsters Of Rock festival where Motorhead played live. There is also a line where Nigel Planer walks out of the toilet of a recording studio saying "Just think, I could've crapped in the same bog as Lemmy!" Though none of Motorhead's live set was shown in the mini-film, this was the same show where some concert-goer let a flare off on stage.

Z

Zits: Nah, they're moles - and we counted three of them on Lemmy. Two on his left cheek and one on his forehead. (sorry, that was the only thing I could think of starting with "Z" - I'll replace this when I find something better!)