The

Interview

when they told me they weren’t going to put a dick on it, I responded, “So it’s not going to get much action, is it?” As for the movie, it’s a documentary, which they’re still shooting. I actually got to ride in a German tank destroyer the other day for it. You wouldn’t believe how small it is inside them fuckers.

“When you’re younger, you’ll sell your soul
for some p– –sy, but you get over that.”

With Snaggletooth, you’re responsible for
creating probably the most famous logo in
hard rock, next to the Misfits’ skull.
Yeah, but we’re still good—the Misfits aren’t.
The artist, Joe Petagno, asked me what I
wanted. I said, “Something between a rusty,
rotten, falling-apart robot and a knight of the
realm.” They made for T-shirts that everybody
liked. Even if they’ve never heard the band,
they’d wear the T-shirt.

have the best uniforms. The black hat beats the shit out of the white hat anytime: The Lone Ranger looked like a twat to me, with his little mask. I also collect Kinder Egg toys and skulls. I’ve got a dog and a pig skull and a couple of human ones. I’ve seen museums with less shit in them than I’ve got in my home.

guitarist] Phil Campbell came out on a horse wearing a purple wig and an orange dress, and I followed behind dressed as an Arab.

Why is humor important to Motörhead?

Because it’s funny.

Still, some people miss the humor in your songs, despite titles like “Killed by Death.” That’s from [British comedian] Spike Milligan: “How’d you die?” “Oh, you know, killed by death.” It’s an English thing.

You live in the same two-room apartment you rented when you first moved here. Why not buy a house in the Hollywood Hills? I can’t afford it. We didn’t sell many albums. I wrote the words to “Mama, I’m Coming Home” for Ozzy, and I made more from that song than I had from Motörhead at that point. I’m not going to die broke, but I’m not rich. I pay taxes here, but I’m not a citizen—they won’t give me citizenship. I got busted for two sleeping pills on New Year’s Eve in 1971, so obviously I’m a threat to the kids in America, you know.

So, you’re making a solo album. Why? ’Cause it’s fun, and I can’t be in Motörhead by myself. I’ve got tracks with the Damned, Reverend Horton Heat, Dave Grohl, Joan Jett….I also have a band called the Head Cat with [Stray Cats drummer] Slim Jim Phantom and Danny B. Harvey, who used to be in the Rockats. We play all the old music that inspired us, a lot of Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly.

 

At 63, you’re quite fit. How is it that rock stars always manage to fit into skinny jeans? Well, these have stretch in them. Even if I put weight on, I’m still fitting these. Actually, I don’t think I’m particularly skinny at the moment.

You moved to Los Angeles in 1990. Why? I loved America right away. It’s the land of unlimited whoopee! Girls here were more, frankly, into it. At one show, I met a girl in a very small, white leather cowgirl outfit. She said, “I’ve been waiting for you to come through town for two years. You’re coming home with me tonight.” I left with her immediately. Chicks always like a guy with a bad rap. It never fails.

In your autobiography, White Line Fever, you call This Is Spin¨al Tap very accurate. How so? I’ve seen it where the cheese doesn’t fit the bread—you know, round rolls and square cheese. Even on the last tour we did with Judas Priest, we did some old-school pranks. Testament were the opening band at the last gig, so during their set, [Motörhead drummer] Mikkey Dee came onstage dressed as a mule wearing a sombrero and mustache. Then [Motörhead

You could’ve done the whole plastic surgery thing. Why haven’t you ever gotten your moles removed?

[Points to his face] What can you make out of this? What are you going to do? I think I look all right for my age, anyway.

Finally, what is the one thing about Lemmy that people do not know?

That I’m a two-foot midget woman wearing a mechanical outfit.

You have a pretty big reputation as a cocksman. It’s been said you’ve had up to 2,000 sexual conquests in your career. Those numbers are exaggerated: I’ve actually claimed 1,000. It might be up to 2,000 by now. Between sex and drugs and rock’n’roll, I might put rock’n’roll first, but sex would be a very close second—rock’n’roll is only a means to get more sex. But I don’t chase as much these days. When you’re younger, you’ll sell your soul to the devil for some pussy, but you get over that. You don’t have to be special to get my interest now.

Discography

LEMMY

SOME OF HIS CLASSICS RECONSIDERED, ON A SCALE OF ONE TO… 11

1973

1979

1980

1981

What is the weirdest place you’ve had sex? On top of a photo booth in Chester Station in Northwest England. It was the only place we could find to be alone. Nobody saw us, because people never look up.

 

Why do you collect Nazi memorabilia? I think it’s historically important that you remember that shit, because otherwise it’ll get done to you again. I don’t get any thanks when I tell Americans to put 9/11 into perspective: We did that to Berlin every night for three years during World War II, and 19,000 British were killed before lunchtime on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Napoleon, the Confederates, Hitler—it’s always the bad guys who

Hawkwind
Space Ritual
•••••••••••
Lemmy’s most significant
pre-Motörhead outfit,
caught live in all their
decadent psychedelic
glory, kaleidoscopically
trafficked in Floydian
space-rock self-
indulgence, and
anchored by his
ominous krautrock
bass chug.

Motörhead Overkill

•••••••••••
Motörhead’s second
album kick-started the
band’s classic trilogy of
releases. Rolling Stones
producer Jimmy Miller
transformed the band’s
bloozy, boozy blasting-cap
energy into long-standing
anthems like “Stay
Clean,” “No Class,” and
the blistering title track.

Motörhead
Ace of Spades
•••••••••••
A masterpiece. The
relentless double-time
bass kick of the title
track helped spawn
the “forbidden beat” of
hardcore, while the raspy
vocals and meat-cleaving
riffology of “The Hammer”
permanently mutated
the DNA of thrash-metal
innovators like Metallica.

Motörhead
No Sleep ’Til
Hammersmith
•••••••••••
The loudest, rudest,
possibly greatest concert
recording in rock. Nothing
sounded as intense as the
definitively pulverizing
stage versions of classics
like “(We Are) The Road
Crew.” Even the Beastie
Boys paid tribute with “No
Sleep ’Til Brooklyn.” M.D.

70 APRIL 2009 / EVER YONE WHO’S AN YONE READS SPIN.COM