You wouldn’t have dreamt it in a million years but as strange as it sounds Motorhead front man and former Jimi Hendrix roadie Lemmy has claimed that he was inspired to form a band by none other than Cliff Richard.
Yes, I had to read it twice too.
For those who aren’t familiar with the legend that is Lemmy, and if so, what planet are you from, he is a leather clad rocker who’s role in Hawkwind and then Motorhead has forged him into one of music’s greatest outlaws. Cliff Richard meanwhile is a complete contrast being known as a Christian pin up, a man who has shunned sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll for more meaningful pleasures such as reading The Bible and singing god awful Christmas songs.
However in a new interview Lemmy has claimed that his inspiration to form a group came after watching Cliff Richard shake his hips on British television. The rock icon told Vice, “I got my first record in 1958. I was pretty young then, and I saw this English singer, Cliff Richard, who is still going but is very different now from what he was then. He was on TV, surrounded by chicks trying to pull his clothes off. I said, “That’s for me. It doesn’t even look like work”. I found out later that it was, but it does have its advantages over working at the washing-machine factory.”
Continuing, Lemmy reminisced about his youth and getting his hands on his first guitar. “My mother played Hawaiian guitar, right, but there was really bad action on it, if you know what I mean” he claimed. “Nevertheless I put strings on it and took it to school during the week after exams, when you don’t do anything…and I was immediately surrounded by chicks. It worked like a charm and I couldn’t even play the f***ing thing”.
Lemmy, real name Ian Fraser Kilmister, and his life so far is set to be immortalised into a forthcoming motion picture due for release very soon. Roadie with Jimi Hendrix the rock icon went on to play bass in counter culture stars Hawkwind before forming Motorhead. Still rocking after 35 years, Motorhead are now a rock institution. The biopic is due for release next year.
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