How MC5 inspired Lemmy Kilimister to form Motörhead
Lemmy Kilmister was born to be a rock and roller before he had even strapped on a guitar. Even though he may have been a late-bloomer to his instrument when working in the band Hawkwind, the Motörhead frontman would soon find his voice playing the most straightforward rock and roll he knew how all while pushing himself to make more complex detours along the way. Though Lemmy would usually praise acts like Little Richard and Eddie Cochran during his prime, The MC5 was his true gateway into putting a band together.
When looking at his inspirations, it’s strange to think that Lemmy ended up playing the type of music that he did. Compared to the biggest hard rock icons in the world, Lemmy was the only one referencing people like Chuck Berry as foundational influences on his playing while also paving the way for artists like Metallica.
After listening to various Motörhead classics, it’s easy to see where he got most of his ideas. Compared to the sounds of other hard rock acts he grew up with, like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, Lemmy was more interested in playing straight-ahead rock and roll for anyone within earshot, albeit with the amps turned up as loud as possible and singing with his trademark growl.
By the time Lemmy began assembling his first band after Hawkwind, rock and roll had become more primal. In the wake of acts like The Velvet Underground bringing a degree of menace into music, artists like The Stooges were making strides with what could be done with the medium, with Iggy Pop becoming known as the reigning king of punk rock years before it had even begun.
If The Stooges were the beginnings of punk, The MC5 was a combination of garage rock, punk and heavy metal all rolled into one. Beyond their history of political beliefs, the band’s mentality of kicking out the jams every time they hit the stage was just the kind of mentality that Lemmy wanted to have.
Although he would be stuck with a trio lineup for most of Motörhead’s career, Lemmy insisted that he intended to make a band that could go toe-to-toe with The MC5, telling John Robb, “The original Motörhead was a five-piece band. I wanted to form the MC5 of Britain. They were such a great band, the MC5. I did that MC5 gig a few years back, and they were fucking great man. They sound exactly the same! I sang ‘Sister Ann’ and ‘Back In the USA’ with them. It was fucking brilliant. I came out high as a kite”.
Now having a model for his own outfit, Lemmy tried taking his music even further when working on his first albums like Overkill. Being perfectly balanced between punk and hard rock, Lemmy would usher in a new level of intensity that few have matched since, including Phil Taylor’s stomping double-bass pedals paving the way for drumming aficionados down the road.
While Lemmy was never looking to get rich off his music, his days as a rock and roll troubadour would pass on that MC5 mentality to a new generation of rockstars, becoming the blueprint for artists like Metallica later. Lemmy may have moulded himself into a true rock and roll original, but he owed everything he knew about the genre to the MC5.
