Motorhead Port Vale F.C. 1st August 1981 (TFTLTYTD #5)

 

'WE ARE THE ROAD CREW!' I was never really much in favour of Heavy Metal, to my way of thinking 'Bad News' wasn't as much a pararody, rather just the way it was. Unfortunately, at school there was little opportunity to get away from it or ignore it. On the coach to school (12 miles from home!), it was Kerrang rather than Sounds that got passed around at least in '80/'81. This coincided with the emergence of NWOBHM (or the New Wave of British Heavy Metal) meaning that bands like Saxon, Iron Maiden and Samson were receiving a lot of column inches (also in Sounds). The popularity of this new guard lead a lot of kids in search of the old guard, AC/DC, Black Sabbath and this lot, Motorhead.

For me Motorhead were somewhat apart from the metal tribe. They looked the part, and to an extent, sounded the part and shared stages with many of the established metal bands. And yet, they or at least Lemmy had a cowboy boot firmly imprinted in the London punk scene. Do a google search in images for 'Lemmy punk' and it will throw up pictures of Lem with The Damned, Lydon, Sid and Gay Advert. He understood punk and many punks took to his band.... 'Gimme Some Motorhead' indeed.

Most bands that can boast a certain longevity have an agreed 'classic line-up' and it was no different with Motorhead. As stated in an earlier post, this 'Too Fast Too Live Too Young To Die' is remembering the bands that have lost members too early. In the case of Motorhead, this includes all three members of the classic line up, guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke, Philthy 'Animal' Taylor and Lemmy Kilminster himself.

This gig captures the band at their peak, playing what was billed as a 'Heavy Metal Holocaust' at Port Vale Football Club. On this occasion, Motorhead shared the bill with metal pioneer, Ozzy Osbourne, who had been kicked out of Black Sabbath a couple of years earlier. In the notes that accompanied this Dime upload (thanks to the original uploader) it is stated that for this gig the biggest PA ever to be used in the UK was assembled. During 'Bomber' parachutists descended upon Vale Park with one unfortunate missing the ground altogether (Spinal Tap anyone?). The set could not be bettered, taking in as it does material from the classic trilogy of albums by that classic line up, 'Overkill', 'Bomber' and 'Ace of Spades'. You could throw in the live album 'No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith' for good measure if you want.

Enjoy this if you don't mind a bit of Motorhead in your punk collection.

FLAC: https://we.tl/t-6o0FRIzvuX

Artwork: https://we.tl/t-bOKeDIiqvK

01. Intro/Ace Of Spades

02. Stay Clean

03. Live To Win

04. Over The Top

05. No Class

06. The Hammer

07. Metropolis

08. Leaving Here

09. Jailbait

10. Iron Horse Born To Lose

11. Fire Fire

12. Too Late Too Late

01. Fast And Loose

02. Dead Men Tell No Tales

03. We Are The Road Crew

04. Capricorn

05. Train Kept A Rollin’

06. Bite The Bullet

07. The Chase Is Better Than The Catch

08. Overkill

09. White Line Fever

10. Bomber

11. Motorhead