"Oh Yeah, THAT Guy"

I was visiting my friend Chris O'Dea in Northampton after he'd moved there in '75. We had become friends after he introduced himself at one of the shows by my band, The Molls. I brought along some gems including "Puzzle" by Mandrake Memorial which he loved immediately, fired up his tape deck, then realized the album was too long for the only tape on hand, a 60 minute cassette...oops. For his share he pulled out a 7" and said, "This is beyond heavy!", and cued up a song called, "White Line Fever" by Motorhead. Ouch! It was snake bitten love at first decibel. I love these guys. Their recorded output is staggering. Lemmy Kilminster's muse is a fertile beast for sure. Highlight albums for me include "Another Perfect Day" with Brian Robertson of Thin Lizzy replacing original guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke. The story I've heard is Robertson agreed to do the album only but the band hadn't found a suitable string slinger by tour launch so the band made him an offer ($$!!) he couldn't refuse to do the tour. They came to the Paradise rock club in Boston on this tour and my Someone & The Somebodies mates Tristram Lozaw and Rob Rand (sound man extraordinaire!) went along. as pre-show entertainment, WBCN sponsored an air guitar contest. At the urging (alcohol fueled) of my mates I joined in, to a Judas Priest song I didn't know, won the contest, and WBCN DJ Tony Berardini bought me a beer (OH Boy! Prizes were er, lacking back then, no offense Tony). Time for the show! Rob produced foam ear plugs just as the first chords erupted. To say Motorhead were amped beyond the abilities of the Paradise sound system would be conservative. They were so loud the front of house system collapsed followed in short order by the stage monitor system, and you could STILL hear Lemmy screaming over the din. THAT'S Rock & Roll my friends! At one point Rob turns to me with a fiendish grin and mouths, "Take the ear plugs out!". I complied. The sound went from "rrrroooaaarrr" to "SSSSIIIINNNNGGGE!!!". Couldn't get them back in fast enough. A highlight of the stage antics came when Lemmy crossed the stage and shook his sweat drenched hair at Robertson covering him. Robertson's expression was priceless. Great show. In the following years, not every album was stellar, but one standout gem, "Orgasmatron" was produced by Bill Laswell. Of all people! It was a fine effort with songs, "Deaf Forever", "Claw" and the title track. Fast forward. My friend Brendan was over recently, we were listening to Motorhead's recent live set, "The World Is Ours Vol. 1". Brendan recalled an interview with Lemmy where he was given a few blind listening tests. The interviewer played a Bill Laswell tune and Lemmy says, "I've got NO clue as to what the F*CK this is", the interviewer says, "This is Bill Laswell. He produced 2 of your albums", Lemmy says, "Oh yeah, THAT guy".