After being kicked out of Hawkwind in May 1975 after being arrested for drug possession in Canada, ‘Lemmy’ decided to set up his own band under the name Motorhead, which was also the name of the final song he had written for his former band.
Motorhead became one of the most recognisable and historic rock bands of the 1970s. Led by lead singer and bassist ‘Lemmy’ they became known as the group to re-energise heavy metal in the UK.
Looking back, their image may seem a little cliché, though Motorhead were the pioneers, band after band for decades would copy and dream of being anything similar to Lemmy and his band. There would even be casino games with their image, Megaways Casino slingo demo offers a wide range of others as well.
Motorhead started up with a simple philosophy of making loud, fast and viscous rock music. Lemmy’s gravelly voice over the distorted bass and guitar rocked out in venues and across stereos around the world.
As some bands may look to waver and experiment from album to album, Motorhead stuck true to their fast, ferocious style.
They went on to release 23 studio albums, 10 live recordings and 12 compilation albums in the 40 years the band was active. Lemmy was the only permanent member of the band, which officially disbanded after his death in December 2015.
One of the most iconic and unforgettable songs the band released was Ace of Spades. It is instantly recognisable from the first note as Lemmy kicks things off with his distorted bass.
Ace of Spades was released on their fourth album under the same name, and Motorhead had all of a sudden become an unlikely Top 10 star in England with their previous release, the live Golden Years EP.
The title track ensured they would go down as one of the greats as soon as it was released in October 1980 and has since had over 370 million streams on Spotify and over 25 million views of its official video on the Motorhead official YouTube page.
It was recorded in Wales after the band had brought out their first two albums, Overkill and Bomber, within seven months of each other.
“We went down to Rockfield for a couple of weeks, got in the vodka and everything else,” says guitarist ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke. “Unfortunately, Lemmy wasn’t too up for rehearsing in those days – he had a nice bird up there with him, so he was distracted. But Phil [drummer Phill Taylor] and I used to like playing, so after we’d finished fishing and fucking about and God knows what, me and Phil would have a little bash. It gave us an opportunity to work out some riffs.”
As the initial riffs were recorded, they added vocals and overdubs when they returned to London with producer Vic Maile, who had worked with Lemmy before when he was in Hawkwind.
Vic Maile played a big part in shaping how Ace of Spades turned out, questioning what the finished product should be while Eddie Clark and Lemmy experimented. Maile even added the clacking sound of a set of woodblocks he had in the studio to the breakdown.
Once they had the music, lyrics were still missing, and Lemmy has stated before that he ended up writing them when being thrown about in the back of a transit van travelling at 90mph.
The lyrics are all about gambling, poker specifically. There is reference to the dead man’s hand, which is a legendary “cursed” poker hand, which consisted of the Ace of Spades, ace of clubs, eight of spades and eight of clubs, with an undefined fifth card.
It is thought to be the hand that Old West folk hero ‘Wild Bill Hickok’ was holding when we was shot in the back by Jack McCall on August 2, 1876, at Deadwood, Dakota Territory.
“Pushing up the ante
I know you’ve got to see me
Read ’em and weep
The dead man’s hand again.”
The Ace of Spades is often considered to be the card of death amongst American soldiers, where they would leave the card on the bodies of dead enemies.
While the song continues to excite fans and has been covered by almost every amateur and touring punk and metal band it seems, Lemmy himself had grown tired of it. Motorhead played the song a every live performance after its release though, ensuring not to disappoint their loyal fanbase.
In his autobiography Lemmy states; “To be honest, although Ace of Spades is a good song, I’m tired of it to death. For over twenty years, when people think of Motorhead, they think of Ace of Spades. Since then we have had some good releases. But the fans want to hear it, so we play if every show. Speaking of me, I’ve had enough of it”.
Lemmy may have, but rock, punk and metal fans still haven’t, and the song continues to be adored and replayed. Q Magazine even ranked it as the 27th best song on their 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
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