Celebrate The Life

When someone passes away I am possibly not the person you want around. People say to me , Why Aren't You Sad ?  Why Aren't You Grieving? A part of it may stem from being the eldest of three siblings in my family and always expected to "know better"  , and whenever I have needed emotional support I'm usually told to man up or stand on my own two feet. I know I am loved and that makes me very positive , so when there is a loss I think of all the good things and memories about a person. I am the one who will smile and laugh at a funeral. Anyway enough about me

Note none of this is researched it's what effect two recently departed musical artists had on me.

Lemmy:


I first became aware of Ian Kilminster in the seventies when he became Hawkwind's bassist. The name Lemmy came from the fact that he was always short of cash so was always asking "Lemmy A Quid Til Friday" . He looked the part and musically I loved the song "The Watcher" the closing track from "Hall of The Mountain Grill" but even better was the stunning "Lost Johnny" still one of Lemmy's best ever songs, so an impressive introduction.

Then I heard "Motorhead" the B-Side of "Kings of Speed" although now it sounds a bit under produced , I loved the song and the title.

Then I was shocked when I heard Lemmy had left Hawkwind , but glad when I heard the intention of forming a new band. The band was going to be called Bastard , but the record company (the newly vaguely corporate Stiff who had rejected The Bok - my band ) reckoned it may not go down well commercially so as a compromise they became Motorhead , and debuted with a very load version of their eponymous song.

Lemmy has now been called the godfather or instigator of metal. I think The Kinks , Black Sabbath , Led Zeppelin and Vanilla Fudge and Cream have far more valid claims.

Lemmy and Motorhead played uncompromisingly loud music. Their attitude was inspirational to the punk music while being an excellent rock band.

I couldn't listen to a whole Motorhead album , but they produced some great songs. I sang Ace of Spades and Please Don't Touch (I know it's a Johnny Kidd song) with Spoon , and I loved Lemmy's attitude of doing what HE wanted.

He had a sense of humour to recording Stand By Your Man with Wendy O Williams of the Plasmatics.

Yes I'm sad he is gone , but I love all the Motorhead I have in my collection , and no I don't listen on Spotify .


Bowie:

Karma Chameleon

I liked Bowie from the off . The first think I heard was "Space Oddity" complete with stylophone solo. I remember getting "Man Who Sold The World" and being stunned by "All The Madmen" , "Width of A Circle" and loving "Black Country Rock". When Bowie hit it big I still loved his stuff even though the fashion heads starting liking him I remember at a disco when the DJ with a sense of humour segued Bowie's "Jean Genie" into the Sweet's "Blockbuster" . The heads were not amused , ironic because the sweet married metal , androgyny , and pop just as well as Bowie at the time , but didn't have the ability to reinvent themselves.

Bowie's continued to change and sometimes I thought "What The Fvck Is That" , but in hindsight everthing becomes brilliant.

"Young Americans" was a shock to the system , "Station To Station" is my favourite Bowie album , but I was speaking to a guy recently who can't past Earthling as it is so brilliant.

On the 9th of January I published this blog post about Bowie's Blackstar , and I do love the album , two days later he had gone.

There's very few artists who come anywhere near Bowie's influence. Ray Davies / The Kinks , Brian Wilson / Beach Boys , Bob Dylan , The Beatles individually and collectively , The Rolling Stones , but  few had his scope and influence.

Bowie never lost it , but now is the time to Celebrate his legacy . He lived his life provately but cane into the spotlife to share a rich vista of film and music.

The songs I have chosen are obvious but take theis time to celebrate and enjoy . It's what David and Lemmy would have wanted.