Lemmy: The true King of Kings
Orginally published in the HMS column: Blood Is Not Enough
Admittedly, I am not the biggest Motorhead fan. There are probably a handful of albums I really enjoyed, but Lemmy wasn't my cup of tea. Now with that being said, I can still appreciate the man's contributions to the world of metal and beyond. In fact, for those of you in the know – Lemmy has made his mark in the world of horror and metal – more specifically Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth.
In 1992, a third film in the Hellraiser franchise was directed by Anthony Hickox, starring Doug Bradley, Terry Farrell, Paula Marshall, and Kevin Bernhardt. It was the first Hellraiser film to be made outside the United Kingdom. This was also the first Miramax release under its Dimension Films banner and was distributed by Paramount Pictures.
The film went through many difficulties; originally, Clive Barker had proposed the plot involve the Lament Configuration having its roots with the Egyptian Pyramids or Pinhead to be trapped in a relic in a church. Peter Atkins adapted the latter idea as Barker took a backseat role as executive producer. Atkins was originally meant to direct the film, but when Miramax bought the series, they felt he didn't have enough experience, instead hiring Anthony Hickox.
Director Hickox also talked about the difficulties they faced filming Pinhead in sunlight for the first time in a short sequence, feeling the makeup was designed to better reflect in a dark atmosphere rather than bright light. The film featured a heavy metal-rock soundtrack and Barker directed the Motörhead video for "Hellraiser", featuring Lemmy and Pinhead playing a game of cards and varied clips of the movie.
In fact the soundtrack not only included Motorhead, but also featured these great bands:
Motörhead – "Hellraiser"
Ten Inch Men – "Go with Me"
Material Issue – "What Girls Want"
Electric Love Hogs – "I Feel Like Steve"
Triumph – "Troublemaker"
KMFDM – "Ooh La La"
Tin Machine – "Baby Universal"
Soup Dragons – "Divine Thing"
House of Lords – "Down, Down, Down"
Motörhead – "Hell on Earth"
Chainsaw Kittens – "Waltzing with a Jaguar"
Motorhead wrote two songs for the soundtrack, obviously signifying how important the band was to the movie – sort of 'Americanizing' the concept surrounding the film. I believe this was Lemmy's chance at hitting the bigtime, being in a horror movie that starred Pinhead.
As for the song "Hellraiser" it also appeared as the 6th track on the 12th studio album from the band. Appropriately entitled – March or Die – the album proved to be a force for the group, given how the year's previous release '1916' considered as the crown jewel among studio releases truly showed Motorhead in their prime. Lemmy entered into the pop-culture lexicon and Hellraiser was the film to do it in.
It is a shame that Lemmy has passed on into the great beyond. The news of his death has reached many news outlets including: The WWE, Social Media and many music/journo outlets. It would seem every major network news source State Side has mentioned Lemmy in some form or passion, and that is indicative of the type of colossal lifestyle he lived by.
In Lemmy's 2003 autobiography, he illustrated just how crazy things got for him; consuming gallons of Jack and Coke for breakfast; ingesting amphetamines, tranquilizers and speed, bedding groupie after groupie and playing some down and dirty rock'n roll. In life, he did nothing in moderation – ignoring the best practices to spawn good health. This is what the rock'n roll lifestyle required and Lemmy was the epitome of this said lifestyle.
Now he is gone, but his legacy will never be forgotten. We have films like Hellraiser III to prove that, not to mention 22 studio albums in which you can feast on – spanning 40 years or so. That is a legacy no other musician can lay claim to and this is what makes Lemmy so unique among us.
Kenneth Gallant, HMS
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