I'm still new here, but I have a feeling I'm one of the older people on Hubski, closing in on 50.
Back in the 1980's I used to put on side 2 of "No Sleep Til Hammersmith", stretch my spiral-cord can-style headphones over to my bed, and fall asleep listening to Motorhead. I loved it.
Then, my dad and I went to Europe a week ahead of my Mom and sister, who met up with us later. But for that week, Dad and I were on the Isle of Man, going to see the TT Races that he had raced in back in the 60's for BSA.
The first week is practice week. Riders doing insane shit all over the island. Then, on the last day of practice week, they basically close the island and call it "Mad Sunday". Anything goes. Utter insanity all over the island.
Dad and I were staying in the little village of Douglas - the hub of the TT race. We were walking around and I heard familiar music coming from a club. Motorhead (the original lineup) was blowing the doors off some 200 person club full of insane bikers.
So I went in. (Dad decided to wait outside, when he heard the volume.)
I stayed for the whole set. At some point I had some small English dude on my shoulders doing our best Brian Johnson/Angus Young impression. We hung out the rest of the week together.
I stuck with Motorhead through the rough Brian Robertson years (and still love Another Perfect Day for what it is), Wurzel, innumerable drummers, and right up to the modern day.
Lemmy died yesterday at 70 years old. (My Mom will be 70 next year.)
People love to talk about how "fuck everybody" Lemmy was, but they miss who he REALLY was... he cared about what he cared about, and let you care about what you cared about. He didn't make others wrong. He just let others live the life they wanted, and he kept his opinions to himself.
"Don't let the bastards grind ya down" describes Lemmy perfectly. There are a lot of people out there with opinions and ulterior motives and hidden agendas. They are the bastards. But if you stay true to yourself, be honest, and live your life the way you want, the bastards lose.
We could all learn something from Lemmy.
RIP man. The heavenly band just got a lot fucking heavier. (Remember, Motorhead's drummer, Philthy Animal Taylor, died earlier this year, too!)
Thanks for reading my remembrance of this Force Of Nature known as Lemmy.
Colleague of mine - we'll call him The Cap'n - was Motorhead's front-of-house mixer for a while. We advanced them at the Catwalk; their tech rider specifies that the PA must be able to generate 120 dBC slow program at Front of House. We asked him if they were serious because, well, that's stupid numbers. The Cap'n assured us that if he couldn't produce that, he'd be fired - the tour manager wandered around during sound check with a sound level meter. We backlined a triple stack of EAW. I didn't get to see the show, can't remember why, but I remember it was dangerously loud. Fast forward a couple years and The Cap'n is back mixing shit bands at one of the hole-in-the-wall clubs in Pioneer Square. What happened? Not loud enough? "ha ha" everybody laughs. I decided Lemmy was an asshole. Fast forward another year and I discover that what really happened is The Cap'n decided to get Motorhead to invest in a $20k front-of-house console. Back of Pro Sound News endorsements, etc. Except The Cap'n was on vacation and the console had an issue, so the tour manager called the company and bitched about their piece-of-shit console. "That's no way to talk to us after we gave you a free console," the manufacturer said. Yeah. The Cap'n took an endorsement and told Motorhead they'd paid full price and pocketed the money. I decided The Cap'n was an asshole.
Thanks for sharing that memory. I only know a handful of Motörhead songs and I would like to dive in deeper. What's a good starting point? Also, there are a number of 50-something year olds on Hubski. One of my favorite aspects of Hubski is that 60 year olds, 30 year olds and 16 year olds can all converse in a thread and often I'd have no idea who is which. Age -more often than not, is meaningless.
The seminal Motorhead album is, and always will be, the Ace of Spades. It can sound a bit timid in the era of Slipknot, but there would be no Slipknot/Metallica/Guns N Roses, etc, without Ace of Spades. Those kids grew up listening to this album. If you go from Ace of Spades to Orgasmatron, you skip over a lot of Motorhead weirdness, and can hear how the sound stayed the same, but matured at the same time. Then I'd suggest watching the movie about Lemmy, "49% Motherfker. 51% Son of a Bitch." It looks at the man, his life story, the musical path he invented, and the people influenced by him. If you aren't a fan by then (and buying all the albums), then there isn't much more I can do for ya. :-) As far as my age goes... yeah, I know age is a construct, but it's also a perspective. And with so many Hubskers recounting their 2015 goals and including "get A's in X class" or "get 2200 on my SATs", I feel really old. Fuck, I have zero idea what grade I got in any class, much less the SATs, and nobody out here in the world gives a shit, either. That's some high school shit, right there, and two years out in the world, nobody will care. So age is more of a perspective than a meaningless construct. Priorities change. Some opinions mellow, and others become ossified. Agility is less respected, while quietness is something to achieve. So age does divide us, in a way. It's things like Hubski that grab the edges of that Grand Canyon of a divide, and drag the sides together so we all feel connected and on some common ground. It's part of what I am learning to love about this place... less pedantic grandstanding, and more conversation. Like this! Whee! :)
I agree with all of that, but one thing I'd say is that while society may not care after two years in the "real world" about your SAT score, successes and accomplishments have momentum. This momentum carries. I read your comment about being laid off this year after a career of successes. I had a similar experience this year too. Despite being a top performer for a fortune 50 company, for six years straight, I was in danger of being let go. Instead of facing that I interviewed and eventually found a new position. The one position I wanted most was for a one of the most highly regarded medical device companies in the world. They passed on me for someone with more industry experience. -this is literally the first time in 10 years I've not gotten a job I was excited about. I didn't have trouble finding another option, im in sales and a good salesperson can find a job pretty quickly, but I wanted that job. Fast forward three months and now they're trying to hire me away from my current company. -you never know how the chips will fall. I have a startup I'm working on and the job I took gives me a TON of free time to pursue it. I think it worked out the way that was best for me long term. Good luck with your career as well. Also, youngski's, the SAT's do matter, but perhaps not in the way or to the degree in which you think. Enjoy the journey! I look forward to checking out that Lemmy Documentary!
Had to post a followup to this conversation after yesterday's bizarre day at work... I was laid off suddenly, early 2015. I did my research, found the company I wanted to work for, found the position that I wanted, applied for it, and was called in. In total - phone meetings, in person meetings, writing on-the-spot content on spec - I spent about 10 hours interviewing. Everyone was seriously jazzed about me, and was looking forward to working with me. I went home fully expecting an offer that Friday. On Wednesday the next week I called and asked what was up, and they said they, "were continuing our search for the right candidate" and wished me luck on my search. It totally destroyed me, because this was the FIRST TIME in my life that I had interviewed for a job and NOT gotten it. Flash forward to yesterday. Bunch of new people start at the SaaS company I am doing contract writing for. I get introduced to one of them and he and I do the RCA Victor dog head-tilt thing at each other... "... hang on... we know each other..." BAM. This was the guy that didn't hire me last year! The guy that crushed my spirit and sent me into a month-long spiral of crushing self-doubt! He turns to the guy that is introducing us and says, "Man, this is the guy right here. I wanted to hire this guy so bad!" turns to me "but some political shit got in the way... we'll talk about it some time over lunch!" He extends his hand, gives me a hearty handshake, and comments how lucky he is to have a second chance to work with me. Jaw. Floor. BAM. Completely altered my world. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go have lunch with a dude and get into some conversation with him.... So yeah. You are right. You never know! The one position I wanted most was for a one of the most highly regarded medical device companies in the world. They passed on me for someone with more industry experience. -this is literally the first time in 10 years I've not gotten a job I was excited about. I didn't have trouble finding another option, im in sales and a good salesperson can find a job pretty quickly, but I wanted that job.
Here is the 2010 documentary Lemmy in HD for anyone that is interested. And as far as age goes, I bought Ace of Spades the week it came out in North America so that might give you some idea. :)