Jonas Mekas (79, boss of Anthology Film Archives, N.Y.,5/2002):
"I had no idea at all what or who Motörhead is, but this Lemmyman is fantastic!
And the film is fantastic! This music!!This power!! Also the other 2 musicians
in the band! I enjoyed it tremendously!">
Subject: LEMMY
For those of you unfortunates who aren't familiar with Rock'n'Roll's
own "man in black", Lemmy is the ultimate anti-star. This doesn't
mean he's some snot nosed punk who punches photographers, flips off
his own fans and pretends that the celebrity status everyone in
showbusiness wants is some kind of burden. What it means is that the
man is 100% hardcore, and yet very down to earth at the same time.
He's like that old biker in your neighborhood who looks scary as hell,
but who'd give you the shirt off his back if you really needed it.
LEMMY on punk: "...I just don't have the right hair for it."
The film itself is incredibly rough. Still, it seems quite
appropriate given the subject matter. There are interviews with his
fans, his bandmates, his son, other Rock'n'Rollers, and a bunch of
Germans who I couldn't understand (Germans LOVE Lemmy). Shot in
Germany, Los Angeles, Great Britain, on the road, and Ozzy Osbourne's
back yard, I found it enjoyable from beginning to end.
There is so much I'd like to comment on, but I hate giving too much
away. You'll learn his real name, how he became a bass player, why he
got into Rock'n'Roll, who he attempted to teach to play bass, and a
whole lot of other cool stuff I'd like to write about, but don't want
to spoil it. Suffice to say that even if you don't like his music, you
can't help but respect the man for who he is. He's got a way of
mocking people and getting them to laugh at themselves, without
actually being snide or vicious.
Peter (the filmmaker)still has some work to do before it gets
distributed internationally. For one thing, it has yet to be put onto
35mm film.
When he gets around to that, maybe he'll put in subtitles so we'll
know what those cute German groupie chicks were saying. The only word
I caught was "schwanz".
LEMMY...look for it in an arthouse theatre near you.
J.J. Connelly, New York City.
I caught the New
York City sneak preview of Peter Sempel's documentary "Lemmy" last week.
It was a very rough cut, presented on VHS without any dubbing for the
extensive scenes shot in Germany. Needless to say it was awesome! Loads
of concert footage plus great stuff in Lemmy's Los Angeles apartment and
some local record store. (Yes, Lemmy will take vinyl over CD.) I went
with OSers Bob, Mark and Bob's girl Denise. We were singing along and
laughing through the whole thing. (Yes, Lemmy's a very entertaining
interview.) But what made us holler the loudest was an appearance by the
famous -- some might say infamous -- Klaus Fabry! Many of you might never
have heard of Klaus, but he's making a run for the title of #1 Motorhead
fan in the Germany. (Believe you me, they're very serious about their
Motorhead in Germany.) What made it so funny was that Mr. "I'm Everywhere"
Fabry and three other HUGE German Motorheadbangers -- my good friends Peter
and Carmen Wagner plus Klaus' bud Sasha -- had stayed over my apartment in
Woodside, Queens a few weeks ago. Bob, Mark, me and the Germans all
followed Motorhead on their New York/New Jersey/New England leg of the
Hammered Tour. It was the best vacation of my life! Not to make anyone
jealous, but we got in to the sound checks, got our greedy mitts on After
Show passes, I talked to Mikkey about the Buffalo Sabres, the whole nine
yards. If you're interested in how a bunch of New Yorkers hooked up with a
couple of crazy Krauts here's the story: Bob and I met Peter & Carmen when
we went to the 25th Anniversary show in Brixton. Actually it was at the
(yawn) Hawkwind show the night before. Bob and I are boozing it up in the
bar in the back and this bald and rather angry looking dude walks by with a
shitload of Motorhead tatoos. I had just got mine so I was all about
showing it off -- even though his made my puny tat look like a joke. The
next thing you know we're all hanging out at a pub before the Motorhead
show like we were friends for life. And I met Klaus last year when I
hooked up with Peter & Carmen for the House Of Blues shows in LA and
Anaheim. (Ace: you were at the sound checks for those two shows setting up
your booth but I was fairly intimidated walking around in the same room as
Lemmy, Mikkey and Phil so I stood in the back and kept my mouth shut.
Sorry, I didn't introduced myself.) Well that's it I guess. Catch the
movie if you can -- and say hi to Klaus for me if you ever run into him!
If you're at a Motorhead show, chances are he'll be there. As Peter Semple
told Bob after the show: "That Klaus, he's everywhere!"
Motorhead For Life
The film was so fucking cool (2 hours !) It had a hilarious interview w/Ozzy who stated that if a nuclear bomb ever detonated, there would be 3 survivors: Rats, Keith Richards and Lemmy. He loves Lemmy a lot. Footage included live songs from everywhere, Rehearsal w/Brian May , Fast Eddie and Phil doing Overkill with a vicious solo by Brian May. I SWEAR THIS WAS THE MOST INCREDIBLE MOMENT I HAVE EVER SEEN MUSICALLY! I was numb. Lemmy was kicking the shit out of his bass and Mikkey was doing some serious double bass work. Footage of Lemmy in his WW 2 museum condo, Interviews w/Mikkey and Phil, Mikkey drum solo (YEEESSSSSS) and Phil getting his Mom & Dad tattoo. I met Mr. Semper and best of all... I got you some flyers and a bitchin postcard. Wish to god you would have been there. Even a little interview w/ Fast Eddie and Lemmy's son.
Adam Bomb
German filmmaker Peter Sempel was at the Anthology Film Archives in
NYC last night to preview the "cinema verite" (what the hell does that
mean?) documentary on Motorhead bass player and frontman Lemmy Kilmister.
Tom Flynn