Lemmy Kilmister , who died December 28th , left an indelible mark on rock & roll. Everything about him — his thunderous singing and songwriting, his drugs-and-smokes lifestyle, even his protruding facial moles — was unapologetic and uncompromising. But just as important, Lemmy and Motörhead left their grammatical mark on rock & roll.
Yes, we're talking about that umlaut — and Lemmy's role in popularizing one of rock's most wonderfully enduring, if sometimes nonsensical, traditions.
Motörhead were, of course, not the first band to stick dots above one or more letters in their name for no practical phonetic reason. In the late Sixties, German proggers Amon Düül were most likely the first to take the umlaut plunge. In 1971, Blue Öyster Cult gave the mark its first brush with mainstream crossover. As original manager and producer Sandy Pearlman told me years ago, he and rock writer Richard Meltzer were talking about the band one day while standing outside a New York restaurant that served up Blue Point oysters. "I said, 'Why don't we call it Blue Oyster Cult?'" Pearlman recalled. "And Richard said, 'And we'll add an umlaut over the "O"!' And I said, 'Great!"'
Several years later, when Lemmy parted ways with psychedelic art-rockers Hawkwind, he initially dubbed his new band Bastard — but ultimately settled on Motorhead, after a song he'd written in Hawkwind (it was also slang for bikers on speed). The crowning touch was the addition of the umlaut over that second "o." "I thought it looked mean," he said a few years ago. "That's the thing, innit?"
Mean, if not gnarly, was indeed the key. In their pre–"(Don't Fear) the Reaper" days, Blue Öyster Cult peppered their image and lyrics with intimations of menace and darkness, especially in songs like "Career of Evil" and "Dominance and Submission." But when it was attached to Motörhead, the umlaut, combined with Lemmy and his bandmates' scraped-raw approach to rock & roll, felt like the real ominous deal, and its repercussions were huge. "I pinched the idea off Blue Öyster Cult," Lemmy said in 2011. "Then Mötley Crüe pinched it off us and it goes on and on."
"I pinched the idea off Blue Öyster Cult. Then Mötley Crüe pinched it off us and it goes on and on." —Lemmy Kilmister
A modest but accurate boast: Rock history is now dotted — literally — with the Crüe, Queensrÿche, Hüsker Dü (not metal, and Swedish for "Do you remember?"), the Accüsed, Green Jellÿ (umlaut used ironically), Spinal Tap (often spelled, for optimum intended hilarity, with the umlaut over the "n"), and Rrröööaaarrr (1986 album by Canadian headbangers Voivod). Even R&B singer Jason Derulo used an umlaut on the cover of his first album, over the "u" in his last name, to help people correctly pronounce his surname.
For Lemmy, though, the umlaut was neither gag nor phonetical necessity. Just as Motorhead's early records injected a faster-louder rush and intensity into Seventies metal, shaking off any arena-rock sludginess that started to creep into the genre, so did the band's umlaut make a statement of its own. The diacritic firmed up metal's edge and identity; it declared that the music would always be a separate, sometimes jarring and rude, universe unto itself. (Lemmy, a collector of Nazi memorabilia, rarely if ever commented on any connection between that umlaut and Nazi-era use of the dots in say, "Führer.") For Lemmy, the umlaut, like the music and lifestyle he lived until his body couldn't take it anymore, spoke — or pronounced — volumes.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/how-lemmy-and-motorhead-gave-metal-its-umlaut-20151229#ixzz3vjzHMNuH
Server and feature updates!
1. LocalBandz has moved to a new server which should be much faster and more reliable.
2. Flickr support has been added, add your images to your profile from your flickr account.
3. Audio and SoundCloud has been combined to one page instead of seperate pages. To add a new Audio or SoundCloud track, visit your profile Audio page and click the small "+" button, you will then be able to choose to upload a new track or add a SoundCloud track.
4. Video, Vimeo and YouTube has been combined to one page instead of seperate pages. Top add a new Video, Vimeo or YouTube video, visit your profile Video page and click the small "+" button, you will then be able to choose to upload a new Video, Vimeo or YouTube Video.
5. A new feature, Photo Album, has been added to all profile pages. This allows you to create a Photo Album much like a playlist. Just visit a Gallery and hover over the image, then click the small camera button to create/add the photo to a Photo Album.
Thanks!
Maximum rock and roll for a new generation...we may never be rich but we will always be loud. 100% DIY music from the basements of New Brunswick, NJ.
Dinosaur Eyelids is alternative rock and roll for a new generation. Based in New Brunswick, NJ the 100% DIY band has earned a reputation for incendiary live performances. Their highly-anticipated fourth album "Bypass to Nowhere" was released to critical acclaim and debuted at #1 at WRSU Rutgers Radio. Their third album "Conflagration" was released in 2012 to airplay on 200 radio stations across North America.
They have played over 90 shows throughout the Northeast and are house favorites at The Court Tavern in New Brunswick and John & Peter's in New Hope, PA. Other frequent shows include The Stone Pony (Asbury Park, NJ), North Star (Philadelphia), Fontana's (NYC) and Arlene's Grocery (NYC).
" The LIDS " have opened for Parlor Mob and shared the stage with Dean Ween of Ween. Their debut album "Winter Solstice" was released in 2009. Their second album "Down a River" was released in 2011 to nationwide airplay and critical enthusiasm.
Musical influences range from Soundgarden to Wilco, Ween and The Replacements.
Evan Staats-vocals Scott Staats-bass Patrick McKnight-guitar Mark Leone-drums
Their music is available through Amazon, iTunes and CDBaby. They are on Pandora, Spotify, Bandcamp and Soundcloud.
FAQ: What does your name mean? A: If you close your eyes to reality you hasten your own extinction.
Tracks:
1. https://www.localbandz.com/dinosaur-eyelids/audio/322/world
2. https://www.localbandz.com/dinosaur-eyelids/audio/321/vernal
3. https://www.localbandz.com/dinosaur-eyelids/audio/320/nowhere
4. https://www.localbandz.com/dinosaur-eyelids/audio/319/talkin
Maximum rock and roll for a new generation...we may never be rich but we will always be loud. 100% DIY music from the basements of New Brunswick, NJ.
Dinosaur Eyelids is alternative rock and roll for a new generation. Based in New Brunswick, NJ the 100% DIY band has earned a reputation for incendiary live performances. Their highly-anticipated fourth album "Bypass to Nowhere" was released to critical acclaim and debuted at #1 at WRSU Rutgers Radio. Their third album "Conflagration" was released in 2012 to airplay on 200 radio stations across North America.
They have played over 90 shows throughout the Northeast and are house favorites at The Court Tavern in New Brunswick and John & Peter's in New Hope, PA. Other frequent shows include The Stone Pony (Asbury Park, NJ), North Star (Philadelphia), Fontana's (NYC) and Arlene's Grocery (NYC).
" The LIDS " have opened for Parlor Mob and shared the stage with Dean Ween of Ween. Their debut album "Winter Solstice" was released in 2009. Their second album "Down a River" was released in 2011 to nationwide airplay and critical enthusiasm.
Musical influences range from Soundgarden to Wilco, Ween and The Replacements.
Evan Staats-vocals Scott Staats-bass Patrick McKnight-guitar Mark Leone-drums
Their music is available through Amazon, iTunes and CDBaby. They are on Pandora, Spotify, Bandcamp and Soundcloud.
FAQ: What does your name mean? A: If you close your eyes to reality you hasten your own extinction.
Tracks:
1. https://www.localbandz.com/dinosaur-eyelids/audio/322/world
2. https://www.localbandz.com/dinosaur-eyelids/audio/321/vernal
3. https://www.localbandz.com/dinosaur-eyelids/audio/320/nowhere
4. https://www.localbandz.com/dinosaur-eyelids/audio/319/talkin
Serial Obsession ' is an NYC based mainstream/radio friendly Rock band combining old school high energy guitar driven rock with a modern /alternative melodic approach to songwriting
Obsession: The total and complete domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire…or ROCK’N’ROLL
New York City’s Serial Obsession is a band that would sound right at home had it emanated from the sleazy Sunset Strip of the late 80‘s early 90s Hollywood where Guns N’ Roses and Motley Crue first held court. Yet they’re on the other coast, bashing away with their stylistic synthesis of hard rock, glam, grunge, classic rock and metal, all with a punk attitude, all original, and instantly memorable as hell. In an era where new, young, exciting, melodic rock bands have decidedly taken a back seat, Serial Obsession dredges up the kind of glory that came with the likes of Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, Velvet Revolver and KISS yet has faded into distant memory.
Until now.
With the release of their 2015 ,4 song EP “Pull The Pin”, Serial Obsession takes their influences from the past and injects a modern attitude that is pointed towards the future.
Singer Shawn Sugrue has the kind of voice that stops traffic. Emotional, passionate, his pipes are only exceeded by his stage presence. He’s the visual magnet. Bassist Jason Rosin joins with drummer T Motts as the anchor, the tightest rhythm section in town, one that will give your sub-woofer a real work-out. Guitarist Andrew Kadar is under the radar now, but watch out! He’s a six-stringed hero, well-versed in his forebears enough to assimilate the aesthetic of Van Halen/Slash/Page into his own unique captivating style.
Ultimately, words are meaningless, you have to hear them, see them, feel them. They get under your skin. It’s in the almighty riff, the hummable melodies and the attitude. Their bombast is infectious. Audiences at Irving Plaza, CBGB, BB King’s, The Highline Ballroom and Terminal 5 in Manhattan know. So do crowds in Brooklyn, Ithaca, Syracuse and Connecticut.
Serial Obsession is on a mission to bring back the kind of rock that rolls with soul and doesn’t mind getting up and in your face so that you’ll be reminded of the heights that this great music of ours—rock’n’roll—can still achieve.
They say that there is no obsession like a Serial Obsession . One listen and you’ll be obsessed. Mike GreenBlatt-Rock Journalist
Tracks:
1. https://www.localbandz.com/serial-obsession/audio/318/be-my-drink
2. https://www.localbandz.com/serial-obsession/audio/317/happy-ever-after
Serial Obsession ' is an NYC based mainstream/radio friendly Rock band combining old school high energy guitar driven rock with a modern /alternative melodic approach to songwriting
Obsession: The total and complete domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire…or ROCK’N’ROLL
New York City’s Serial Obsession is a band that would sound right at home had it emanated from the sleazy Sunset Strip of the late 80‘s early 90s Hollywood where Guns N’ Roses and Motley Crue first held court. Yet they’re on the other coast, bashing away with their stylistic synthesis of hard rock, glam, grunge, classic rock and metal, all with a punk attitude, all original, and instantly memorable as hell. In an era where new, young, exciting, melodic rock bands have decidedly taken a back seat, Serial Obsession dredges up the kind of glory that came with the likes of Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, Velvet Revolver and KISS yet has faded into distant memory.
Until now.
With the release of their 2015 ,4 song EP “Pull The Pin”, Serial Obsession takes their influences from the past and injects a modern attitude that is pointed towards the future.
Singer Shawn Sugrue has the kind of voice that stops traffic. Emotional, passionate, his pipes are only exceeded by his stage presence. He’s the visual magnet. Bassist Jason Rosin joins with drummer T Motts as the anchor, the tightest rhythm section in town, one that will give your sub-woofer a real work-out. Guitarist Andrew Kadar is under the radar now, but watch out! He’s a six-stringed hero, well-versed in his forebears enough to assimilate the aesthetic of Van Halen/Slash/Page into his own unique captivating style.
Ultimately, words are meaningless, you have to hear them, see them, feel them. They get under your skin. It’s in the almighty riff, the hummable melodies and the attitude. Their bombast is infectious. Audiences at Irving Plaza, CBGB, BB King’s, The Highline Ballroom and Terminal 5 in Manhattan know. So do crowds in Brooklyn, Ithaca, Syracuse and Connecticut.
Serial Obsession is on a mission to bring back the kind of rock that rolls with soul and doesn’t mind getting up and in your face so that you’ll be reminded of the heights that this great music of ours—rock’n’roll—can still achieve.
They say that there is no obsession like a Serial Obsession . One listen and you’ll be obsessed. Mike GreenBlatt-Rock Journalist
Tracks:
1. https://www.localbandz.com/serial-obsession/audio/318/be-my-drink
2. https://www.localbandz.com/serial-obsession/audio/317/happy-ever-after
Dez Desormeaux Sax, Mike Milligan Vocals Drums Harmonica, Rick Del Castillo Guitar, Manny De Los Santos Vocals, Javier Soliz Vocals, Rick Fuentes Vocals, Mario Vigil Bass.
Track:
1. https://www.localbandz.com/mambo-zombies/audio/316/santas-too-phat-to-fly
Dez Desormeaux Sax, Mike Milligan Vocals Drums Harmonica, Rick Del Castillo Guitar, Manny De Los Santos Vocals, Javier Soliz Vocals, Rick Fuentes Vocals, Mario Vigil Bass.
Track:
1. https://www.localbandz.com/mambo-zombies/audio/316/santas-too-phat-to-fly
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