The rock-n-roll circle that what comprised the classic, down and dirty trio of Motörhead is complete again. Not on this earth but on some plane where Marshall stacks reach higher than the heavens and all squares run away and covering their ears.
Fast Eddie Clarke was brought into the Motörhead fold in March of 1976 as the 2nd guitarist. When the other guitar player, Larry Wallis, bailed to join the reformed Pink Faries and go on tour, the band continued as a three-piece, creating a force that would be the foundation for not only the group's career but creating a sound that was strictly their own. Sure, that sound would influence and inspire many bands to follow (and still does) but there's only one Motörhead and the years of that line-up are the definitive ones.
Eddie left the band in 1982. One story is that he was disappointed with the way the band's fifth album Iron Fist came out along with him not being too crazy about the idea of the band doing a collaboration with the Plastmatics. He then formed the band Fastway, which had a fair amount of success in the the 1980's.
The excess of the rock-n-roll lifestyle eventually caught up with Eddie and slowed him down a bit the last decade or so, but he always kept the music loud and brash. In 2014, he got back to playing what was his first musical love, the blues, and released the album Make My Day.
Fast Eddie died last night in the hospital after being admitted in with a case of pneumonia. He was 67 years old.
What are you listening to tonight?
