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	Phil's Blogservations Friday, February 06, 2004 Posted by philgomes 11:02 AM Patrick Bateman Moment: Motorhead Patrick Bateman Moment: Motorhead For those who haven't seen the film American Psycho, the Patrick Bateman character frequently trails off into thoughtful soliloquies about his favorite artists, usually before he slaughters his not-quite-listening audience. I certainly won't be indulging in mayhem here, but I have noticed lately that 1) my knowledge of certain artists is encyclopedic in scope, and 2) I can hold forth about those artists for hours and hours. So, today's Patrick Bateman Moment has to do with Motorhead and their speed-addicted bass-playing frontman Lemmy Kilmister. I went to the gym last Saturday. I sometimes take my AM/FM walkman on Saturdays because I will occasionally do cardio while listening to the O'Donnell On Technology show. It's refreshing to hear computer advice on the radio from someone who really knows his stuff. It usually keeps my mind occupied just enough that I don't get bored doing repetitive exercise. I felt the need to unplug from tech for a while, though. What to do? What to do? I remembered a discovery I made while cleaning out one of my closets: An RCA Kazoo MP3 player. It was one of the earliest ones and I purchased it two years ago from EBay. It held 32MB internally and 64MB externally — paltry by today's standards. The battery still worked and the primitive display said that it had 99 minutes of music inside. Unfortunately, one needs special software in order to load or remove songs from the device... Software I lost in the move from Oakland to Alameda. Figured that any songs on that thing were there to stay until I got that software back, so I decided to take it to the gym anyway and give it a whirl. I think I was going through a retro-metal phase when I loaded the thing. The first song was Ronnie James Dio's melodramatic "Rainbow In The Dark." I chuckled as I climbed onto the elliptical cross-trainer and started doing my best impression of a mouse in a wheel. I seem to get the same charge out of '80s metal that most people get from, say, K.C. And The Sunshine Band. I can't help but smile sometimes. What followed was a half-hour medley of Motorhead's greatest hits. I remember buying the double-CD set. I was irritated that the collection didn't have "Stone Deaf In The U.S.A.," but it had all of the other great ones. Lemmy has one of the most instantly recognizable voices in rock, kind of like he gargled with a bag of rusty nails and washed it down with turpentine. His rattling bass-playing is also a trademark; it's just as much a part of him as his meth addiction and encyclopedic knowledge of WWII history. Then there's the unusual mic stand placement, the gigantic facial warts, the cowboy hat... All of which combine to make him look like equal parts street thug, Hell's Angel, and apocalyptic prophet. Lemmy once said that Motorhead was the kind of band that would make your front lawn die if they moved next door to you. I still don't know what that means exactly, but it does make some sense. While some of the later work like Overnight Sensation trends dangerously close to cheese-metal territory, there's still some amazing songwriting to be had. I would have loved to have observed the creative process behind a song like "Sacrifice," with its amazing drumming and pit-inspiring chorus. Also, few can wield a cover tune so well: "God Save The Queen" and "Please Don't Touch" (with Girlschool) are essential listening. "Shine," "Dogs," and "Snake Bite Love," were also key parts of this long-forgotten mix. Sure "Iron Fist" seems to borrow a little from "Ace Of Spades," but... Who cares, really? I mean... AC/DC has made the same album almost thirty times and few are complaining, right? Anyway... Cheers to Lemmy and Co. | HOME | OBSESSIONS | FAQ | HEROES | CAREER | BLOG | CONTACT Note that the views expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect those of Phil's employer, its business partners, its clients, or anyone or anything that doesn't come from Phil's demented imagination. Hell, to be perfectly honest, even Phil disagrees with what he thinks sometimes. This site has virtually no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Clicking on a link doesn't automatically send a 1/2-cent donation to UNICEF. You can't buy, sell, auction, swap, find a date, win friends, influence people, cross the chasm, or decode the human genome using this site. You won't get free email. You won't win a free video game console. This site will not end world hunger, foster peace in the Middle East, help you smell better, teach you how to swing dance, or move the global economy from petroleum to hydrogen fuels. You'll learn a lot about this site's master, though, which amounts to a haphazard collection of strange and useless facts that pretty much won't help you at all.	ABOUT THIS BLOG This is the blog of Phil Gomes, SVP with Edelman Digital and senior advisor to the Society for New Communications Research. This blog not only discusses PR and media matters, but Phil's everyday observations about a variety of topics. Phil currently resides in Chicago, IL. EMAIL phil[at] philgomes.com View my page on PROpenMic SYNDICATE Feedburner ARCHIVE YAHOO! IM SKYPE WISH LIST PITCH POLICY MY PHOTOS www.flickr.com Photostream RSS Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz COMMENT AND TRACKBACK POLICY Comments and trackbacks are unmoderated, though I will delete the patently offensive ones. Any comments and trackbacks are the opinions of the individual writer of those comments and trackbacks, and not those of Phil Gomes, his employer, its clients, or its business partners. 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