"Bomber" is a song by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

heavy metal band

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

, recorded and released in 1979 (see

1979 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1979. Specific locations * 1979 in British music *1979 in Norwegian music Specific genres *1979 in country music *1979 in heavy metal music * 1979 in hip hop music * 1979 i ...

). It is the title track to their album ''

Bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

'' and was released as a single peaking at 34 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The single was released in the UK by

Bronze Records Bronze Records was an independent English record label founded in 1971 by record producer Gerry Bron on Oxford Street in London, eventually relocating to Chalk Farm. History Bron had been producing Uriah Heep for Vertigo Records, and he set up ...

as a

7-inch In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

vinyl single with the first 20,000 copies pressed in blue vinyl and thereafter in black. The band promoted its release with an appearance on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

TV show

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

on 3 December.Burridge, Alan ''Illustrated Collector's Guide to Motörhead'' Published: 1995, Collector's Guide Publishing . On 13 April 2019, Motörhead re-released the original single of Bomber for the first time since 1979, along with the single edit of '' Overkill'' on picture disc as a celebration of the albums 40th anniversaries on Record Store Day.

Background

In an interview in 2015 with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' Lemmy recalled the origin of the song

Other versions

The song became a staple of the band's live set, with live versions being released on the albums ''

No Sleep 'til Hammersmith ''No Sleep 'til Hammersmith'' is the first live album by English rock band Motörhead, released on 22 June 1981 via Bronze Records. It peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart. It was followed by the release of the single " Motorhead" (backed ...

'', ''

Everything Louder than Everyone Else ''Everything Louder than Everyone Else'' is the sixth live album by the band Motörhead, recorded on 21 May 1998, and released on 9 March 1999, on Steamhammer; their first live album with the label, but fourth album release. Recording Vocali ...

'', '' Live at Brixton Academy'', '' Better Motörhead than Dead: Live at Hammersmith'', '' The Wörld Is Ours - Vol. 2: Anyplace Crazy as Anywhere Else'' and ''

Clean Your Clock ''Clean Your Clock'' is the thirteenth live album by the band Motörhead, released on 10 June 2016, approximately six months after the death of vocalist and bassist Lemmy. Lemmy dedicated the song "Doctor Rock" to Phil Taylor, Motörhead's dr ...

''; and on the video releases '' The Birthday Party'', '' 25 & Alive Boneshaker'' and ''

The Best of Motörhead ''Best of Motörhead'' is a 2002 compilation DVD featuring the British heavy metal band Motörhead, filmed while they were under contract to Bronze Records in 1978 to 1984. The video was originally released in 1986 as ''Deaf Not Blind'', alt ...

''.

"Over The Top"

The B-side of the single was the non-album track "Over the Top", which has subsequently been included as a bonus track on the re-mastered ''Bomber'' album. The song was also performed as a joint collaboration between Motörhead and The Damned for inclusion on the proposed "Ballroom Blitz" single, but the recording session ended in drunkenness and the results were deemed unsuitable for release. The recording was, however, finally issued in 2003 on the ''

Stone Deaf Forever! ''Stone Deaf Forever!'' is a 5-CD box set collection by the band Motörhead, released in 2003. Recording ''Stone Deaf Forever!'' is the first fully comprehensive box set collection covering the band's career from 1975 to 2002 and is the first ...

'' boxset. The Damned included the track on their compilation CD "Tales From The Damned" (released 1993, Cleopatra Records - CLEO71392), performed as "MotörDamned" with the following personnel: Rat Scabies, Lemmy, Fast Eddie, Captain Sensible, Philthy Animal Taylor, Dave Vanian, Algy Ward. Live versions of this song have been released as the B-side to the 1981 single " Motorhead", on the 2005 video ''

Stage Fright Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...

'' and on the 2007 album ''Better Motörhead than Dead: Live at Hammersmith''.

Single track listing

#"Bomber" ( Ian Kilmister, Eddie Clarke, Phil Taylor) - 3:45 #"Over the Top" (Kilmister, Clarke, Taylor) - 3:12

Personnel

*"Fast" Eddie Clarke –

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

*Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Lemmy (Ian Kilmister) –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Cover versions

Girlschool Girlschool are a British rock band that formed in the new wave of British heavy metal scene in 1978. Frequently associated with contemporaries Motörhead, they are the longest-running all-female rock band, still active after more than 40 yea ...

covered the song on the ''

St. Valentine's Day Massacre The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre was the murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day 1929. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park, Chicago garage on the morning of February 14, ...

'' EP, a joint release between the two bands. This cover is also on the soundtrack to the game ''

Brütal Legend ''Brütal Legend'' is an action-adventure video game with real-time strategy game elements created by Double Fine and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America, E ...

''. *

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. Orig ...

released the cover version as a B-side to their 1992 single " Suck You Dry", and has been included as a bonus track on their '' Piece of Cake'' album. *

Onslaught Onslaught may refer to: Characters * Onslaught (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics supervillain * Onslaught (DC Comics), a DC Comics team of Quraci terrorists * Onslaught (Transformers), the leader of the Combaticons in the ''Transformers'' series G ...

recorded its own version featuring

Tom Angelripper Thomas Such (born 19 February 1963), better known by his stage name Tom Angelripper, is a German musician best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, main songwriter, and the only original remaining member of German thrash metal band Sodom. Biog ...

and Phil Taylor and released it on the '' Sounds of Violence'' album (2011) *

U.K. Subs U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the f ...

made their version of the song for their covers album Subversions (2018) *

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

recorded a version on their covers album '' Inspirations'' (2021)

References

{{Authority control Motörhead songs 1979 singles Songs written by Eddie Clarke (musician) Songs written by Lemmy Songs written by Phil Taylor (musician) Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller Onslaught (band) songs