"Kings of Speed" is a 1975 song by the British

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

group

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

. It was originally released as a single in the UK (UP35808) on 7 March 1975 and was subsequently included on the album '' Warrior on the Edge of Time'', although its B-side, " Motorhead", was not. Although failing the chart in both the U.S. and the U.K., the track became an underground success, particularly with significant play in dance clubs. The parent album also did well, climbing up the Billboard album chart in the U.S.

Kings of Speed

The lyrics for this song were written by

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worke ...

, "Frank and Beasley" refer to characters from Moorcock's Cornelius books. Simon King stated that it was originally intended for inclusion of the Deep Fix album ''

New Worlds Fair ''New Worlds Fair'' is a 1975 concept album by UK rock group Michael Moorcock & The Deep Fix. Moorcock was an established science fiction author who has contributed lyrics and occasionally performed with Hawkwind. In 1974 he was offered a recor ...

''.Sounds, January 1975
- No Change in the Wind :"It's very powerful - it's got two drums on it and it sounds fucking great. It's like a

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

thing." - Alan Powell, drummer

Motorhead

The b-side has become one of Hawkwind's best-known songs, in large part because Lemmy, who wrote it, named his subsequent band after it. It is notable that the song title does not have an umlaut in it; that was added to the band name at a later stage. The lyrics "Sun rise wrong side of another day, sky high and six thousand miles away" are explained as: :"I was on tour with Hawkwind in 1974, we were staying at the Riot House yatt Hotel in Los Angelesand

Roy Wood Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a ...

and

Wizzard Wizzard were an English rock band formed by Roy Wood, former member of the Move and co-founder of the Electric Light Orchestra. ''The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits'' states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings was Paul McCartne ...

were also in town. I got this urge to write a song in the middle of the night. I ran downstairs to the Wizzard room, got Roy's Ovation acoustic guitar, then hurried back to mine. I went on to the balcony and howled away for four hours. Cars were stopping and the drivers were listening then driving off, and there I was yelling away at the top of my voice." - Lemmy
Riffs that Changed the World

Other versions

Neither song made it into the live set. It would be years until "King of Speed" would surface for a 1989 tour, while "Motorhead" has only recently been added to the band's current retro-show, with Alan Davey playing the part of Lemmy.

Outtake

The original backing tracks were taken by Brock from this Olympic Studio session, and he later added overdubs and released them through independent record companies. "Kings of Speed" was released as an instrumental (and claimed to be 'live') on the '' Hawkwind Zoo'' 12" EP (Flicknife Records, FLEP100, 1-May-1981). "Motorhead" was released as the A-side to a 7" and 12" single (Flicknife Records, FLS205, 2-July-1981), this time having a Brock vocal and synthesizer overdubs.

Covers

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 ...

released their version of "Motorhead" in 1977 as a single and on their debut ''

'' album, and a live version in 1981 as a single (reaching number 6 in the UK charts) and on the ''

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" (backe ...

'' album. Cover versions of "Motorhead" have been recorded by

Corduroy Corduroy is a textile with a distinctively raised "cord" or wale texture. Modern corduroy is most commonly composed of tufted cords, sometimes exhibiting a channel (bare to the base fabric) between them. Both velvet and corduroy derive from fu ...

in 1993 as a single and on their ''Out Of Here'' album, by Primal Scream on their 1997 ''

Vanishing Point A vanishing point is a point on the image plane of a perspective drawing where the two-dimensional perspective projections of mutually parallel lines in three-dimensional space appear to converge. When the set of parallel lines is perpendicul ...

'' album, and by

Lawnmower Deth Lawnmower Deth are an English thrash metal band, who parodied the genre and recorded three and a half albums. Initially active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they reformed in 2008. Biography Main career (1987–1993) Lawnmower Deth were for ...

on their 1990 album ''Ooh Crikey...It's Lawnmower Deth''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kings Of Speed Hawkwind songs 1975 songs Songs written by Lemmy Songs with lyrics by Michael Moorcock it:Motörhead (brano musicale)