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3rd Influencer of Influencer #3 - Elvis Presley

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3rd Influencer of Influencer #3 - Elvis Presley

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In one of the opening scenes of Oliver & Orshoski’s (210) film, Lemmy Kilmister is being interviewed on live radio. A caller asks Lemmy “What are your musical influences today?” He replies “Your influences are the same y’know when your my age as when you were 20. The first things you hear that really knock you out stick with you, y’know you’re never going to hear any music better than that. So, it was Little Richard, The Beatles, Elvis… all that good old stuff.” Similarly to The Beatles, the grand scale of Elvis Presley’s influence on the world of music and culture around the globe is undeniable. "Through Elvis Presley, a white southerner steeped in gospel and race music, black music hit the heart of white America. Rock and Roll music, and the international stardom of Presley, was to form the vanguard for the spread of American culture around the world" (Osborne, 2011, p. 466-467). “It was due to the postmodern technologies of radio, television and cinema, in the aftermath of World War Two, that the popularity of Elvis Presley reached an international audience and marked the beginning of many historic achievements for Presley in the annals of popular music. He was the first rock artist to establish a continuing and independent motion picture career, the first to have a whole series of million-selling single records ... and the first to dominate consistently the tastes of the foreign record market, especially in England, where popularity polls listed him among the top favourites for each year until the arrival of the Beatles” (Sewlall, 2010, para. 6-7). Elvis Presley’s music hitting the ears of young Ian Fraser Kilmister (Lemmy) all the way over in England is a perfect example of the reach of Elvis Presley’s influence.

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2nd Influencer of Influencer #3 - The Beatles

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2nd Influencer of Influencer #3 - The Beatles

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In Oliver & Orshoski’s (2010) film Lemmy states “The first time I saw The Beatles they hadn’t made a record yet.” "The Beatles I always thought were the best band in the world." The film opens with a scene of Lemmy Kilmister on the hunt for a specific boxset of The Beatles in a music store. The Beatles legend in music is simply undeniable and their name will forever be synonymous with a regard for being the best band, or rather, the most important, in popular music history. “What makes them so special is their impact on music in general – the influence they have had on bands of various genres all over the world from the sixties up to the present day – and their immense influence on culture and people’s thinking” (Hecl, 2006). They’ve been described as “cultural icons”, to possess “groundbreaking instrumentation” and “electronic wizardry,” “simply sublime harmony and melody,” “the ability of a single chord change or deft note to create pop history,” (Pedler, 2010, p.2) “a volume of lyrics now challenging Shakespeare for posterity” (p. 1). There’s not an aspect of The Beatles that has not been recognised as changing the world.

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1st Influencer of Influencer #3 - Little Richard

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1st Influencer of Influencer #3 - Little Richard

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In Oliver & Orshoski’s film (2010) Lemmy Kilmister speaks on Little Richard as being one of his main influences. “My first favourite was Buddy Holly and then little Richard. Little Richard – such an outrageous voice. The best vocal even in rock and roll.” In a conversation with Dave Grohl about the originators of rock and roll, he states “Him (Little Richard), Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis, that’s it. It was those 3. You can’t tell who did the first whatever, but… between them, they started rock and roll.” In their conversation they refer to Little Richard as a renegade and touch on his race and sexuality and the implications that had on his music and his career. “How weird must it have been to be gay and black in Macon, Georgia in the 50’s” – Lemmy Kilmister. As a queer man from Georgia who started his career in the 40’s it is easy to see the significance of this discussion. Steptoe’s (2018) paper reflects on Little Richard and the queer roots of rock ‘n’ roll. The paper highlights an example of Little Richard recording “Tutti Frutti” in 1955, rising to number seventeen on the pop charts, only to be eclipsed by a cover version by Pat Boone (who was white and represented heteronormativity) coming in at number 12. “They needed a rock star to block me out of white homes because I was a hero to white kids. The white kids would have Pat Boone up on the dresser and me in the drawer 'cause they liked my version better, but the families didn't want me because of the image that I was projecting" (p. 55).

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Motorhead are truly one of a kind and have influenced me directly but also indirectly in ways I probably couldn’t even identify. Lemmy Kilmister, the only static member of the band Motorhead, is a pioneer in the world of rock and roll and metal. Not only in the ways of music, but also in fashion and attitude. From the rasp in his voice, to the distortion of his bass, to the black, the leather, and the bullets on his belt, he is a true trail blazer and really brought an edge to music that didn’t exist before him. He truly is the incarnation of the spirit of metal.

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3rd Influencer of Influencer #2 - The Beatles

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3rd Influencer of Influencer #2 - The Beatles

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Another influencer of The Ramones is The Beatles, not just musically but in ways you might not suspect. Marky Ramone states that it was when he saw The Beatles for the first time that he first wanted to play the drums. When I was eight years old The Beatles were on TV, and my mother told me Mark, come into the… living room… I want you to see this. So, I put down my soldiers, my tanks and my helicopters and, and that's when I wanted to… play the drums. I guess, yeah, it was Ringo who inspired me (2020, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame). The band also had a similar approach to The Beatles when it came to their recording processes. You can hear this in their separation of the guitar between different channels. Electric bass on the left and rhythm guitar on the right, leaving vocals and drums to be mixed in the centre of the stereo mix (This Day In Music, 2002). What I find greatest about The Beatles influence on the band though, is their name. The Ramones, and their choice to take on their identity as Ramones, stems from an alias Paul McCartney used to use to check into hotels. This was initially Dee Dee’s idea, first to dub himself Dee Dee Ramone, and the rest followed suit (Taysom, J). This is now one of the most original, groundbreaking and iconic aspects of the band. Good work, Dee Dee!

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2nd Influencer of Influencer #2 - The Who

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2nd Influencer of Influencer #2 - The Who

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Although The Ramones were heavily influenced musically by The Stooges, it was experiencing firsthand at the age of 16 the raw power of The Who that inspired lead singer Joey Ramone to make music. When speaking on this experience, Joey shares “The Who blew my mind… It was the best thing I’d ever seen… When I perform, I want to blow people’s minds like that” (Whatley, 2020). This is no surprise as it is the explosive drum-kit bashing and guitar smashing behaviour on stage that The Who is so notoriously known for (Wenner, 1968).

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1st Influencer of Influencer #2 - The Stooges

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1st Influencer of Influencer #2 - The Stooges

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In the documentary film “Gimme Danger”, a story of The Stooges, Danny Field, who was a manager of both The Stooges and The Ramones states “I think that The Stooges reinvented music. The Ramones, who are a great love of mine, knew each other, not because they liked each other, but because they were the only 4 people at their school who likes the stooges” (Jarmusch, Logan, Sulichin & Wilson, 2016). For The Stooges to influence The Ramones in such a way that the bands inception was based purely on a mutual love of their music speaks volumes. One could speculate that without The Stooges, would there have been another force powerful enough to bring The Ramones together? Luckily for us, we’ll never have to know.

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The Ramones have been a big influence on me and my music from the very beginning. My first ever love obsession with music, and one that will forever be close to my heart, is my love of punk. The Ramones and their unique style are the sound of my very early youth. Their heavily distorted, simple, all down strummed, three-chord based guitar style was catchy, unique, original and has been imitated by countless artists that have followed (Double, 2007). Their level of deceptive simplicity has played a big role in shaping who I am as an artist both in my guitar playing and songwriting.

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Oliver and Orshoski (2010) created a documentary film about Motorheads founder, lead singer, bassist and primary song writer, Lemmy Kilmister. In the film, James Hetfield declares Lars Ulrich to be the biggest Motorhead fan on the planet as he introduces Lemmy as “The Godfather of Heavy Metal” to join them on stage at one of their shows. The film captures the band expressing how Motorhead has influenced them. Kirk Hammet tells "I can't even begin to tell you how much of an influence Motorhead have been on us. I mean... and it's like, y'know, on a bunch of different levels. Musical level, attitude, motivation, perseverance, uh... the look! I mean, the bullet belt… come on!" James Hetfield shares "I'll give you a list of things that were lifted from Lemmy! Singing style, y'know, lyric phrasing, simplicity, the rhyming scheme of it all. Trying to be as cool as Lemmy. The facial hair in the early days for me was certainly all about that." James shuts his eyes and continues… “Lemmy to me is not just an inspiration but I think he’s kinda like, the OK sign, y’know? It’s OK to go this far, it’s OK to do this, and it’s like he’s… he’s kicked the door open for a lot of bands that were feeling like they wanted more.” What more could you say?

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2nd Influencer of Influencer #1 - Led Zeppelin

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2nd Influencer of Influencer #1 - Led Zeppelin

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As discussed in ‘1st of Influencer 1 (Metallica) – Black Sabbath’, Led Zeppelin have not only influenced Metallica through their influence on Black Sabbath, but have also directly influenced the band in a big way. Led Zeppelin’s biggest influence on Metallica would have to lie with their lead guitarist Kirk Hammet. When asked what Led Zeppelin means to him, he replied "It was the soundtrack to my youth. They were pretty much the first band I actually sat down with with a guitar and tried to learn the guitar solos and the songs." He went on, "I cannot say enough about LED ZEPPELIN and the f***ing impact that they've had on me and my musical career. Jimmy Page has been one of my heroes for year and years and years …” “I mean, what's not to like about LED ZEPPELIN?” (Blabbermouth, 2010). Kirk Hammet loved playing Led Zeppelin tunes like "Whole Lotta Love” and “Communication Breakdown” and learned Jimmy Page's solos note for note. He also experimented with the style of blues which has heavily influenced Led Zeppelin’s music (Gulla, 2009, p. 108).

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1st Influencer of Influencer #1 - Black Sabbath

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1st Influencer of Influencer #1 - Black Sabbath

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As pioneers of the heavy metal genre, it is no surprise that Metallica consider Black Sabbath to be one of their influences. Their influence on the genre of heavy metal music is so much so that they form the basis of Cope’s (2016) book ‘Black Sabbath and the Rise of Heavy Metal Music’. The book provides a fresh perspective and evaluation of the characteristics that define heavy metal and attributes influences such as the music scenes in Manchester, Liverpool and London combined with the unique social climate of working-class post-bellum Birmingham to be consequential factors of the development of heavy metal (Masterman, 2011). In a 2015 interview with the San Jose Sharks, members of the band are asked who their favourite bands of all time are. James Hetfield alludes to Black Sabbath being his number 1 favourite band of all time, as well as also listing Motorhead and Led Zeppelin (Metfan4l, 2017). This is an interesting connection as Cope’s (2016) book discusses and compares Black Sabbath to Led Zeppelin extensively suggesting that Led Zeppelin are in their very essence a hard rock band and with the use of musical elements such as power-chords, modal riffs, down-tuned guitars, episodic song structures and the notable utilisation of the tritone and minor second (elements which have all made their way into Metallica’s music), Black Sabbath entirely went beyond the limits of the rock and roll and blues fundamentals rooted in Led Zeppelins music, separating them from the genre of hard rock and transforming them into an artist of the heavy metal genre (Masterman, 2011). This also highlights how Led Zeppelin have both directly and indirectly influenced Metallica.

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Metallica are a huge creative influence for me. As a lover of heavy metal music this is certainly a contributing factor, and as a follower of Metallica for many years I can also say I’m a lover of their influences, both in the pioneers of heavy metal and of punk, such as Discharge and Black Sabbath. However, my greatest admiration of Metallica comes down to their song writing. My favourite album of theirs is their self-titled album Metallica (also commonly known as The Black Album). It has everything. Exceptional lyricism, exceptional musicianship and exceptional production. After watching their documentary Some Kind of Monster, it is easy to see their determination and commitment to the band and the music they create. This shows in the final product of their music, and I think has a lot to do with why they are so wildly successful at what they do.