Takin' A Ride

In the mid/late ’80s, thanks to my connections via working at KSDT at the campus of UCSD, I was able to get some after show backstage passes for one of the many times I saw Alice Cooper. He always had the best opening bands. On this particular night, the opener for the show was Motorhead.

We were backstage and there wasn’t much going on in the section they had us quarantined in. Kane Roberts actually came up to us and talked for a little bit. More to the girls I was with, than me. But there was a lot of activity going on in another dressing room. Motorhead’s dressing room. There wasn’t anyone to stop me, so I just walked over and into it. Somehow I had my tape recorder with me. I must’ve snuck it in somehow, as there was no way Sports Arena security was going to let me just bring that in. Anyways, Motorhead had a full on party going on in their dressing room.

I saw Lemmy and introduced myself to him. I asked if there was any beer left. He lifted up the keg with 2 fingers and said “No.” Then he started looking around the room. Going in to this drawer, that drawer. A cabinet here. A cabinet there. Even his luggage (his carry-on had a full pint of Jack Daniels in it. For emergencies, of course.) Wanting to help out, I asked what he was looking for. He goes “A beer! For you!” I told him “Oh man, you don’t have to go through all that trouble for me!”. I told him about my radio show and how I’d like to get an interview. He said “Not with all this shit going on right now. Just call the record label and have them contact my manager and we’ll do it over the phone.” I did ask if I could at least get a quick station ID. He walked me over to the side (near the laundry room which was a little quieter) and cut this radio ID for me without missing a beat:

Sadly, I never followed up on that interview. But thought it was so cool that Lemmy took me seriously and with respect even though I basically crashed the party.