Few albums hit quite as hard as Motörhead’s ‘Ace of Spades,’ a record that sounds like a bar fight set to music. Released in October 1980, it became the band’s commercial peak, climbing to No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart and earning gold status by the following March, all powered by a title track that would outlive everything around it. Lemmy and company never wanted to be filed under heavy metal, insisting they were a rock ‘n’ roll band to the end, yet this record helped lay the groundwork for thrash and cemented their legend. Dig into its making and the stories are pure Motörhead chaos. Here are five facts worth knowing.
The Cowboy Photos Were Shot In A Barnet Sandpit
The album’s wild west imagery looks like the Arizona desert, but the band were nowhere near America. The ‘Arizona desert-style’ photos for the sleeve and tour programme were actually taken in a sandpit in Barnet, North London. To complete the illusion, the sky wasn’t even real, it was airbrushed in because the day was so heavily overcast.
Each Cowboy Costume Was Based On A Movie Character
The band didn’t just throw on random western gear for the shoot. Eddie Clarke’s look was modelled on Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name, while Phil Taylor’s costume drew from Marlon Brando’s Rio in ‘One-Eyed Jacks.’ Lemmy’s outfit, according to Taylor, was inspired by Bret Maverick from the TV show ‘Maverick.’
Lemmy Sang The Wrong Lyric For Two Years
The title track is built on gambling imagery, and Lemmy later made a sheepish confession about it. He admitted he’d been singing “the eight of spades” rather than “ace” for a full two years before anyone caught the mistake. He was just relieved the band got famous for that song rather than some forgettable dud.
“(We Are) The Road Crew” Was Written In Ten Minutes And Made A Roadie Cry
The fan-favourite track was a tribute to the band’s hard-working roadies, and Lemmy claimed he knocked it out in just ten minutes. Having once been a roadie himself for Jimi Hendrix and the Nice, he knew the life intimately. When crew member Ian “Eagle” Dobbie first heard the song, he reportedly had a tear in his eye.
A Broken Neck Derailed The Band Right After The Tour
The Ace Up Your Sleeve tour wrapped in Belfast on 2 December 1980, and that’s where things went sideways. Post-show hijinks left drummer Phil Taylor with a broken neck, forcing him into a brace and halting band activity. The downtime led Lemmy and Clarke to team up with Girlschool for the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre EP instead.