RIP Fast Eddie Clarke

[spellbound]

Former Motorhead guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke died yesterday (10 January) of pneumonia at age 67. Rest in peace.

Motorhead ex “Fast” Eddie Clarke dead at 67

[Zappathustra]

I was ready to start this myself. Very sad. He was one of the great rock'n'rollers and as essential to Motorhead's sound as all 3 of them. They were never the same without him, it's clear. RIP.

[Sputnik]

I knew him more from his band Fastway, which was a favorite of one of my old band-mates. He definitely helped define Motorhead's sound, though. Very sorry to hear this, 67 seems young.

Bill

[Steve983]

I was never a fan as such but Motorhead with Eddie were iconic - sad to lose another one at just 67. RIP Eddie.

[Gruno]

What a bummer! RIP.

I didn't even know he was ever in Motorhead as I wasn't a fan of that band. I only knew of Fast Eddie from Fastway. Fastway did the entire soundtrack for the movie Trick Or Treat. That soundtrack is 33.5 minutes of all sorts of kickass. I would say it's in my top 30-40 albums I own. Gonna spin it now!

[Yves]

Let us not mourn, let us celebrate:

[Jerjo]

RIP Eddie. I was into Fastway before I gave Motorhead a listen - he was a treat in both bands, hammering out riffs and leads like a demon. All three original members are gone now, playing upstairs in some seedy club where the walls shake and sweat.

[Vic2012]

RIP

[dropforge]

Love the first two Fastway records and old Motorhead (up through the record with Robbo on guitar, after Eddie left). Too young. Bummer. RIP.

[GuitarGeek]

RIP Eddie. I was into Fastway before I gave Motorhead a listen - he was a treat in both bands, hammering out riffs and leads like a demon. All three original members are gone now, playing upstairs in some seedy club where the walls shake and sweat.

Technically, Fast Eddie and Philthy Animal weren't original members. The original drummer was Lucas Fox, and the original guitarist was Larry Wallis (formerly of The Pink Fairies). They both played on the first album, On Parole, though Fox is only on two songs.

But the Lemmy/Clarke/Taylor lineup is definitely one of the best of all metal bands. Records like Bomber, Overkill, and Iron Fist all absolutely kill.

I actually knew about Fastway first, but i remember an dual article in Creem around the time of their first album, on both Fastway and Motorhead. So I was aware of his Motorhead heritage, though not until after he had already left the band.

[GuitarGeek]

Love the first two Fastway records and old Motorhead (up through the record with Robbo on guitar, after Eddie left). Too young. Bummer. RIP.

I like the ones with Wurzel on guitar, up through 1916.

[SteveSly]

Damn.....big fan of his Motorhead albums, although I did not get into the band until much later so never saw him live. Never really explored Fastway, although I remember liking the track off of their first album that got a lot of radio play back at the time.

[GuitarGeek]

Never really explored Fastway, although I remember liking the track off of their first album that got a lot of radio play back at the time.

You're probably thinking of Say What You Will. That's the one song I really remember from them, as i didn't get into the albums either.

BTW, a little trivia: the name Fastway was derived from the names of the two founders of the band: Fast Eddie Clarke, and former UFO bassist Pete Way. By the time they actually made the first album, though, Pete Way had already bailed.

[strawberrybrick]

Well, that puts the original (enough) Motorhead all in the big house in the sky. RIP, the whole lot!

[spacefreak]

Fastway was a sad miss but in Motorhead he worked wonders. Had the pleasure to see him during the "Iron Fist" tour; he ripped the stage. I also remember him from his contribution in both Curtis Knight Zeus LPs.

[Zappathustra]

Now that this is sinking in, I feel really sad. He was one of my heroes. Lemmy's leading bass playing gave Fast Eddie the chance to play simple rythm parts with great intensity and destroy the field with his noisy, yet melodic solos. His style is inimitable.

[FrippWire]

Oh, no! While not the biggest Motorhead fan, I came to like Fast Eddie's personality in interviews and such. Bummer...

[spacefreak]

...and on a note different than Motorhead. I'm just spinning it in remembrance.

[SteveSly]

Listened to "Bomber" and "Overkill" earlier today. Still kick ass killer records. Motorhead were ahead of their time. They were doing thrash metal before anyone even knew what it was.