Motorhead - Orgasmatron turns 35
Motorhead's Orgasmatron is 35 years old. Released 9th August 1986. It's Motorhead's seventh studio album.
Orgasmatron was Motorhead's first album to feaure two guitarists Phil 'Wizzo' Campbell and Michael 'Würzel' Burston. It was the first album to feature Motorhead as a four piece band instead of their usual trio lineup.
The word "Orgasmatron" originated in a 1973 Woody Allen film Sleeper. In the film, Orgasmatron is the name of a scientific device device used to give you orgasms. I reckon Lemmy named it better.
A few years since Hammersmith
Five years lapsed since Motorhead's highly successful live album - No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith. That album was the band's highest chart positioning album, it peaked at No.1 on the UK charts.
Their compilation album 'No Remorse' released in 1984 was the end of Motorhead's partnership with Bronze Records. It was also the time of departure of "Fast" Eddie Clark and drummer Philthy "Animal" Taylor.
With contractual issues Motorhead weren't able to to record in 1985, and they could only tour and make TV appearances. In Lemmy's autobiography White Line Fever Lemmy said "Orgasmatron was our first studio album in three years. The lineup, except for me, was completely different from Another Perfect Day, but that didn't faze us any. Between the recording sessions for No Remorse and all the touring we did, the four of us were rather used to each other by then! We made the record in 11 days."
The working title for the album was 'Ridin' with the Driver' and was later changed to Orgasmatron. The artwork for the album suits the 'Ridin with the Driver' name more than orgasmatron, as the artist Joe Petagno didn't change the cover art. Petagno commented on the album cover on the Inferno 30th Anniversary bonus DVD "Lemmy was living on a houseboat then, and collecting train models. He said, 'You know, Joseph, I want a fucking train.' It seemed weird to me...but, yet again it worked." The preliminary sketch had the Orgasmatron train going in the opposite direction, but Petagno "decided to turn it so it was going out of the picture rather than coming into it. It gave me a lot of trouble, because [of] trying to fit the head in front of the train with this cow scoop. But it worked in the end."
