Logo #91: Motörhead

Designer: Joe Petagno, 1977. Not so much a rock band logo as it is a visual Armageddon in which the cornerstones of heavy metal all battle each other across one demonic face. Fangs, horns, tusks, chains, the Iron Cross - this one's got it all. Speaking recently in an interview, Petagno says, "I met Lemmy while I was doing some work with Hawkwind. He had just quit and was looking for someone to do a logo for his own project which was of course "Motörhead". We discussed various ideas down at the local pub 'round the corner from his management office on the Great Western Road. A couple of weeks later, the now-infamous skull was born. Must have been around April-May of '75." This was a springtime that saw the fall of Saigon and the attendant chaos of choplifted escapes, the release of the giallo "The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance," and the Omaha Tornado. Here's some Motörhead now. Lemmy always comes off as remarkably modest and level-headed. The lady singing on that first track is Kelly Johnson (June 20, 1958 - July 15, 2007) of Girlschool. It should also be noted that Tawn Mastrey, who appears in the beginning of that clip from "The Decline of Western Civilization Part II", was a tireless promoter of heavy metal and a wonderful voice in her own right, died earlier this month, aged 53. Snaggletooth wept.