Watch Motörhead's Lemmy gatecrash a Frankie Goes To Hollywood TV performance to get better acquainted with a female dancer

Lemmy with Frankie Goes To Hollywood
(Image credit: Musiklanden, ORB)

Exactly why Kirsty McColl invited Motörhead legend Lemmy to mime the role of her guitarist for a performance of her hit single Terry on German TV show Musikladen in the summer of 1984 has been lost to the passing of time. But by all accounts, the pair had a great giggle on the day.

Saluting McColl as a "really great bird" in his autobiography White Line Fever, Lemmy fondly recalled their unlikely one-off TV collaboration: "I was on guitar, dressed in shades and a teddy-boy outfit," he wrote, "and I sank to my knees doing a solo – actually I had no idea what I was playing."

For Lemmy though, the fun did not stop there. 

Liverpool synth-pop act Frankie Goes To Hollywood were inescapable in 1984, scoring three huge number one singles in the UK - Relax, Two Tribes and Power Of Love - and hitting the top spot on the UK albums chart too with their debut album, Welcome To The Pleasuredome. Germany was not immune to the band's charms either, with Relax spending six weeks atop the national charts leading to an invitation to perform on Musikladen on the same week that fellow Brits McColl and Kilmister were present.

You may like

Now, filming for TV shows can be a tedious business, so when Lemmy duckwalks into the frame from stage left, still pretending to strum his Telecaster guitar, one might imagine that the great man's actions were inspired by a desire to make Holly Johnson's band chuckle, and, to be fair, the quintet are visibly amused by their mysterious sixth member entering the fray.

However, it appears that Lemmy's motives were not wholly altruistic here, for having gatecrashed the band's stage, the Motörhead man swiftly discards his Fender guitar, and makes a beeline for the lingerie-clad blonde dancer hired to spice up FGTH's performance, making his interest in the young lady in question fairly obvious.

Exactly what transpired after this, dear reader, history, sadly, does not record,  and that may be for the best.

Watch Lemmy's smooth seduction technique in the archive footage below:

Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.

Read more
WASP’s Blackie Lawless posing for a photograph in 1986
“Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted to talk to me. They thought I would be right for the part of The Terminator”: WASP frontman Blackie Lawless’ wild tales of Lemmy, Gene Simmons and The Village People
The Heavy Metal Kids posing for a photograph in 1974
“John Bonham was at the bar drinking quadruple brandies. He just turned around and whacked Gary in the stomach”: The crazed tale of the Heavy Metal Kids, the cult rock’n’roll hooligans with a tragic TV star singer
Robert Fripp and Toyah Wilcox in their kitchen
Watch Toyah Willcox run her fingers seductively through Robert Fripp's hair as they perform Blondie's One Way Or Another
Marianne Faithful posing for a photograph in 1979
“That’s what he said: ‘I’ve killed Jim Morrison.’ He provided the gear”: Marianne Faithfull saw the best and worst of the late 60s and early 70s music scene
Twisted SIster’s Dee Snider in full make-up in the mid-80s
“I called Gene Simmons. He said: ‘How the hell did you get this number?!’ That was when I got the idea that we weren’t going to be best buddies”: Dee Snider’s wild tales of Robert Plant, Frank Zappa, Freddy Krueger and Kiss
Motorhead posing for a photograph in 1979
“We’d solidly work from two in the afternoon to until 10pm. Why did we knock off then? So, we could get to the pub!”: The chaotic story behind Motörhead’s Overkill, the album that turned three speed freaks into stars
Latest in
Adrian Smith performing with Iron Maiden in 2024
Adrian Smith names his favourite Iron Maiden song, even though it’s “awkward” to play
Robert Smith, Lauren Mayberry, Bono
How your purchase of albums by The Cure, U2, Chvrches and more on Record Store Day can help benefit children living in war zones worldwide
Cradle Of Filth performing in 2021 and Ed Sheeran in 2024
Cradle Of Filth’s singer claims Ed Sheeran tried to turn a Toys R Us into a live music venue
The Beatles in 1962
"The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have?" Record shop owner finds 1962 Beatles' audition tape that a British label famously decided wasn't good enough to earn Lennon and McCartney's band a record deal
The Mars Volta
“My totalitarian rule might not be cool, but at least we’ve made interesting records. At least we polarise people”: It took The Mars Volta three years and several arguments to make Noctourniquet
/news/the-darkness-i-hate-myself
"When the storm clouds clear, the band’s innate pop sensibilities shine as brightly as ever": In a world of bread-and-butter rock bands, The Darkness remain the toast of the town
Latest in News
Adrian Smith performing with Iron Maiden in 2024
Adrian Smith names his favourite Iron Maiden song, even though it’s “awkward” to play
Robert Smith, Lauren Mayberry, Bono
How your purchase of albums by The Cure, U2, Chvrches and more on Record Store Day can help benefit children living in war zones worldwide
Cradle Of Filth performing in 2021 and Ed Sheeran in 2024
Cradle Of Filth’s singer claims Ed Sheeran tried to turn a Toys R Us into a live music venue
The Beatles in 1962
"The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have?" Record shop owner finds 1962 Beatles' audition tape that a British label famously decided wasn't good enough to earn Lennon and McCartney's band a record deal
Lizzo and Sister Rosetta Tharpe onstage
"This is my baby, my passion – because Rosetta deserves": Lizzo to play rock'n'roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in upcoming biopic
Heart publicity shot
"Don't worry, it's not the worst. It's not what you think": Nancy Wilson reassures fans concerned about Ann Wilson's onstage wheelchair