MOTÖRHEAD TRIUMPHS OVER THE BEATLES, BOWIE, CLAPTON, HENDRIX, THE STONES AND THE DALEKS
Andy Rawll
14th December 2017



phil taylor motorhead

MetalTalk attended this month's Entertainment Memorabilia auction at Bonhams' in Knightsbridge, London to see the many tempting lots at first hand that included Bob Marley's rasta hat; Jimi Hendrix's engraved recorder; Eric Clapton's zebrawood guitar; David Bowie's Blue Jean boiler-suit; John Lennon's pen and ink drawings; Marc Bolan's chiffon blouse; Bob Dylan's stetson; and a rare acetate of the Rolling Stones' 'Beggars Banquet' album.

Yet, it was a dark iron horse that trumped them all once the bids were cast with Phil 'Philthy Animal' Taylor's Motörhead drum-kit the star of the show, falling under the hammer of the gods for £15,000 which is well over double the guideline price (£5,000 - £7,000), which was the highest premium of any of the 166 lots.

phil taylor motorhead

In perspective, only two items sold for more, with the top price achieved at the auction of £19,000) for a piece of Beatles ephemera, which fell short of its minimum guide price of £20,000.

Even the malevolent might of a full-size Dalek was no match for Phil's shark-toothed monster, selling for only £14,000.

phil taylor motorhead

The Bonham's auction brochure described the items as:

"Mirror finish, comprising; two 24 x 14inch bass drums each fitted with original front skins bearing shark teeth motifs and with an original Motörhead sticker, two original black wooden front head hoops, an 18inch floor Tom, a 16inch hanging Tom, a 15inch hanging Tom, and a 14inch hanging Tom. 'Cloud' badge.

"Each drum head on the Toms fitted with a clear Remo CS Black Dot. Accompanied by three vintage drum cases including a Le Blond bass drum case, one double braced double tom stand, various spare Remo CS Black Dot clear heads and various spare Camco lugs, dampers, and accessories."

phil taylor motorhead

Philthy, who sadly passed away in November 2015, just over a month before Motörhead mainman Lemmy, took up drumming in the early 1970s. Legend has it that he was a Leeds United football hooligan at the time and his father said "if you want to hit something, hit these drums".

He joined Motörhead during the recording of the band's first album, 'On Parole', in 1975, after original drummer Lucas Fox left. According to Lemmy's autobiography, 'White Line Fever':

"We decided that Lucas had to go, because he was starting to get very weird. He was trying to keep up with my speed habit, and of course you can't."

phil taylor motorhead

Then-guitarist Larry Wallis was particularly taken with Phil during his audition, continues Lemmy in his book:

"What a horrible little fucker!" he chortled. "He's fucking perfect!"

Phil provided a frenetic double bass drum barrage which created a new genre, Thrash Metal. Motörhead are often also credited as the first Speed Metal band due to the sensational drumming on 'Overkill', the title track of the second album.