"No Class" is a song by the British heavy metal band

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

. It was released in 1979 in 7" vinyl pressings. The song first appeared on the 1979 album '' Overkill'', and became one of the "cornerstones" of the classic 1981 live album '' No Sleep 'til Hammersmith''. It is one of the band's "anthems".

Release

It was available in three different covers, with a picture of

Lemmy Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was a British musician. He was the founder, lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter of the metal band Motörhead, of which he ...

"Fast" Eddie Clarke Edward Allan Clarke (5 October 1950 – 10 January 2018), better known as "Fast" Eddie Clarke or simply "Fast" Eddie, was a British guitarist who was a member of heavy metal bands Fastway and Motörhead. Of Motörhead's classic lineup, which ...

Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor Philip John Taylor (21 September 1954 – 12 November 2015), better known as "Philthy Animal", was an English drummer. He was a member of the rock band Motörhead from 1975 to 1984 and 1987 to 1992, recording eleven studio albums and four live ...

. The single also contains the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

"Like a Nightmare", which can be found on the reissued versions of ''Overkill''.Burridge, Alan ''Illustrated Collector's Guide to Motörhead'' Published: 1995, Collector's Guide Publishing . The song was already a live track before it was recorded for ''Overkill''.

Style and influences

Stylistically, the song is described as "get-down rock boogie". Critics have noted the similarities at the time between Motörhead's music and

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...

's, and the guitar riff in "No Class" is said to be "stolen" from ZZ Top's " Tush." On Motörhead's 1999 live album ''

Everything Louder than Everyone Else ''Everything Louder than Everyone Else'' is the sixth live album by the band Motörhead, recorded on 21 May 1998, and released on 9 March 1999, on Steamhammer; their first live album with the label, but fourth album release. Recording Vocalis ...

'', before playing "No Class" Lemmy dedicated the song to long-time friend Wendy O. Williams, who had committed suicide the previous month.

Notable covers

* The Plasmatics covered the song in 1982, as part of the ''

Stand by Your Man "Stand by Your Man" is a song recorded by the American country music artist Tammy Wynette, co-written by Wynette and Billy Sherrill. It was released on September 20, 1968, as the first single and title track from the album '' Stand by Your Man''. ...

'' EP collaboration with Motörhead. *In 1990 the Argentine Thrash metal band

Hermética Hermética was an Argentine thrash metal band from San Martín, Buenos Aires. It was formed by bassist Ricardo Iorio in 1987 after his previous band, V8, disbanded. Hermética was signed to the independent record label Radio Trípoli Discos t ...

recorded "No Class" for '' Intérpretes'', a cover album; it is the only English track ever recorded by the band. *In 2010, the sludge metal band Kingdom of Sorrow covered the song on their album '' Behind the Blackest Tears''. *In 2012, founding thrash metal band

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

covered the song on their

Gigantour Gigantour was a sporadically organized traveling heavy metal music festival organized by Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. The tour was founded in 2005 with dates across North America (see also Gigantour 2005), and the 2006 and 2007 line-ups also trav ...

after Motörhead had to pull out of the last 4 shows. Lemmy had a combination of a viral upper respiratory infection and a voice strain.

Single track listing

# "No Class" ( Eddie Clarke, Ian Kilmister, Phil Taylor) # "Like a Nightmare" (Kilmister, Clarke, Taylor)

Personnel

–

Guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

–

Drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(Ian Kilmister) –

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

References

Motörhead songs 1979 singles Songs written by Eddie Clarke (musician) Songs written by Lemmy Songs written by Phil Taylor (musician) Song recordings produced by Jimmy Miller 1979 songs Bronze Records singles {{1970s-rock-song-stub