"'Bad Motor Scooter" is a song by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band Montrose, released on the band's 1973 debut album. Along with "

Rock Candy Rock candy or sugar candy, also called rock sugar or crystal sugar, is a type of confection composed of relatively large sugar crystals. In some parts of the world, local variations are called Misri, nabat or navat. This candy is formed b ...

", it is arguably the band's best-known song.

Background and recording

The song was written by lead singer and frontman

Sammy Hagar Sam Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose before launching a ...

. Its introduction, a distorted electric

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

sound which emulates that of a revving motorcycle, became the defining component of the song. When the song was conceived before this guitar sound, the band and producer

Ted Templeman Edward John "Ted" Templeman (born October 24, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. Among the acts with whom he has had a long relationship are the rock bands Van Halen and Doobie Brothers and the singer Van Morrison; he produced ...

were not happy because they felt it was missing a

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

to make it stand out.

Ronnie Montrose Ronald Douglas Montrose (November 29, 1947 – March 3, 2012) was an American musician and guitarist who founded and led the rock bands Montrose and Gamma. He also performed and did session work with a variety of musicians, including Van Morri ...

stumbled upon it while messing with a slide and fuzz box one day in the studio. Playing his guitar in

Open D tuning Open D tuning is an open tuning for the acoustic or electric guitar. The open string notes in this tuning are (from lowest to highest): D A D F A D. It uses the three notes that form the triad of a D major chord: D (the root note), F ...

, Montrose improvized what became the motorcycle sound — although Templeman and engineer

Donn Landee Donn Landee is an American record producer and recording engineer. Much of his work as an engineer has been done with producer Ted Templeman at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood, California. The pair worked with a wide variety of artists f ...

kept him going when they failed to get the recording tape rolling. When performed live by the original Montrose lineup, Sammy Hagar would play the "motorcycle" introduction on a lap steel slide guitar.

Playing by Chickenfoot

Hagar provided the same intro when

Chickenfoot Chickenfoot is an American hard rock supergroup formed in 2008. The group consists of vocalist Sammy Hagar, bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani, and drummer Chad Smith. Due to Smith's consistent recording and touring commitments wi ...

, the supergroup composed of Hagar,

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American rock music, rock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in hi ...

, Michael Anthony and

Chad Smith Chad Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who is the drummer of the rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Smith has played with the Chili Peppers since 1988, appearing on ten of the band's studio albums and becoming the band's lo ...

, performed a version during their live performances. Joe Satriani did the "motorcycle" introduction at the Montrose tribute concert using the whammy bar on his guitar instead of the slide guitar. On Chickenfoot's ''Best + Live'' album, Hagar claimed that "Bad Motor Scooter" was "actually the first song I ever wrote in my life." The song has also been included on the Sammy Hagar compilation '' The Essential Red Collection''.

References

{{authority control Montrose (band) songs 1973 songs Song recordings produced by Ted Templeman Songs about transport Songs written by Sammy Hagar