Lemmy was fired from Hawkwind in May 1975 for, as he says, "doing the wrong drugs". He was arrested on suspicion of possessing cocaine at the Canadian border and spent five days in prison causing the band to cancel some of their North America tour dates. Now on his own, Lemmy decided to form a new band, originally to be called 'Bastard'. Douglas Smith, the band's manager, advised him that, "It's unlikely that we're going to get on Top of the Pops with a name like 'Bastard'". Lemmy concurred and decided to call the band 'Motörhead', inspired by the final song he had written for Hawkwind. The name of the song "Motorhead" is an American slang term for a speed-freak. Lemmy's stated aim was to "concentrate on very basic music: loud, fast, city, raucous, arrogant, paranoid, speedfreak rock n roll... it will be so dirty that if we move in next door to you, your lawn will die". On the recommendation of Mick Farren, he recruited Larry Wallis (ex-Pink Fairies) on electric guitar and Lucas Fox on drums. According to Lemmy, the band's first practice was in a furniture store in Chelsea, England in 1975. Kilmister has said they used to steal equipment, as the band was short on gear. Their first gig was supporting Greenslade at The Roundhouse, London on 20 July 1975. On 19 October, having played 10 gigs, they became the supporting act to Blue Öyster Cult at the Hammersmith Odeon. The band were contracted to United Artists by Andrew Lauder, the A&R man for Lemmy's previous band Hawkwind. They recorded sessions at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth with producer Dave Edmunds, during which Fox proved to be unreliable and was replaced by drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, a casual acquaintance of Lemmy's. Their record label was dissatisfied with the material and refused to release it, although it was subsequently issued as On Parole in 1979 after the band had established some success.
In February 1976, deciding that two guitarists were required, the band auditioned "Fast" Eddie Clarke. Wallis, who was continuing to tour with a reformed Pink Fairies, quit immediately after the auditions and Clarke remained as the sole guitarist. This trio of Lemmy – Clarke – Taylor is today regarded as the "classic" Motörhead line-up. In December, the band recorded the "Leaving Here" single for Stiff Records, but United Artists intervened to prevent its general release as the band were still under contract to them, despite their refusal to issue their debut album. Initial reactions to the band had been unfavourable; they won a poll for "the best worst band in the world" in the music magazine NME.
By April 1977, living in squats and with little recognition, Taylor and Clarke wanted to give it up, and after some debate, the band agreed to do a farewell show at the Marquee Club in London. Lemmy had become acquainted with Ted Carroll from Chiswick Records and asked him to bring a mobile studio to the show to record it for posterity. Carroll was unable to get the mobile unit to the Marquee Club but showed up backstage after the gig and offered them two days at Escape Studios with producer Speedy Keen to record a single. The band took the chance, and instead of recording a single they laid down 11 unfinished tracks. Carroll gave them a few more days at Olympic Studios to finish the vocals and the band completed 13 tracks for release as an album. Chiswick issued the single "Motorhead" in June, followed by the album Motörhead in August, which spent one week in the UK Albums Chart at number 43. The band toured the UK supporting Hawkwind in June, then from late July they commenced the 'Beyond the Threshold of Pain' tour with The Count Bishops.
In August, Tony Secunda took over the management of the band, and their cohesiveness became so unstable that by March 1978, Clarke and Taylor had formed and were gigging as The Muggers with Speedy Keen and Billy Rath.
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