Edward Allan Clarke (known as Fast Eddie) (October 5, 1950 – January 10, 2018), the last remaining member of the classic Motörhead line-up has died aged 67. He passed away peacefully in hospital after battling pneumonia.
He was born in London, England on October 5, 1950 and began playing the guitar at an early age. By 15 he had already played in several local bands and in 1973 he turned professional by joining blues prog rock band, Zeus, as lead guitarist. In 1974, Zeus and Fast Eddie recorded an album called The Second Coming.
After leaving Zeus, Fast Eddie played in a couple of other bands but was unsuccessful at getting another record deal and so, in 1975, he temporarily gave up on the music industry.
He was working on re-fitting a houseboat, when he met drummer Phil Taylor who had recently joined Motörhead and introduced Clarke to Lemmy. Fast Eddie played with Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister and Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor in the ultimate Rock N Roll band, Motorhead, between 1976 and 1982, playing guitar on the first six Motorhead albums.
Motörhead’s popularity increased along with their UK chart successes and Lemmy, Clarke, and Taylor are considered to be the classic Motörhead line-up with the albums Motörhead, Overkill, Ace of Spades, Bomber, No Sleep ’til Hammersmith and Iron Fist and a string of hit singles to their credit.
Fast Eddie Clarke left Motörhead in 1982, while on tour of the United States. He had become unhappy at the results of the Iron Fist album, feeling that the recordings compromised the band’s principles and so he resigned. His last gig with Motörhead took place at the New York Palladium on May 14, 1982. Clarke was replaced by former Thin Lizzy and Wild Horses lead guitarist Brian Robertson
Fast Eddie later went on to form Fastway (a combination of their names) with UFO bassist Peter Way.
In 2014, Clarke went back to his blues roots and released a new studio album through Secret Records. ‘Make My Day – Back To Blues’ was a collaboration between Clarke and Bill Sharpe, the keyboardist from Shakatak,
In later life, Fast Eddie divided his time between London and his house in Spain, and toured with Fastway occasionally.
He reunited with Lemmy on November 6, 2014 at National Indoor Arena in Birmingham to play Motörhead classic “Ace of Spades”
Following the deaths of Lemmy and Phil Taylor in 2015, he pondered playing a set that reflected the entirety of his career.
Fast Eddie died from pneumonia on January 10, 2018.
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