It’s Been 40 Years Since Motörhead Played in ‘The Young Ones’ Living Room
In the mid-‘80s, one of the most reliable things you could count on in television was that every Sunday night, The Young Ones would show up on MTV. The wildly anarchic British comedy series about four distinctly repulsive university students failing at life and in their schoolwork had first aired on BBC2, but found an appreciative cult audience on this side of the Atlantic through the music network’s constant rerun of the entire series — which was itself hilarious, as there were only two seasons of six episodes apiece. I remember loads of people having taped them on VHS only to have taped over them because they felt there was no need, thinking that MTV would rerun the series forever. (How wrong they were …)
One of the more brilliant aspects of the show was that in the middle of whatever chaos was going on — whether it was sociology student Rick (the late Rik Mayall) trying to crucify himself to the front of their student residence while singing Cliff Richard songs, Vyvyan (Adrian “Ade” Edmondson) walloping the nuclear bomb in their kitchen with a cricket bat, hippie Neil (Nigel Planer) dropping the lentils all over the floor (again) or Mike trying to exploit any situation for the prospect of profit or sex — there always came a time in the show when, out of nowhere, some band or other would start to play.
BBC/Courtesy Everett Collection
The first episode featured the skinny-tied Nine Below Zero, with later episodes bringing acts as varied as Madness, the Damned, Rip Rig & Panic, Amazulu and more. (A documentary about the series later revealed that the guest music spots were actually a way to increase the budget for the show — by featuring a musical guest, they could get more money out of the BBC for being considered a “variety” show. Such clever clogs, eh?) But no guest appearance on the show was ever as spectacular as when Motörhead crashed in for the show’s Season 2 opener, “Bambi,” which aired on May 8, 1984.
Those familiar with the episode — the best of the series, in the opinion of many, myself included — will recall the setup: After a frustrating morning spent failing to get their clothes washed at the launderette, Neil suddenly remembers to tell the gang that they’ve been picked to represent their school, Scumbag College, on the venerable game show University Challenge that night. Vyvyan: “TO THE STATION!” Mike: “MUSIC!” And Motörhead, from the boys’ living room, rips into its signature song of all time, “Ace of Spades.”
The sequence effectively epitomizes the chaos of the series itself, as the four lads tear off for the Bristol Temple Meads railway station and proceed to provide an abject lesson in disorderly conduct. (I could describe it, but it’s more fun to watch it — you know you’re going to, anyway, so have at it.)
Wasn’t that fun?
But the 40th anniversary appearance of Motörhead isn’t the only noteworthy moment in this episode. The boys from Scumbag College, when they finally arrive at the television studio have to face off against Footlights College Oxbridge (“Rah, rah, rah — we’re going to smash the oiks!”) a team of “posh” young students played by some now-familiar faces, including Lord Snot (Stephen Fry), Miss Money-Sterling (Emma Thompson), Lord Monty (Hugh Laurie) and Kendall Mintcake (series writer Ben Elton). In real life, Fry, Thompson and Laurie had actually been part of the Footlights drama club at Cambridge University, after which their fictitious school was named. Fry actually made no fewer than eight appearances on the real University Challenge in its original run.
And Than There Was That Quiz Show Part of The Young Ones …
The quiz show portion of the episode is, of course, a hilarious metaphor that takes the piss out of the privileged class, with points being scored by Footlights for an extra £50, or for answering, “I’ve got a Porsche.” A jug of “wee” and a German stick grenade figure into the action, and the episode naturally closes with a giant, cream-filled sticky bun falling on the cast, as will happen in an episode of The Young Ones.
It’s been 40 years since this episode first aired. Since then, it’s not lost any of its power, though in the interim we’ve sadly lost Rik Mayall and 3/4 of the lineup of Motörhead that appeared on the show, including inimitable band leader Lemmy Kilmister. In memory of a great moment in British comedy, an undeniably great song that even many non-metal fans seem to dig, and the original Motörhead band members, now all deceased, who wrote it, we invite you to enjoy this now-classic clip of “Ace of Spades” being performed on carillon at the Torenfestival Weert in Weert, the Netherlands. Enjoy!
’80s Where Are They Now
March 2023
Who can forget all the great TV shows, movies and music of the ‘80s? See what your favs are up to now!
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