Motörhead "Leaving Here (Single & Video)"

English hard rock band Motörhead released their version of "Leaving Here" as their debut single in 1977. Despite it being their first single, only the band's founder Lemmy remained from the band's original line-up.

On April 28, 1979, Lemmy was interviewed by John Tobler on BBC Radio 1's Rock on Saturday show, and "Motorhead", "Leaving Here" and "Limb from Limb" were played.

The recording was inspired by The Birds' 1965 cover version of Eddie Holland's "Leaving Here". Lemmy was a great fan of the band.

Motorhead had originally recorded a version of this song for their debut album On Parole, but unsure of its commercial viability their record company United Artists, to whom they were still under contract, were refusing to issue it. Jake Riviera of Stiff Records, a casual acquaintance of Lemmy's, offered to release a new single from the band. No official deals were made, the band paid for the studio time whilst Riviera paid all other expenses. The single was scheduled for release with catalogue number BUY9 when United Artists intervened forcing Stiff to shelve its distribution.

The single was issued in France (on Skydog Records, MH001, black on white sleeve) and Sweden (on Blitz Records, MH001, purple on white sleeve) with some copies being imported into the UK. The tracks were included on two 1977 Stiff compilation albums, A Bunch of Stiff Records (SEEZ2,1/April/1977) contained "White Line Fever", and Hits Greatest Stiffs (FIST1,16/September/1977) contained "Leavin' Here". The single did eventually see a release as part of a box set of Stiff's first ten singles, limited to 5000 in 1979. Both tracks are currently available on the Stone Deaf Forever! CD box set.

A live version of "Leaving Here" was issued in 1980 as the lead track on The Golden Years EP, reaching No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart. "White Line Fever" was re-recorded for their 1977 debut album release Motörhead.

Track listing

1. "Leaving Here" (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland) – 3:20
2. "White Line Fever" [Stiff] (Eddie Clarke, Ian Kilmister, Phil Taylor) – 3:00