10 Hard Rock Music Videos That Got Banned

5. Killed By Death - Motorhead

Lemmy Kilmister was never one to play by the rules, and this video certainly went against all the perceived wisdom of music video-making at the time.

Killed by Death (great name) was a piece of new material issued as part of a Motorhead compilation album from 1984. To promote their new song, Lemmy and his pals headed to the studio, and churned out this wonderfully bonkers result.

In the first 40 seconds, Lemmy bursts through the wall of a family's living room, scoops their scantily-clad daughter up on the back of his motorcycle, and flips off the camera. Great start.

His reckless actions catch up with him when he is shot by the police and then executed in an electric chair. Have no fear though, as Lemmy then bursts out of the ground at his own funeral, still on his trusty chopper!

Music channels at the time didn't see the funny side of the band's antics and said the video was too violent to play. This might explain why such a great track made absolutely zero impact on the sales charts.

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.