LEMMY'S PERSONAL ASSISTANT

Dan Hawcroft was Lemmy's PA, road manager to Motörhead, all-round good mate and "designated driver" in the band's latter days.

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I was Lemmy's personal assistant and Motörhead road manager for six years... and I lived to tell the tale! From 2005 I spent 24 hours a day with Lem and the band for 11 months of each year. I loved every moment, the ups and the downs. No two days were alike. Lemmy was so funny and intelligent. He became a father figure to me - albeit a pretty maniacal father figure! - at a time when I might have ended up in the morgue. He took me under his wing.

"I got lucky. I had been working with Nick Oliveri from Queens Of The Stone Age when they supported Motörhead, and we kind of clicked. When the job was offered to me I had a flashback to seeing Motörhead on The Young Ones and thinking: 'Fuck me, that's a band'.

"I was the only member of the crew to travel on the band bus with Lem, Mikkey and Phil. It was my responsibility to check the driver knew our destination and that the band got to the gig. It was also my job to call around the strip clubs and say: 'Hey, Lemmy is in town. Can we come along after the show?' Nobody ever said no.

"I became very close to Lem. It was like being someone's best mate, but also their designated driver. He was such a decent guy. He insisted on good manners.