About
When Fast Eddie Clarke left Motörhead in 1982, rock fans had every reason to pay attention to what he'd do next. Teaming up with Pete Way (briefly, before Way departed for UFO) and eventually settling on a lineup anchored by Irish vocalist Dave King, Clarke launched Fastway with serious pedigree behind it. The band landed on CBS and hit the ground running with their self-titled debut in 1983, a record that crackled with bluesy hard rock energy and enough raw swagger to turn heads on both sides of the Atlantic. Clarke's guitar work was unmistakably rooted in his Motörhead DNA but pushed toward a more accessible, melodic direction that fit the early 80s rock landscape perfectly. Their follow-up All Fired Up kept the momentum going, and the band found an unexpected cultural moment when they contributed the entire soundtrack to the 1986 horror film Trick or Treat, earning them cult status that endures to this day among horror and metal fans alike. Though lineup changes and label troubles kept them from breaking through to the top tier, Fastway remains a beloved deep cut in the hard rock canon, the kind of band that serious fans discover and immediately wonder why the world didn't pay more attention.
