Ace of Spades: One of the First Heavy Metal Videos on MTV

The Ace of Spades music video was one of the first heavy metal videos to be played on MTV. It was also one of the first videos to be banned by the channel.

The Birth of Ace of Spades

Ace of Spades was one of the first heavy metal videos to be played on MTV, and it helped to catapult the band Motörhead to stardom. The video was directed by Videosyncrasy, a London-based production company, and it was filmed in March 1980. It cost £1500 to make, and it was largely financed by the band themselves.

The video opens with a close-up of a tarot card reading “Ace of Spades,” which then cuts to a shots of the band playing in a smoky room. Throughout the video, there are quick cuts between shots of the band and shots of cards being dealt. At one point, frontman Lemmy is shown singing with a skeleton mask on, which added to the video’s dark and macabre aesthetic.

At the time, many people criticized Ace of Spades for its violence and gambling imagery, but today it is considered one of the most influential heavy metal videos ever made.

The Making of the Video

In 1980, Ace of Spades was released as a single in the UK and quickly became a top ten hit. This was followed by a re-release in 1981, which saw the song reach number four on the UK Singles Chart. The song’s success led to a number of live performances, including on Top of the Pops and The Young Ones.

In 1982, the band decided to make a video for the song. Directed by Terence Fisher, the video was shot in black and white and featured the band playing in a warehouse. It was one of the first heavy metal videos to be played on MTV, and helped to increase the popularity of the band in the United States.

The Impact of Ace of Spades

Ace of Spades was one of the first heavy metal videos to be played on MTV, and it had a huge impact on the metal scene. The video was so popular that it inspired a number of metal bands to create their own videos, and it helped to propel the popularity of heavy metal music. Ace of Spades also helped to popularize the image of metalheads as angry, rebellious youth, and it cemented the position of heavy metal as a key genre in popular culture.

The Legacy of Ace of Spades

Ace of Spades is a song by the British heavy metal band Motörhead, released in November 1980 as a single and the title track to the album Ace of Spades.

The song peaked at number 15 in the UK Singles Chart and was used by the BBC as theme music for their coverage of Snooker’s World Championship from 1984 onwards. In October 1991, Ace of Spades was ranked number 55 in Q magazine’s poll of “The 100 Greatest Singles of All Time”.

In 2009 it was named the third greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1 Classic. In March 2005, Pitchfork Media placed Ace of Spades at number 31 in their Top 200 Tracks of the 1980s list. The song was included in the soundtrack for Iron Man 2.

The video for Ace of Spades was one of the first heavy metal videos to be played on MTV, and helped to break down barriers between mainstream music and heavy metal. The video features footage of the band playing live, intercut with shots of a woman (played by model/actress Wendy Richard) gambling. It also features some very explicit images, including shots of Richard snorting cocaine off a motorbike seat, which caused some consternation at MTV.

The legacy of Ace of Spades is secure – it is one of the most iconic heavy metal songs ever written, and its video helped to break down barriers between mainstream music and heavy metal.