Fastway (band)

Fastway
"Fast" Eddie Clarke, founder and lead guitarist of Fastway
Background information
Origin	England
Genres	Hard rock, heavy metal
Years active	1983–present
Labels	CBS
Associated acts	UFO, Motörhead, Flogging Molly, Katmandu
Members	"Fast" Eddie Clarke Toby Jepson Matt Eldridge
Past members	Pete Way Dave King Jerry Shirley Lea Hart Charlie McCracken Bryan Eling Steve Clarke (drummer) John McManus Steve Strange

Fastway is a British rock band formed by guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke, formerly of Motörhead, and bassist Pete Way, formerly of UFO.

In 1983, both players had been disgruntled with their own bands and decided to work together in a new outfit. They recruited drummer Jerry Shirley, formerly of Humble Pie, and the then-unknown vocalist Dave King. They took their name from a combination of the founding members' names. However, Way then discovered that he could not escape from his recording contract with Chrysalis Records, and then received a tempting offer to play for Ozzy Osbourne, so he abandoned the project without ever playing on a single record. Bringing in session bassist Mick Feat, the band then recorded their debut album, Fastway (Feat was uncredited on the album).

After critical and commercial success, the band toured to promote the album (with one-time Fixx bassist Alfie Agius as their session bass player). The band then recruited Charlie McCracken, formerly of Taste, as "permanent" bassist, and released another success in the form of All Fired Up the following year. After the hardships of touring, Shirley and McCracken subsequently left.