UFO (band)
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- This article is about the rock band. For other uses, see UFO (disambiguation).
UFO are a British rock band that was formed in 1969. UFO were a transitional band between the rock of Led Zeppelin and the metal to come in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. UFO's influence was strongly felt in the '80s metal scene and they have been cited as a primary influence of Kirk Hammett of Metallica and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth among others.
History
Beginning
Vocalist Phil Mogg, guitarist Mick Bolton, bassist Pete Way and drummer Andy Parker formed the band UFO in 1969. Originally taking the name Hocus Pocus, the group changed their name to UFO in honor of a London club. Their eponymously titled first album debuted in 1970. Both UFO and its follow-up, next year's Flying, found great success in Japan, but generated little interest in Britain or America. Consequently, their third effort, 1972's UFO Lands in Tokyo--Live, was only released in Japan.UFO's early work was influenced by the space rock sound (their second album was subtitled "One Hour Space Rock") that was modestly popular at the time but the band realized the style was somewhat limited. In 1974, Mick Bolton left the group and UFO set out to find a guitarist capable of providing the band a more standard rock sound.
Success
After brief trial runs with ex-Pink Fairies guitarist Larry Wallis and future Whitesnake member Bernie Marsden, the band recruited guitarist Michael Schenker (brother of Scorpions' Rudolf Schenker) from the Scorpions in time to record 1974's Phenomenon, which debuted the band's harder-edged guitar sound. Schenker was only 19 at the time, but was already a well-respected guitarist. Phenomenon was not an instant classic, but contained fan favorites "Doctor Doctor" (later a minor hit single as a live track) and "Rock Bottom", which was extended live to provide a showcase for Schenker.
Wasting little time, the band released Force It in 1975 and No Heavy Petting in 1976 and toured extensively, which brought UFO increased visibility with American audiences and made them bonafide stars in England. After experimenting with keyboards on Petting, the band hired keyboardist and second guitarist Paul Raymond in time for 1977's Lights Out. Lights Out was the pinnacle of UFO's studio career and is considered a genuine '70s rock classic containing songs such as "Too Hot To Handle", "Lights Out", "Alone Again Or" and the 7 minute opus "Love To Love". With Lights Out, the band finally received substantial critical acclaim and Michael Schenker firmly established himself as a modern guitar hero.
With their newfound success, the band went back into the studio to record 1978's Obsession. While the album didn't garner quite the acclaim that Lights Out did, it still contained several popular tracks including "Cherry" and "Only You Can Rock Me". The band went on tour and recorded the live album Strangers In The Night in 1979. The concert album displayed the band at the peak of their performance playing to a very receptive audience. Strangers was a critical and commercial success and stands as one of the most influential live rock albums of the '70s, along with Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous, KISS Alive! and Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive. UFO appeared to be poised to continue their success into the new decade. However, tensions had been growing between frontman Phil Mogg and Schenker. Soon after the release of Strangers In The Night, Schenker left the band and returned briefly to the Scorpions before forming the Michael Schenker Group (M.S.G.).
Post-Schenker years
After Schenker's exit, UFO quickly hired guitarist Paul "Tonka" Chapman (formerly of Lone Star) and released their next LP No Place To Run in 1980, which was helmed by legendary Beatles producer George Martin. No Place to Run failed to match up to the success of its predecessors. Paul Raymond left and was replaced by former Wild Horses guitarist and keyboardist Neil Carter, who helped fill the void in the songwriting left by Schenker's departure. The following year UFO released The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent, which had a lighter pop/rock sound popular at the time and met with some success in the UK.In 1982, the band released Mechanix, which contained the song "Back Into My Life", a minor hit in the U.S. Later that year, founding member Pete Way left the band to form Waysted and was replaced by ex-Damned & Eddie and the Hot Rods bassist Paul Gray. UFO released Making Contact in 1983, but the album was all but ignored and UFO decided to disband, releasing Headstone as a career summary.
This actually proved to be a short hiatus as Mogg reassembled a new lineup of UFO two years later and released Misdemeanor. This was followed by the 1988 EP Ain't Misbehavin'. Despite the renewed vitality of the band, neither release was financially successful and they disbanded again.
The reunion(s)
In 1992 Mogg and Way decided to put a new UFO together and released High Stakes and Dangerous Men. While just released on a small independent label, High Stakes was enough to generate serious interest in a full-blown reunion. The following year, the classic UFO line-up – Mogg, Schenker, Way, Raymond and Parker – reunited, and the resultant album Walk on Water, was released in 1995. This lineup went on a world tour (with AC/DC's Simon Wright on drums) but tensions arose again and Schenker left the band in the middle of the tour, and the other members yet again went their separate ways.
Phil Mogg and Pete Way continued working together artistically and released two albums under the Mogg/Way name in the late '90s. In 2000, Schenker decided he was willing to work with UFO again, and the band released the double CD Covenant containing a disc of new material and a disc of live classics. Despite constant rumors regarding Schenker's status in the band he returned once again for 2002's Sharks.
Shortly after Sharks was released, Schenker and the band decided to make the oft-rumored (and oft-actual) split permanent. Mogg, Raymond and Way decided to permanently replace Schenker with guitar shredder Vinnie Moore. In 2004 the band released You Are Here with Jason Bonham handling drum duties. UFO is still the rock power house they were, and they've showed no signs of calling it quits and can be expected to be recording and touring for the foreseeable future. In November 2005 Andy Parker returned to the band to play the Piorno Rock Festival in Granada, Spain.
UFO's nineteenth studio album, titled The Monkey Puzzle, is expected for release in Europe on September 25, 2006 and on the following day in the United States. []
Lineup
Current line-up
- Phil Mogg - Singer
- Andy Parker - Drums
- Pete Way - Bass
- Vinnie Moore - Lead guitar
- Paul Raymond - Keyboards & Rhythm guitar
Previous members
- Michael Schenker - Lead guitar
- Paul Chapman - Lead guitar
- Mick Bolton - Lead guitar
- Atomik Tommy M - Lead guitar
- Laurence Archer - Lead guitar
- Bernie Marsden - Lead guitar
- Larry Wallis - Lead guitar
- Clive Edwards - Drums
- Aynsley Dunbar - Drums
- Robbie France - Drums
- Jason Bonham - Drums
- Simon Wright - Drums
- Danny Peyronel - Keyboards
- Neil Carter - Keyboards & Rhythm guitar
- Paul Gray - Bass
Discography
Albums
- UFO1 (1970) Uncharted
- Flying (1972) Uncharted
- Phenomenon (1974) Uncharted
- Force It (1975) Chart Position 71 (US)
- No Heavy Petting (1976) Chart Position 167 (US)
- Lights Out (1977) Chart Position 51 (UK), 23 (US)
- Obsession (1978) Chart Position 26 (UK), 41 (US)
- No Place to Run (1980) Chart Position 11 (UK), 51 (US)
- The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent (1981) Chart Position 19 (UK), 77 (US)
- Mechanix (1982) Chart Position 8 (UK), 82 (US)
- Making Contact (1983) Chart Position 32 (UK), 153 (US)
- Misdemeanor (1985) Chart Position 74 (UK), 106 (US)
- Ain't Misbehavin' (1988) Uncharted
- High Stakes & Dangerous Men (1992) Uncharted
- Walk On Water (1995) Uncharted
- Covenant (2000) Uncharted
- Sharks (2002) Uncharted
- You Are Here (2004) Uncharted
- The Monkey Puzzle (2006)
Live albums
- Live (1972) Uncharted
- Live In Concert (1974)
- Lights Out In Tokyo (1978)
- Strangers In The Night (1979) Chart Position 42 (US), 8 (UK)
- Live In Japan (1992)
- T.N.T. (1993)
- Live In Texas (1994)
- Heaven's Gate (1995)
- (1997)
- On With The Acton (1998)
- Showtime (2005)
Greatest Hits Albums
Compilations
Videography
External links
http://www.tfpro.com/rococo/index.php
discography ...]
| UFO |
|---|
| Phil Mogg | Jason Bonham | Pete Way | Vinnie Moore | Paul Raymond |
| Michael Schenker | Andy Parker | Paul Chapman | Danny Peyronel | Neil Carter | Mick Bolton | Paul Gray | Atomik Tommy M | Laurence Archer | Clive Edwards | Aynsley Dunbar | Bernie Marsden | Larry Wallis | Robbie France |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: UFO | Flying | Phenomenon | Force It | No Heavy Petting | Lights Out | Obsession | No Place To Run | The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent | Mechanix | Making Contact | Misdemeanor | Ain't Misbehavin' | High Stakes & Dangerous Men | Walk On Water | Covenant | Sharks | You Are Here |
| Live albums: Live | Live In Concert | Lights Out In Tokyo | Strangers In The Night | Live In Japan | T.N.T. | Live In Texas | Heaven's Gate | | On With The Action | Showtime |
| Compilations: Space Metal | Anthology | The Essential UFO | |
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