UFO Lands in Workington
British rock legends UFO are to appear at Workington, in April.
Regarded as a primary influence on rock music giants Iron Maiden, Metallica and Megadeth, members have come and gone throughout the band's career including rock-god guitarist Michael Schenker, Aynsley Dunbar, Paul Gray, Bernie Marsden, Simon Wright, Jason Bonham and others members of rock music royalty.
These days the band still includes three of the original line-up, Phil Mogg, Andy Parker and Paul Raymond plus American guitarist Vinnie Moore and after more than three decades they remain a formidable force.
 |
Pete Way and Phil Mogg formed UFO, to become a massively-successful multi-million-selling metal monster band, in 1969, with drummer Andy Parker. Their breakthrough came after German guitar maestro Schenker jumped the Scorpions' ship to join the UFO camp in 1973. The albums "Phenomenon" (1974), "Force It" (1975), and "No Heavy Pettin" all charted high and sold enormously well worldwide.
The subsequent two studio albums, "Lights Out" (1977) and "Obsession" (1978) spawned huge hit singles such as "Lights Out", "Too Hot To Handle" and "Only You Can Rock Me" and rank among the most successful UFO recordings of all time. The year 1979 saw the release of the live "Strangers In The Night", widely regarded as one of the best live rock albums of all time, but by this time Michael Schenker had quit to form his own hugely successful Michael Schenker Group.
During the following 15 years UFO went through various line-up changes but still notched up respectable chart positions and sales with their "Wild The Willing" and "The Innocent", (1981), "Mechanix" (1982) and "Making Contact" (1983) albums. In 1982 Pete Way left the group to form Waysted, who released two albums ("Vice" and "Waysted"), sold out several UK tours and starred on a famously riotous tour of the States with Motley Crue and Ozzy Osbourne.
After "Making Contact" UFO undertook a farewell UK tour in 1983 and then in 1985 Phil Mogg assembled a new line up, who recorded "Misdemeanour" that year, "Ain't Misbehavin" (1988) and "High Stakes and Dangerous Men", (with Pete Way back on board) in 1992.
Then, in the Autumn of 1993, the original classic line up reformed and sold out a number of trial dates in Germany and America before recording "Walk On Water" (1995), their first album together for 15 years, which even the sceptics acknowledged amply demonstrated the band's rekindled enthusiasm.
UFO got back together at the end of the nineties and have continued to tour and record, with 2009 seeing the release of the bands 20th studio album "The Visitor" and a six CD box set.
