The UFO Thread-Pete Way RIP

[TAC]

So I saw UFO on the final show of their 2019 50th Anniversary Last Orders tour. Phil Mogg had said they were hanging it up after the tour, but I see they're booked for a Rock Cruise next year, so who knows.

It's possible this was their last US show, and I had that in the back of my mind.


Dream Theater really took over my adult life as far as music goes, and Iron Maiden has always been a mainstay, but no other band is tattooed on my soul more than UFO. I have been a fan since I was 13, and I've spent more important moments of my life listening to UFO than any other band. I love all eras, and UFO's music is truly meaningful to me.


Paul Raymond passed away earlier this year. Neil Carter, who replaced Paul the first time, agreed to do the tour. He's been teaching music, and he briefly started performing again with Gary Moore shortly before he died.

Speaking of Gary Moore, his band was the very first band on at my very first concert. Neil Carter was part of that band. I'm a huge fan of his, so seeing him was fantastic. He was so energetic on stage. It was impressive.

Here's the setlist:

1. Mother Mary
2. We Belong To The Night
3. Run Boy Run
4. Venus
5. Lights Out
6. Burn Your House Down
7. Fighting Man
8. Only You Can Rock Me
9. Cherry
10. Love To Love
11. Too Hot To Handle
12. Rock Bottom
13. Doctor Doctor
14. Shoot Shoot



In my opinions the setlist blows.

Looking at the distribution by eras..

Classic Schenker Era  (5 albums)

Mother Mary
Lights Out
Only You Can Rock Me
Cherry
Love To Love
Too Hot To Handle
Rock Bottom
Doctor Doctor
Shoot Shoot

Chapman Era  (4 albums)

We Belong To The Night

Reunion Schenker Era  (3 albums)

Venus
Fighting Man

Vinnie Era  (5 albums)

Run Boy Run
Burn Your House Down


9...NINE of the 14 tracks were from the Classic Schenker Era. I get it.

I find Too Hot To Handle boring and overrated, but they did a slightly extended outro which sounded great.
Unless Pete Way is playing, I do not ever need to hear Cherry.
And I'm frankly tired of Only You Can Rock Me.


Venus has been way overplayed. They played it when I saw them in 2011. It's an average track on the great Walk On Water, but I do have to say, it goes over great live.
Not sure why they like Fighting Man so much. I'd rather hear something from Covenent or Walk On Water.

One song from the Chapman Era??? With Carter in the band, I was hoping We Belong To The Night would segue into Let It Rain.

And the under represented Vinnie Era was covered with Run Boy Run (fine) and Burn Your House Down, which IMO blows.


But Setlist issues aside, they sounded fantastic, and Phil Mogg is simply amazing. And I'm not sure if it was because it was the final tour, but Vinnie absolutely slayed! He played like it was their last show. His solo at the end of Love To Love was AMAZING!!

And I thought he and Neil Carter had great chemistry, especially during the instrumental section of Rock Bottom.

Anyway, here are some shots:

"Misty Green And Blue"







During Rock Bottom




Intro to Doctor Doctor

[wolfking]

Nice writeup Tim.

Huh, Neil Carter, nice.  Didn't know that.  Great shots too.

[Stadler]

Mechanix is my favorite Chapman album; they could have played anything from that and I'd have been fine. (I LOVE "Heel Of A Stranger"). 

[TAC]

Mechanix is my favorite Chapman album; they could have played anything from that and I'd have been fine. (I LOVE "Heel Of A Stranger").

Yeah, I do to.

Mechanix is great, but The Wild The Willing And The Innocent is easily my fave of the Chapman Era.

I think from Mechanix, my fave would be Doing It All For You. And Back Into My Life.

[faizoff]

I really need to check out some UFO, beyond some of the hits like Doctor Doctor and Rock Bottom I haven't much.

[TAC]

I really need to check out some UFO, beyond some of the hits like Doctor Doctor and Rock Bottom I haven't much.

Obvious starting point is the Strangers In The Night live album.


They have a big discography with multiple lineup changes.

[faizoff]

I had a similar start with Iron Maiden, first heard Live After Death and then followed up with the respective studio albums.

Strangers In The Night it is.

[Stadler]

If you dig the live album, Chrysalis has put out two compilations, one for the Schenker years and one for the Chapman years; they're pretty cheap but they basically give you five albums from each era on each set.   If that makes sense.

Here's the Schenker one:
https://www.amazon.com/Chrysalis-Years-1973-1979-UFO/dp/B0053V5Y20/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=UFO+the+chrysalis+years&qid=1573047869&sr=8-1

$15.00 (Used)!  That's a steal, broheims.   

[faizoff]

Sounds like a deal.

[Lowdz]

I can recommend those compilations.

And Strangers In The Night is glorious 🤘

[PowerSlave]

Tim, what venue is that? Interesting background for the stage...

[TAC]

It is in the Wolf's Den in the middle of the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.

[Stadler]

How was the sound?  I saw Asia there a couple years ago, but got there late and watched it from the outside.   Sound wasn't bad, but obviously it was off because I wasn't in the venue proper. 

[TAC]

I thought it was fine. I took a little bit of video on my iPhone during the instrumental part in Rock Bottom and it sounds awesome.

I thought the rhythm guitar was a bit low, but Vinnie Moore was crystal clear and I thought the bass and drums were mixed pretty good, as were the keys. Phil Mogg was nice and clear too. I was actually impressed.

[TAC]

Stadler, since your inbox is full...

http://bravewords.com/galleries/last-in-line-u-f-o-lights-out-in-cincy

[PowerSlave]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8-3SDYKJDA

I catch a lot of this guy's videos while I'm screwing around on Youtube. He put out a UFO album ranking vid yesterday.

[TAC]

Interesting. He dispatches the Vinnie Moore era pretty quickly. I feel like his Moore Era rankings are upside down.

[PowerSlave]

He did a Fates Warning album ranking about a week ago, and I was surprised by a lot of his choices in that as well. It's good to see the bands being recognized, though.

[TAC]

So Paul Chapman passed away on his 66th birthday yesterday.







I made a Spotify playlist of some of the best songs for both UFO and Waysted.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0aOEczcmbqmYiDrCRvdEIr?si=_zmFk44ZQei-NBbbopncIw



His solo on Profession Of Violence simply has to be heard to be believed. It is one of the most iconic solos in my life.
The outro to Doing It All For You...goosebumps inducing
The dirty guitar on The Good The Bad The Waysted and the much cleaner Save Your Prayers. The solo on The Land That's Lost The Love is fantastic.

I could go on and on.

The collections of live material of the Chapman UFO Era is endless, and he always had an interesting spin on the Schenker material. He wasn't Schenker, but he made up for it with a bad ass attitude. 

There are those that hold the Chapman Era of UFO in higher regard than the Schenker Era. These half dozen albums were there for me in my formative years, both musically and personally.

It's easy to say that "this is a favorite album of mine" but both The Wild The Willing And The Innocent and The Good The Bad The Waysted are literally two of my favorite albums of my life. I used a quote from TGTBTW in my high school yearbook.


I would have to reconsider doing a UFO discography. It would be a huge undertaking for me. Not because of the amount of albums, but I would really want to do it justice.


First Paul Raymond a year ago, and now Paul Chapman.

It'd be a fucking miracle if Pete Way outlives them all. 



I had the pleasure of seeing Pete and Paul in Waysted when they opened for Iron Maiden.


March 30, 1987
Providence Civic Center

























Mystery Train live. Tonka crushes it.

https://youtu.be/G8M2J2rHp_g?t=1182

[devieira73]

Great tribute, TAC. I really love what Paul Chapman brought to UFO. Truly great albums, all of them, in my book. And what a way to introduce himself to UFO fans with Alpha Centaury/Letting Go/Mystery Train!(I know, I know, he already played live with the band, but still...).
He also made very good albums with Waysted, no doubt (Heaven Tonight from Save Your Prayers should be popular as Don’t Stop Believing IMO). You are right, Profession of Violence is beyond amazing!
Really sad this news...
RIP Tonka

[Stadler]

I need to get into Waysted more, but I took a deep dive into UFO a couple years ago because of Michael Schenker, and found that some of the better songs are in the Chapman years.  For me, it's all about Mechanix.  The Writer, Doing It All For You, Heel Of A Stranger... I go back to that record more than all the others combined (and I LIKE UFO, so I listen to them a fair amount). 

Let this be a lesson, kids.  Up until his death, he taught music in Melbourne, Florida at what I understood to be a studio/music store.  My company has an office there, and I go there a lot for work.  I had been meaning to stop in and check it out for a while and never got around to it.  Too late now. 

[Lowdz]

Interesting. He dispatches the Vinnie Moore era pretty quickly. I feel like his Moore Era rankings are upside down.

I’m a huge Vinnie Moore fan but I’ve been disappointed with the UFO albums he’s played on. None of them get much of a look in here.

[TAC]

I need to get into Waysted more

Did I or did I not give you a huge writeup on them?

[TAC]

Interesting. He dispatches the Vinnie Moore era pretty quickly. I feel like his Moore Era rankings are upside down.

I’m a huge Vinnie Moore fan but I’ve been disappointed with the UFO albums he’s played on. None of them get much of a look in here.

I hear you. I thought You Are Here was a good start and fairly heavy. But they evolved into a Rolling Stones kind of thing. Still cool, but definitely lacked that anticipated punch. That said, I really enjoy a lot of their songs and have a great Vinnie playlist.

I took a deep dive into UFO a couple years ago because of Michael Schenker, and found that some of the better songs are in the Chapman years. 

Those four albums are chock full of great songs. There's a real charm to them.

For me, it's all about Mechanix.  The Writer, Doing It All For You, Heel Of A Stranger... I go back to that record more than all the others combined (and I LIKE UFO, so I listen to them a fair amount). 

I like Mechanix a lot too. Dreaming is my favorite on there. Pete Way really hated that album.

My favorite of the Era is easily The Wild The Willing And The Innocent.

[TAC]

He also made very good albums with Waysted, no doubt (Heaven Tonight from Save Your Prayers should be popular as Don’t Stop Believing IMO).

I love the Waysted albums. I actually prefer the version of Heaven Tonight on TGTBTW.

[TAC]

Speaking Of Waysted, I found a cool boot on youtube from the Save Your Prayers tour in 1986. Paul Chapman is great on this.

https://youtu.be/NNVLRTU3N8c?t=1


Tracklist:
Toy With The Passion
Won't Get Out Alive
Singing To the Night
Heroes Die Young
Rock Steady
How The West Was Won
Walls Fall Down
Around And Around

[Lowdz]

Interesting. He dispatches the Vinnie Moore era pretty quickly. I feel like his Moore Era rankings are upside down.

I’m a huge Vinnie Moore fan but I’ve been disappointed with the UFO albums he’s played on. None of them get much of a look in here.

I hear you. I thought You Are Here was a good start and fairly heavy. But they evolved into a Rolling Stones kind of thing. Still cool, but definitely lacked that anticipated punch. That said, I really enjoy a lot of their songs and have a great Vinnie playlist.

The problem with You Are here for me was that alot of the riffs were recycled from Vinnie instrumental tunes and I couldn't get used to hearing them with lyrics. Plus, Phil didn't sound that great.

[TAC]

Is that right? That's weird.

[Stadler]

I need to get into Waysted more

Did I or did I not give you a huge writeup on them?

You did, and I listened through, but I didn't stick with it. I need to go back and really give it my focus.

[TAC]

I need to get into Waysted more

Did I or did I not give you a huge writeup on them?

You did, and I listened through, but I didn't stick with it. I need to go back and really give it my focus.

Is there any chance you still have that PM? And if so, can you quote it back to me?

[Stadler]

Um, I might have spoke too soon; it was Thin Lizzy.   I think you've touted Waysted (and wasn't one of the singers in... Riot on one of the Waysted albums?) so I think I was mistaken.  I'd take some recommendations, though.

[TAC]

Um, I might have spoke too soon; it was Thin Lizzy.   I think you've touted Waysted (and wasn't one of the singers in... Riot on one of the Waysted albums?) so I think I was mistaken.  I'd take some recommendations, though.

Huh. I sent someone a Wasted PM. I could've sworn it was you.

I'm surprised you couldn't hang with Thin Lizzy, especially with Robbo playing on Another Perfect Day.

[Stadler]

Um, I might have spoke too soon; it was Thin Lizzy.   I think you've touted Waysted (and wasn't one of the singers in... Riot on one of the Waysted albums?) so I think I was mistaken.  I'd take some recommendations, though.

Huh. I sent someone a Wasted PM. I could've sworn it was you.

I'm surprised you couldn't hang with Thin Lizzy, especially with Robbo playing on Another Perfect Day.

Maybe it was; I seem to rememeber that too, but as you might know, I save all my PMs until I have no choice, and those are the last to go (I still have the Armored Saint, Thin Lizzy and Di'Anno recommendations).

It's not that I couldn't hang; I haven't given it enough focus.   Not going to lie, though; Lynott's voice is a high hurdle.   (By the way, is it "LIE-not", "LI-not", "lie-NOT" or "li-NOT"?)

[TAC]

It may have been the DiAnno one I'm thinking of.





My plan is to start The UFO Discography Listening Party Thread when O finishes the Tull one.

[Lowdz]

It may have been the DiAnno one I'm thinking of.





My plan is to start The UFO Discography Listening Party Thread when O finishes the Tull one.

Looking forward to it.