Michael Schenker was just 17 when he quit the Scorpions and headed to London to join UFO. “It was fantastic because that was where I wanted to be,” he recalls. “Even though I didn’t speak any English – I let the music do the talking. I turned them from a space rock band into a hard rock band and we did six successful albums together.”
Schenker’s years with UFO might have been turbulent – he ended up leaving the band during the tour that resulted in classic live album Strangers In The Night – but it did indeed result in some fantastic music. To mark the 50th anniversary of UFO debut Phenomenon, he has now reimagined key songs from the five studio and one live album that sprang from that era, with a stellar cast of star guests in tow.
Here, the German guitar ace guides us through every track of My Years With UFO…
Natural Thing (Feat. Dee Snider and Joel Hoekstra)
“I met Dee Snider and he was telling me what a great fan he is and how much he enjoyed it when we did the UFO reunion in New York. Because I’ve not listened to new music for 50 years, I had no recollection of what Dee sounds like but when I heard him on Natural Thing, I was blown away with what a great voice he has. So it’s a fantastic opener and it was a fantastic surprise for me! Joel Hoekstra I’d bumped into in different ways and he’s a great guitarist. When I heard his solo, it sounds like a saxophone. I was absolutely amazed.”
Only You Can Rock Me (Feat. Joey Tempest and Roger Glover)
“This was one of three songs that Axl Rose picked. He did this, Too Hot To Handle and Love To Love, but he didn't like his version of Only You Can Rock Me and Too Hot To Handle so he decided to only focus on Love To Love. Joey Tempest ended up doing it instead and it’s fantastic singing.
The record company had the idea of Roger Glover and I couldn't believe it. He produced the first MSG album and obviously Deep Purple were one of my major bands when I was 15 years old. I guess I had never really spent any time with his bass playing, but he played so beautifully on Only You Can Rock Me, so melodic. I didn't know he was that kind of a bass player to be able to do something like this.”
Doctor Doctor (Feat. Joe Lynn Turner and Carmine Appice)
“Joe Lynn Turner’s always great and he’s sung on my record before (MSG’s Immortal in 2021). It’s ironic though, because Carmine Appice approached me to join the team to make a blues-rock record, but then he took it away from me and ended up doing it with other people. Joe ended up in that project (Mother’s Army) so it’s ironic that they ended up doing Doctor Doctor together. They both chose that song separately and they did a great job on it.”
Mother Mary (Feat. Slash and Erik Grönwall)
“Most of the guests recorded their parts on their own. The only time I was going to play together was with Slash in Frankfurt. I had my guitar technician there, I had my amps there and my guitar I was on my way to meet Slash and he was telling Axl that he was on his way to do this and Axl was saying that he wanted to take something, which is how he got involved. Then I realised, I said to Slash, ‘We have limited time, maybe we're better off just focusing on your guitar, because I have already done all my takes.’
He’s been influenced by me a lot and Guns N' Roses loved Strangers In The Night. They got Mike Clink, who was our tape operator, and had him as their producer, so it's kind of a small world, passing things on from generation to generation. And then having Eric Grönwall on top of that is just amazing. I heard his vocal coincidentally when he replaced Sebastian Bach [in Skid Row], so when I head Mother Mary, I was really pleased.”
This Kid’s (Feat. Biff Byford)
“This is a killer! Biff called me at a festival and he was right next to me with no wall in between, just curtains! So I asked him straight out, ‘Do you want to do this?’ When I heard his vocals, I was blown away. Such a full voice with so much feeling and so much rock. Incredible! I think Derek on keyboards shines on this track as well. I’ve got Derek Sherinian on keys, Brian Tichy on drums and Barry Sparks on bass through the album and people know this is an all-star event. These are the best of the best in the world.”
Love to Love (Feat. Axl Rose)
“So Axl forgot about Only You Can Rock Me and Too Hot To Handle and focused on Love To Love. But then he took time, you know, and he's still not ready, he’s still not ready. Eventually, he gave us the approval, confirmed, you know, this is it. And it was just fantastic. It’s almost a mixture, because it's a slower song, it almost has a little bit of a country & western touch, with his vocal approach. Because Phil Mogg sings so unusually, it's so difficult to copy that, but Axl did a fantastic job.”
Lights Out (Feat. Jeff Scott Soto and John Norum)
“Jeff Scott Soto is just a fantastic singer anyway and he has approached me many times over the years, so I always have him in my head. I think he sang on something before (a cover of Doctor Doctor on Schenker’s 2005 album Heavy Hitters) and he has a great voice. Then John Norum, he's a friend and a fan and he was happy to do it. So we got both of them together and it’s a fantastic version.”
Rock Bottom (Feat. Kai Hansen)
“There was a song that I had called Lonesome Crow (with the Scorpions), which was basically guitar improvisation. It’s been very important throughout my career to have a song where I can improvise and just go on an adventure – and that’s what Rock Bottom is. It has a great riff but it has that middle part that goes somewhere, especially in the early days, when it was all completely improvised. Then Strangers in the Night became a hit and so I keep most of that version, but I always open up an additional little room where I play something new.
And then, of course, Kai Hansen. I think he was suggested by the record company but I was really happy with the vocals. I bumped into him in Barcelona recently and I asked him if he would be willing to do a whole show with me sometime in the future. He said, ‘Yeah, if I have availability, I will’.”
Too Hot to Handle (Feat. Joe Lynn Turner, Adrian Vandenberg and Carmine Appice)
“So again, because Axl Rose decided not to release Too Hot To Handle, we were wondering who could sing it. We have a good connection with Joe Lynn Turner so [producer] Michael Voss asked if he could do this one as well. Adrian Vandenberg, I think he opened up for MSG in the 80s and I heard he was a fan. He had put me on the top with Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and so on and I said, ‘Well, this guy is a great guitarist, let’s ask him’.
It was funny because there’s something on the end of Rock Bottom - not on this album, I left it out, but on the other live version – and Adrian used that little bit of technique and played it, almost like saying, ‘You know, Michael, I can do this too.’ I’m not saying which bit, you guys can figure it out but it sounded amazing, what he did.”
Let It Roll (Feat. Michael Voss)
Michael and I co-produced the album. He wanted to sing as well. I had to give this to him, but I said to him, ‘Only if you do it just like Phil Mogg, okay?’ He did that and he did a great job with it.
You can never compare an original with anything else because it’s got its own scenery surrounding it. You could have a brand new car in the 50s and then 10 years later that car that looked really amazing suddenly looks different because all the cars around it have changed. It’s the same with guitar playing and production and everything. But it’s great to have so many people celebrating and coming up with something different 50 years on.”
Shoot, Shoot (Feat. Stephen Pearcy)
“I was on a Monsters Of Rock cruise and we were all gathering to take pictures and Stephen Stephen Pearcey comes across with his arms wide open going, ‘Michael, Michael, we love you.’ I’d helped out and toured with Ratt in the ‘90s [as a replacement for Robin Crosby in 1991-92] and I saw him sing on the cruise and he did a really good job, so I decided to ask him. Just like Europe and Guns N’ Roses, Ratt were one of the biggest bands around back then, so Stephen had to be on there – and he did another great job.”
Michael Schenker's My Years with UFO will be released worldwide via earMUSIC on September 20.
