Now in this post, and the ticket pictured within, lies a mystery. Was this a concert I attended at Newcastle Mayfair? My friend found the ticket on eBay and bought it for me (thank you John). I did not already have the ticket but that is not to say I was not at the concert! Indeed I may well have been there. I would go to Mayfair with my late wife Marie on many Friday nights during the 1970s and other nights when there was a good band playing. I was also a massive UFO fan at the time. I had seen them many, many times at Sunderland Locarno and almost as many times at Newcastle Mayfair around this period. In 1978, UFO had just released the Obsession album which opens with the classic track “Only You Can Rock Me ”.
At the time the band were playing such classics as the great rock ballad “Love to Love”, and other rockers including “Lights Out”, “Rock Bottom”, “Too Hot to Handle”, “Shoot Shoot” and the amazing rocker “Doctor Doctor”, one of my favourite rock songs of all time. They also of course played the aforementioned “Only You Can Rock Me”. A clutch of catchy rock songs that should have ensured massive success for the band. Although UFO did become very popular in the UK, and worldwide, they never quite reached the levels of success of some of their contemporaries. I never understood why they are not seen as seminal as other bands of the time such as Judas Priest. On a good night, after a few drinks, in a nightclub such as Newcastle Mayfair there was nothing better than witnessing UFO at the height of their powers. The line-up at the time was the classic collection of Phil Mogg (vocals), Michael Schenker (amazing Flying V guitar), Pete Way (bass guitar around his knees), Paul Raymond (keyboards and second guitar) And Andy Parker (drums).
The band was soon to release the great live album Strangers In the Night. “Some critics, and the fans marked it as one of the greatest live rock albums of all time. Kerrang! magazine listed the album at No. 47 among the “100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time”.” (From Wikipedia)
My guess is that I was at this concert and, I either paid at the door and never had a ticket (most likely), or alternatively I did have a ticket which was handed in at the door. Either way, in my mind, I am there singing along with those great songs and marvelling at Michael Schenker’s guitar playing particularly on “Doctor Doctor”. Fantastic. This band were, without question, one of the top rock outfits of all time. Period!
I was lucky enough to see UFO many more times over the years. In recent years it seems the band may have come to the end of their long road. “In May 2018, vocalist Phil Mogg announced that UFO’s 50th anniversary tour in 2019 would be his last one as the frontman of the band, who may also either split up or move on with a replacement for him. Mogg explained, “This decision has been a long time coming. …. I don’t want to call this a farewell tour as I hate that word….” (From Wikipedia). I was lucky enough to see them on that particular tour. However, the run of concerts also saw the passing of several current and former members of the band.
Only a few days after seeing the band in Newcastle, long-time keyboard player Paul Raymond passed away from a heart attack on 13 April 2019 at the age of 73. Paul Raymond was replaced by Neil Carter who re-joined UFO for the remainder of the tour. Sadly, former guitarist Paul Chapman also passed on his 66th birthday, 9 June 2020. Chapman’s passing was followed two months later by that of original bassist, the late great Pete Way, who passed from an accident at the age of 69. Too many of our heroes are passing at early ages.
Then, in August 2022, Phil Mogg himself suffered a heart attack. Phil was advised by doctors to stop performing and this resulted in the remainder of the tour being cancelled. Does this mean the end of the great rock ‘n’ roll band that was UFO? If so, their like will never be seen again.
A typical set list from 1978 was something like this (from setlist .com): Hot ‘n’ Ready; Pack It Up (And Go); Cherry; Love to Love; Only You Can Rock Me; Let It Roll; Doctor Doctor; Lights Out; Rock Bottom; Too Hot to Handle; Shoot Shoot. How’s that for a great night out!
Was I at the concert? Who knows? I wish I had kept a diary! Anyway, this ticket, and John’s gift of it, has given me the chance to write a blog entry during the quiet season around New Year before I get back to serious gig going again in February 2023! Thanks again John.
Thanks to Frank Schwichtenberg for providing the image of UFO performing in Hamburg, 2015, via Wikimedia Commons. Thanks also to Stefan Brending for providing an image from 2022 of UFO performing at the Hellfest, Germany. And I couldn’t resist including a lovely photograph of the interior of the Mayfair ballroom. This was from 1961, but it didn’t look much different in the 1970s! From Wikimedia Commons: “The Mayfair Ballroom and Concert Hall was one of the most popular venue’s in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, hosting a rock club, which became the largest and longest-running of its kind in Europe. Situated on the corner of Newgate Street and Low Friar Street, it closed in 1999 to make way for a leisure complex, now known as The Gate. 22 November 1961 photographed by Turner’s. Please cite ‘Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums'”
I caught up with the tour, with my carer Jackie, when they visited Newcastle Academy last year. To get into the venue in my wheelchair we had to squeeze into one small lift which took us up to the bar level of the venue where our places were waiting for us, with a great view of the stage, looking over the heads of the crowd in front. The venue was packed, with lots of familiar faces from the days of the Mayfair Friday night rock nights. The band came onstage to the sounds of Alex Harvey’s “Faith Healer” as an introduction (great choice) and then launched into a set of old favourites and newer songs, some of which were less familiar to me. But the classics were all there; the aforementioned “Lights Out”, “Love to Love” and “Only You Can Rock Me”. They closed the set with “Rock Bottom”. Perfect. The volume was loud and the songs as classic as ever. We all knew they were going to return and we also knew that there would play “Doctor Doctor”. This was followed by the final song, the great, rocking “Shoot Shoot”.
The tour continues (currently halted because of the coronavirus). The official statement after Paul’s passing was: “On April 13, 2019, the UFO family got the tragic news that our bandmate Paul Raymond had died of a heart attack. It had been just a week since we finished the first leg of our Last Orders tour in the UK. While mourning his loss, sadly we also had to face the reality of what to do with the band. We feel moving forward with the tour is the right thing to do. We all know this is what Paul would have wanted us to do. We are therefore very pleased to announce that our friend and former bandmate Neil Carter has agreed to join us again and take over the keyboards/guitar and vocals slot for the remainder of the tour…. We want to make sure that all our amazing fans get a fantastic experience out of it one more time.“
Twelve years after I last saw them, the classic Deep Purple line-up was back and playing at Knewborth. I went with my mate Dave on a trip bus from the town. The line-up for the day was very strong with The Scorpions, Meat Loaf, UFO, Mountain, Blackfoot, Mama’s Boys, and Alaska (can’t remember who they were) but unfortunately the weather was lousy. It rained and rained all day and then it rained more. Dave and I spent much of the day sheltering under a tree. At one point we found our way into an indoor bar which must have been for guests because it was empty (!) and we kept warm and dry in there. The Scorpions went down best of all the support acts, and there was a never ending two hour wait between the end of their set and Purple taking to the stage at around 10pm. 
I can’t remember much about the other bands, but Purple were good despite the rain. As expected they started with Highway Star and played all of the classics, along with quite a few songs from the new album Perfect Strangers. To cap it all our bus got stuck in the mud in the carpark and some of us had to push it out. We didn’t get out of the carpark until early morning and arrived back home at dawn. The things I’ve done for rock n roll…Setlist: Highway Star; Nobody’s Home; Strange Kind of Woman; A Gypsy’s Kiss; Perfect Strangers; Under the Gun; Lazy; Knocking at Your Back Door; Difficult to Cure; Space Truckin’. Encore: Speed King; Black Night; Smoke on the Water. Other memories are of some guys setting fire to the portaloos to keep warm, no screens and an awful view of the stage from the back, pretty cool lasers for Purple, and a massive firework display after Purple’s set. Happy Days.
Its around five years since I last saw UFO, although it doesn’t seem it. I’ve been preparing myself for the gig, by blogging about UFO during the week, and by playing their live album Strangers in the Night and their classic Phenomenon lp, of which I have a signed copy, which I found at a car boot sale for 50p many years ago! (I have no way, of course, of knowing if the signatures are genuine; but they look pretty authentic to me). I arrived at the Academy early, just after 7pm so that I could catch support act The Heavy Metal Kids. I was intrigued to see what the new incarnation of the Kids would be like, particular without the charismatic Gary Holton. I’ll blog on them separately later this week. They were on stage when I arrived; Saturday gigs at the Academy start and finish early, as the venue turns into a night club at 11pm. 
UFO came on stage just after 8pm. By then the venue was packed, and the crowd gave the band a great Geordie reception. They started with Mother Mary; the set was a mix of old and new with all of the old favourites featured. Phil Mogg is lean and fit, and his voice is as strong as ever. Old timers Paul Raymond (keyboard and second guitar) and Andy Parker (drums) are still there alongside, and (now well established in the band) guitarist Vinnie Moore played some great solos, and easily matches up to the legend of Schenker and Tonka. Stand outs for me were Only You Can Rock Me, Love to Love, Lights Out and, of course, Doctor Doctor, which is one of my all time fave rock songs. Great night; from a band that never ceases to amaze. Setlist: something like (although I may well have the order wrong): Mother Mary; Let It Roll; Fight Night; a couple of songs from the new album; Wonderland; Only You Can Rock Me; Love to Love; Hell Driver; Venus; Too Hot To Handle; Lights Out; Rock Bottom. Encore: Doctor Doctor; Shoot Shoot.
UFO reformed in 1984 after a short break. The new band consisted of Phil Mogg on vocals, Paul Gray (ex Hot Rods and Damned) on bass, and the wonderfully named Atomic Tommy M on guitar. Davey and I went to see them at their Redcar Coatham Bowl gig in December 1984. I remember being intrigued by Atomic Tommy who was a manic Japanese guitarist. Actually they were pretty good, played the usual favourites and we all went home smiling. 
Then followed a long gap before I saw the band again. I’d all but forgotten how great UFO were, apart from times when now and then I would put Phenomenon on the turntable and play Doctor Doctor; which would remind me of a misspent youth and happy nights of a long long time ago.
UFO were touring constantly throughout the early 1980s, coming to Newcastle City Hall once or twice a year. The band released a number of albums throughout the period, several of which scored in the UK charts. However, the band had already recorded their best tracks in the 70s, including Doctor Doctor, Lights Out, Love to Love, Only You Can Rock Me, and Rock Bottom. 
The live double album Strangers in the Night captured UFO at their live best, and is often rated as one of the best live albums of all time. The shows at the City Hall were always great nights. Phil Mogg is a great show man; 
I can picture him now singing “Lights Out in Newcastle” and “Misty green and blue, love to love to love you”; the entire City Hall singing along with him. The UFO line up changed quite a lot during this period, with a couple of key members leaving the fold. First keyboard player Paul Raymond left, to be replaced by Neil Carter. Then original bass player Pete Way left to form Fastway with Motorhead’s Fast Eddie and then Waysted. At the time, I remember thinking that Pete Way’s departure marked the beginning of the end. 
Pete was so central to the band’s sound and their stage show, prowling around the stage with his bass slung low around his knees; it just wasn’t the same without him there. But continue they did recruiting Paul Gray from the Hot Rods and the Damned to take the bass slot. 
I also saw UFO headline the Reading Festival in 1980, topping the bill over Iron Maiden. 1980 was very much a New Wave of British Heavy Metal year for Reading, and UFO pulled their weight alongside the newer heavy metal bands, playing a great set on the Saturday night. My tickets and programmes tell me that I saw UFO at least a dozen times in the 70s and 80s, and I honestly can’t recall any of those gigs being anything but great. They always delivered. 
By 1983, UFO had decided to disband and the 1983 tour became a farewell event. So came the end of a great run of concerts by a great band. I went along to that last City Hall gig thinking I would never again see UFO play Doctor Doctor. 
However I should have known that the band wouldn’t stay away for too long, and a year or so later Phil Mogg would be back with yet another UFO line up. I’ll report on that line up in another post. I’m quite getting into UFO again, and I’m looking forward to seeing them later this week. I must look out my copy of Strangers In The Night!
I first saw UFO in 1972 at Newcastle City Hall at a free gig which local promoter Geof Docherty put on, as a thank you to fans. Support came from local band Beckett, featuring Terry Slesser, and Melody Maker poll winner Lloyd Watson. At that point in 1972 I think Pink Fairies’ Larry Wallis was playing guitar with UFO. I remember the show being pretty wild with some long guitar solos, and Phil Mogg or Larry Wallis (can’t remember which) climbing up the speaker stack and onto the balcony of the venue. The music at this time would have been drawn from the first couple of lps, and was quite spacey, psychedelic stuff. The next few times I saw UFO was at Sunderland Locarno, Newcastle Mayfair, and at the 1974 reading Festival. 
By then Michael Schenker had joined the band and they had released the classic album Phenomenon, followed by Force It and Lights Out, featuring such great songs as: Only You Can Rock Me, Doctor Doctor, Love to Love, Lights Out, Rock Bottom, and Shoot Shoot. There was nothing better than a Friday night in a packed ballroom watching Schenker, Mogg and Way play Doctor, Doctor. Great guitar intro, and first class melodic heavy rock. By 1979 UFO had graduated to playing Newcastle City Hall, and Michael Schenker had left the band to be replaced by Paul Chapman. I’ll report next on some of those City Hall gigs which took me into the 80s.
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