Easy Street Records

Review: UFO - "Strangers In The Night"

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UFO

Strangers In the Night

By Rick Friel

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You know, I don’t remember the first time I heard Phil Mogg sing. It was probably hearing “Rock Bottom” on the radio. But I remember thinking "I like it." My brother Chris got Strangers In The Night a few days later. That’s UFO’s best album. No question. It’s a band captured in a magic moment on stage where everything is working. They know it and the nuts in Chicago knew it. As a musician I can tell you, it doesn’t happen that often. But when it does, you just go with it. I fell in love with this album. I’ve heard it so much in my life that, like Kiss Alive! or Foghat Live or Live At Budokan, I hardly play it anymore. But I know it inside and out. I loved the way Pete Way swings with Andy Parker, especially on “Shoot Shoot” and “I’m A Loser”. Pete became a bass hero of mine that year ('79?) and like anyone who heard it, I became a Michael Schenker fan. Those solos. No one plays like him. Paul Raymond adds so much to the sound. Most of my favorite singers, you hear the influence - Beatles, Zep - but I can’t detect anything in Phil Mogg. He’s just him. “Natural Thing”, “This Kid's” and my favorite UFO song still, “Love To Love.” Phil Mogg is a true original. Funny, frank, racy lyrics and a voice all his own. Perfect album. OK, I’ll put it on.

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