How could Tommy (or anyone else) be blamed for UFO's "downfall" when the band is still going today? In '83, the Tonka line-up broke up, and that was apparently the end of the greatest band since Purple. The news in '84 that Phil was reforming the band was welcome, and my first UFO show was at Bristol Colston Hall in December that year. And Tommy, Atomik or otherwise, blew us away, along with Phil's brilliant performance.
@GreenerHill I agree with you totally. I cannot understand how Atomic Tommy is blamed for UFO's downfall from grace in the 80's...........as the blame lies in the fans at that time whom found no more use for UFO after Schenker left in 78. Its a pity that people are so close minded as UFO have always delivered the goods no matter who the six stringer was.
@lagrasta666 Thanks! I shouldn't say this, but I also agree with the guy above (jonbecker03), that UFO were too artistic for mass-acceptance. The music press seemed more impressed with Judas Priest's songs about Metal (and Breaking the Law), and the audience, en masse, agreed. But what really pisses me off is that writers always come up with the same tired statements that the band produced inferior albums after Schenker's departure. I wasn't disappointed with the Tonka, Tommy OR Lawrence songs.
i wish ufo were the most famous rock band back in the 70s and 80s.just think.can this be a big hit?where's the wrong thing with it?too bad,it didnt ....
Future Pro-Tommy comments shall be banned. UFO pushed themselves to the edge of fail, yet even at the tipping point of using half-finished songs for Misdemeanor, they then go and blow the opportunity of hiring fresh talent by hiring this doucebag - and the subsequent gentle nudge of destruction followeth.
Tommy sweetheart: you didn't ruin this band, but you did them no favors and for that - as a fan of their former greatness - it's unforgiveable. Go wash your wig in bovine urea and repent!
@PoofDuddy I take it you know Tommy well enough to call him a doucebag ? Because if you don't know him personally, shut the hell up. I don't know you and I'm not calling you names. Tommy happens to be one the the nicest and most humble people on this planet. You may not like what is happening in this video, but I know Tommy, and guess what? Phil hired him to play guitar, so call Phil what ever you want, but there is no need to say crap about a awesome guitar player. Jealous????
@tjrox If you are defending Tommy, you defend likewise his contribution to the downfall of many metalhead's favorite band. I see you know Tommy, that's fine. You say Tommy is a nice guy, that's fine too he probably is. However, the appendation of "Atomik" on one's first name is supposed to be an indicator of some super-human ability that was never going to be there! GET real.
You want to talk highly of the Tommy-era UFO? Speak highly of the songs, but not his performances. They were unstellar.
@PoofDuddy Phil hired Tommy to start a new band, it was the record labels decision to re-cycle the UFO name. These songs sound much like everything else of that era. Downfall? If that was the case, when Shenker came back, they should have picked up where he left off. Did that happen? No. Hell, call Phil the worst names of them all as he was writing the music. Personally, Love Tommy. UFO, with or without him, wasn't a big fan either way. Why talk crap about someone you don't know?
@tjrox If this band "wasn't UFO" they should have informed the fans. It has NOTHING to do with Shenker, do not bring him into it - this is not a "if only Shenker were there" point. And we only know of Tommy what he put out there himself as his own artist.
I've posted numerous notes about UFO and they remain one of my all time favourite bands. Yet I wish Atomik Tommy M would play a more rock/blues style than the annoying shed guitar.
Guys I KNOW he can play really good guiitar but there is too much reliance on speed, vibrato, sliding et al. I can listen to Schenker play all day but the guitar here is often out of place and starts to grate after a while.
The keyboards and the guitar are a product of their day though aged rather quickly.
@dwightfartschrute There are two mixes of the album, the UK /Europe version of this song, infact the whole album is more guitar and less keys although still a little to much key for my taste, then there is the US remixed version (which this track is an example of) that is the dead opposite. Still I sa them on tour when the album came out, and they still did a damn fine live show
Wow...Tommy M is so out of UFO's league. From the minute the video starts I feel fear. These are dangerous people; and just when I feel like I may have a nervous breakdown--a sound from heaven breaks through with the sweetest melody I have ever heard. Not only is he the best thing that ever happened to this band, I don't think there was a better guitar player out there at the time. And yes, I know Steve Vai was out there at the time. #1.
tommy mclendon!!!what a great guitar player!!took lessons from him in the eighties an he still teaches in Stockton,Ca !!at THE MUSIC BOX!!an worth every penny!!great instructor an frieand!!
New York Rock radio never gave UFO a chance. only the very rare late metal shows would play them.
New York radio does not even have a rock station anymore.
Only a classic schlock station, and they are horrible. except for Friday Night Rocks w Eddie Trunk. And he worships UFO and Thin Lizzy. thank God there is one late night a week after all these years to hear them.
@mcgyverracing if this eddie trunk really worships ufo and thin lizzy, then he's my kinda guy. maybe he and i should get together and form our own religion. (just kidding; ok, only HALF kidding.)
I've only got the Embassy VHS release from Trillion Productions, put out on KTEL DVD, of all things. Embassy Video went under in the 1980s or 90s, but they put out a few rock video exclusives. Worth hunting down
Has anyone else posted comments that've seemimgly not appeared so u post it again and LO!!! it appears TWICE thereby making you look like some simple twat? It's bloody 2008!!! I expect computers to react like THAT! DeJa Vu, Lol...
Has anyone else posted comments that've seemimgly not appeared so u post it again and LO!!! it appears TWICE thereby making you look like some simple twat? It's bloody 2008!!! I expect computers to react like THAT!
Yes, the cover was in really poor taste. If the nubile had at least been tastefully depicted rather than something worse than even trailer park, it might have stood up. Even worse, it doesn't even match the music. The music was very good. The album sold poorly because especially in North America, an album cover like that won't sell and also no one knew who the hell they were anymore. Similar phenomenon with Black Sabbath Born Again (which did manage to do well in the UK).
whoever was doing ufo's covers at the time seems to have hit upon a formula: imitate whatever the scorpions were doing for cover art. the ufo covers weren't any worse than those of the scorpions. yet the scorps SOLD in the us back then. why didn't ufo sell? the answer is obvious: the covers didn't alienate the public; the public just wasn't sophisticated enough to appreciate the rock and roll artistry that ufo was producing................
I love Misdemeanor release, and I agree that this is a classic under the radar. I love the cover of the LP. Great all-the way around. All of the songs are great....Rock On UFO.......
I always considered the Misdemeanor album as an unsung classic. Great writing, tasteful keys and Atomik Tommy behind Phil. A great listen with one of the worst covers in all of rock history.
Has anyone else posted comments that've seemimgly not appeared so u post it again and LO!!! it appears TWICE thereby making you look like some simple twat? It's bloody 2008!!! I expect computers to react like THAT!
I think for me the spirit of "Knobworth" was captured in this haunting track plus "The Zoo" by Scorps and the sublime "Knocking At Your Back Door" by DP. Still can't work out how the FUCK i found my way back to my mates from the bogs but i did. Maybe their hairs were standing up... ;-)
Hee hee!!! Like it. Yes Kebworth '85. The constant drizzle making it impossible to sit down. A vast sea of damp mopheads nodding to the music. Mountain, Mama's boys, Magnum (WHO??). People chucking mud at Meatloaf. THIS TRACK! And YES vamborooolz the Scorps DID have more balls and energy than anyone else!
>>Wow!!! 5 months on and the hairs are still >>standing up
What, yours or the group's? :^)
...plenty of it as well , the mid 80's were like a giant hairdresser's convention with all these terrible groups (Ratt, Poison, Cinderella) that made this particular incarnation of the group look semi-decent.
I was at Knebworth too, I think the Scorpions were the best band on the day....remember turning round and looking at all these really smokey fires in the crowd caused by the rain.
Hee hee!!! Like it. Yes Knebworth '85. The constant drizzle making it impossible to sit down. A vast sea of damp heads nodding to the music. Mountain, Magnum, Mama's Boys (WHO???). People chucking mud at Meatloaf. THIS TRACK (shiver...). And yes the Scorps had more balls and energy than anone else!
The Chase was an added number to the live set, didn't make the album, but I also really liked. This clip seems like a one song promo, not from the video released on VHS
Sadly, this version of UFO got very little if any respect. Most UFO fans turn their noses up and look at it as more of a Phil Mogg solo effort than UFO. Call me weird, but I thought this was a great album. For me, it was one of those albums that I can listen to straight through. Had it been promoted properly, I think it would have done quite well.
How could Tommy (or anyone else) be blamed for UFO's "downfall" when the band is still going today? In '83, the Tonka line-up broke up, and that was apparently the end of the greatest band since Purple. The news in '84 that Phil was reforming the band was welcome, and my first UFO show was at Bristol Colston Hall in December that year. And Tommy, Atomik or otherwise, blew us away, along with Phil's brilliant performance.
GreenerHill 1 month ago
@GreenerHill I agree with you totally. I cannot understand how Atomic Tommy is blamed for UFO's downfall from grace in the 80's...........as the blame lies in the fans at that time whom found no more use for UFO after Schenker left in 78. Its a pity that people are so close minded as UFO have always delivered the goods no matter who the six stringer was.
lagrasta666 4 weeks ago
@lagrasta666 Thanks! I shouldn't say this, but I also agree with the guy above (jonbecker03), that UFO were too artistic for mass-acceptance. The music press seemed more impressed with Judas Priest's songs about Metal (and Breaking the Law), and the audience, en masse, agreed. But what really pisses me off is that writers always come up with the same tired statements that the band produced inferior albums after Schenker's departure. I wasn't disappointed with the Tonka, Tommy OR Lawrence songs.
GreenerHill 4 weeks ago
i wish ufo were the most famous rock band back in the 70s and 80s.just think.can this be a big hit?where's the wrong thing with it?too bad,it didnt ....
thekillingjimmy 6 months ago
Future Pro-Tommy comments shall be banned. UFO pushed themselves to the edge of fail, yet even at the tipping point of using half-finished songs for Misdemeanor, they then go and blow the opportunity of hiring fresh talent by hiring this doucebag - and the subsequent gentle nudge of destruction followeth.
Tommy sweetheart: you didn't ruin this band, but you did them no favors and for that - as a fan of their former greatness - it's unforgiveable. Go wash your wig in bovine urea and repent!
PoofDuddy 8 months ago
@PoofDuddy I take it you know Tommy well enough to call him a doucebag ? Because if you don't know him personally, shut the hell up. I don't know you and I'm not calling you names. Tommy happens to be one the the nicest and most humble people on this planet. You may not like what is happening in this video, but I know Tommy, and guess what? Phil hired him to play guitar, so call Phil what ever you want, but there is no need to say crap about a awesome guitar player. Jealous????
tjrox 7 months ago
@tjrox If you are defending Tommy, you defend likewise his contribution to the downfall of many metalhead's favorite band. I see you know Tommy, that's fine. You say Tommy is a nice guy, that's fine too he probably is. However, the appendation of "Atomik" on one's first name is supposed to be an indicator of some super-human ability that was never going to be there! GET real.
You want to talk highly of the Tommy-era UFO? Speak highly of the songs, but not his performances. They were unstellar.
PoofDuddy 7 months ago
@PoofDuddy Phil hired Tommy to start a new band, it was the record labels decision to re-cycle the UFO name. These songs sound much like everything else of that era. Downfall? If that was the case, when Shenker came back, they should have picked up where he left off. Did that happen? No. Hell, call Phil the worst names of them all as he was writing the music. Personally, Love Tommy. UFO, with or without him, wasn't a big fan either way. Why talk crap about someone you don't know?
tjrox 7 months ago
@tjrox If this band "wasn't UFO" they should have informed the fans. It has NOTHING to do with Shenker, do not bring him into it - this is not a "if only Shenker were there" point. And we only know of Tommy what he put out there himself as his own artist.
PoofDuddy 7 months ago
i wish ufo were the most famous band back then.those bands that were didnt deserve it!
thekillingjimmy 8 months ago
Great guitarist!!
road2ruins 10 months ago
over the top jam
donottawaguitar 1 year ago
Guys
I've posted numerous notes about UFO and they remain one of my all time favourite bands. Yet I wish Atomik Tommy M would play a more rock/blues style than the annoying shed guitar.
Guys I KNOW he can play really good guiitar but there is too much reliance on speed, vibrato, sliding et al. I can listen to Schenker play all day but the guitar here is often out of place and starts to grate after a while.
The keyboards and the guitar are a product of their day though aged rather quickly.
Claudius690 1 year ago
This is an awesome album with awesome musicians.....UFO!!!!
shep79 1 year ago
Tommy was no Schenker but he was excellent in his own right. Great to see him live with UFO
steve161057 1 year ago
I always thought this would be a much better song without that syrupy keyboard line trampling all over the top of it. It's UFO! MORE GUITAR!
dwightfartschrute 1 year ago
@dwightfartschrute There are two mixes of the album, the UK /Europe version of this song, infact the whole album is more guitar and less keys although still a little to much key for my taste, then there is the US remixed version (which this track is an example of) that is the dead opposite. Still I sa them on tour when the album came out, and they still did a damn fine live show
stashyjon 1 year ago
Wow...Tommy M is so out of UFO's league. From the minute the video starts I feel fear. These are dangerous people; and just when I feel like I may have a nervous breakdown--a sound from heaven breaks through with the sweetest melody I have ever heard. Not only is he the best thing that ever happened to this band, I don't think there was a better guitar player out there at the time. And yes, I know Steve Vai was out there at the time. #1.
lindywise1 1 year ago
tommy mclendon!!!what a great guitar player!!took lessons from him in the eighties an he still teaches in Stockton,Ca !!at THE MUSIC BOX!!an worth every penny!!great instructor an frieand!!
SuperAlnico 2 years ago
I've often wondered whatever happened to him.
meekrob 2 years ago
@meekrob I play in a band with him in Lodi California. He Awesome.
tjrox 1 year ago
New York Rock radio never gave UFO a chance. only the very rare late metal shows would play them.
New York radio does not even have a rock station anymore.
Only a classic schlock station, and they are horrible. except for Friday Night Rocks w Eddie Trunk. And he worships UFO and Thin Lizzy. thank God there is one late night a week after all these years to hear them.
mcgyverracing 2 years ago
@mcgyverracing if this eddie trunk really worships ufo and thin lizzy, then he's my kinda guy. maybe he and i should get together and form our own religion. (just kidding; ok, only HALF kidding.)
jonbecker03 1 year ago
bang bang...... what a kick ass cd it was
1040north 2 years ago
Is that an SG with a Floyd Rose whammy baron it?
eyeofset 2 years ago
He told me last night that it is a Kahler, and that a Floyd Rose would not work on that guitar.
tjrox 2 years ago
I've only got the Embassy VHS release from Trillion Productions, put out on KTEL DVD, of all things. Embassy Video went under in the 1980s or 90s, but they put out a few rock video exclusives. Worth hunting down
MetallicBill 2 years ago
Has anyone else posted comments that've seemimgly not appeared so u post it again and LO!!! it appears TWICE thereby making you look like some simple twat? It's bloody 2008!!! I expect computers to react like THAT! DeJa Vu, Lol...
wakclips 2 years ago
Has anyone else posted comments that've seemimgly not appeared so u post it again and LO!!! it appears TWICE thereby making you look like some simple twat? It's bloody 2008!!! I expect computers to react like THAT!
wakclips 2 years ago
Yes, the cover was in really poor taste. If the nubile had at least been tastefully depicted rather than something worse than even trailer park, it might have stood up. Even worse, it doesn't even match the music. The music was very good. The album sold poorly because especially in North America, an album cover like that won't sell and also no one knew who the hell they were anymore. Similar phenomenon with Black Sabbath Born Again (which did manage to do well in the UK).
schiaffer 3 years ago
whoever was doing ufo's covers at the time seems to have hit upon a formula: imitate whatever the scorpions were doing for cover art. the ufo covers weren't any worse than those of the scorpions. yet the scorps SOLD in the us back then. why didn't ufo sell? the answer is obvious: the covers didn't alienate the public; the public just wasn't sophisticated enough to appreciate the rock and roll artistry that ufo was producing................
jonbecker03 3 years ago 5
I love Misdemeanor release, and I agree that this is a classic under the radar. I love the cover of the LP. Great all-the way around. All of the songs are great....Rock On UFO.......
paul2112rush 3 years ago 6
I always considered the Misdemeanor album as an unsung classic. Great writing, tasteful keys and Atomik Tommy behind Phil. A great listen with one of the worst covers in all of rock history.
therealdonm 4 years ago
>>great listen with one of the worst covers in >>all of rock history.
It doesn't hold a candle to The Edgar Winter Band's 'They Only Come Out At Night'. Now that is scary stuff.
vamborooolz 3 years ago
Has anyone else posted comments that've seemimgly not appeared so u post it again and LO!!! it appears TWICE thereby making you look like some simple twat? It's bloody 2008!!! I expect computers to react like THAT!
snoobybun 4 years ago
I think for me the spirit of "Knobworth" was captured in this haunting track plus "The Zoo" by Scorps and the sublime "Knocking At Your Back Door" by DP. Still can't work out how the FUCK i found my way back to my mates from the bogs but i did. Maybe their hairs were standing up... ;-)
snoobybun 4 years ago
Hee hee!!! Like it. Yes Kebworth '85. The constant drizzle making it impossible to sit down. A vast sea of damp mopheads nodding to the music. Mountain, Mama's boys, Magnum (WHO??). People chucking mud at Meatloaf. THIS TRACK! And YES vamborooolz the Scorps DID have more balls and energy than anyone else!
snoobybun 4 years ago
>>Wow!!! 5 months on and the hairs are still >>standing up
What, yours or the group's? :^)
...plenty of it as well , the mid 80's were like a giant hairdresser's convention with all these terrible groups (Ratt, Poison, Cinderella) that made this particular incarnation of the group look semi-decent.
I was at Knebworth too, I think the Scorpions were the best band on the day....remember turning round and looking at all these really smokey fires in the crowd caused by the rain.
vamborooolz 4 years ago
Hee hee!!! Like it. Yes Knebworth '85. The constant drizzle making it impossible to sit down. A vast sea of damp heads nodding to the music. Mountain, Magnum, Mama's Boys (WHO???). People chucking mud at Meatloaf. THIS TRACK (shiver...). And yes the Scorps had more balls and energy than anone else!
snoobybun 4 years ago
Wow!!! 5 months on and the hairs are still standing up... THANK YOU for posting.
snoobybun 4 years ago
Sorry but they bashed this one out at Knebworth in 1985 and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Talk about atmosphere...
snoobybun 4 years ago
I think its taken from 'The Tube' but I could be wrong
thedikler 4 years ago
The Chase was an added number to the live set, didn't make the album, but I also really liked. This clip seems like a one song promo, not from the video released on VHS
BillSchwenke 5 years ago
The Chase is the B-side of the This Time single in the UK...
LBjim 2 years ago
Sadly, this version of UFO got very little if any respect. Most UFO fans turn their noses up and look at it as more of a Phil Mogg solo effort than UFO. Call me weird, but I thought this was a great album. For me, it was one of those albums that I can listen to straight through. Had it been promoted properly, I think it would have done quite well.
JimmyKrabbe 5 years ago
Same here!
littleboz 4 years ago
The only version of UFO that I found completely boring.
sbeckius 5 years ago
UFO's followup to Misdemeanor I also own, Ain't Misbehavin', This one is short but still on a par, and I didn't find it boring, that one rocked too
BillSchwenke 5 years ago
Atomik Tommy M on guitar
GreenBayLA 5 years ago