It seems hard to believe in these enlightened times of downloads etc. that the Double Live album was once king. Pioneered by Kiss with their 1975 release ‘Kiss Alive’ it still remains the daddy of them all. Clearly there was some lateral thinking going on back then as the question of how do you raise the profile of the band whilst also reinvigorating your back catalogue was previously answered by the compilation album.  

But poor early production techniques often made these sound dated before their time. No digital re-mastering back then. The solution, as brilliantly conceived by Kiss’ Gene Simmons, was to breath new life into these tracks by recording them live and bunging them out in a package many rock fans found hard to resist. Suddenly instead of weedy studio recorded guitars there was all the excitement and volume of the stage. The bonus was that this also served the purpose of alerting new fans to the back catalogue. And gave band’s a ‘gap year’ to come up with new stuff. Simple, really. 

By the late seventies British melodic hard rockers UFO found themselves on the verge of cracking America. 1977’s ‘Lights Out’ had been a chart success for them and the follow up ‘Obsession’ had also been critically well received. Clearly then, on the crest of a wave, the band decided to release their own homage to the double live album with ‘Strangers In The Night’. It was to prove a seminal moment for them. 

‘Strangers’ is still my favourite live album and no doubt one of the greatest of them all. Whenever I hear tracks off it or even just catch a glimpse of the cover it takes me back to my early carefree days of going out gigging with my mates. It was all new back then and genuinely exciting to be witnessing some of these amazing acts. Most of us wanted to be up there too and ‘Strangers’ just gives out that buzz of a British rock band at the peak of their creative powers doing what they did best in life. Well almost… 

The album was recorded on an American tour at The Amphitheater, Chicago and The Gardens, Louisville in 1978. It saw the light of day the following winter. By that time the band’s mercurially brilliant German guitarist Michael Schenker had gone AWOL. You see the band also excelled in areas of hedonism. Singer Phil Mogg and bass player Pete Way being the most self destructive.  

In the end the chemistry that created such brilliance as ‘Love to Love’, ‘Lights Out’ ‘Rock Bottom’ and many, many, more drove the band apart. Schenker’s English was allegedly poor and Mogg and Way being the piss taking bastards they are drove him over the edge. Schenker left UFO…disappeared. It was to be a blow that the band never recovered from until recently with the excellent Vinnie Moore now on guitar for 2004’s ‘You Are Here’ and the follow up ‘The Monkey Puzzle’. Both up there with UFO’s finest. 

So whilst ‘Strangers In The Night’ remains a monument of hard rock brilliance it also saw the demise of UFO’s classic line-up. Hence they never did crack the States. After leaving the band Schenker was allegedly found in a launderette in Walthamstow(?) simply staring at a machine as it whirred round and round. And in a brilliant piece of creative thinking by the band’s management some wag put the rumour out he’d been missing as he’d been ‘abducted by aliens’. What I’d give for some press stuff like that these days! 

Highlight’s of ‘Strangers’ are the light and shade of ‘Out In The Street’, ‘Love To Love’ and ‘I’m A Loser’ where keyboard player Paul Raymond creates a wonderful atmosphere on a simple Fender Rhodes piano. The triumphant ‘Only You Can Rock Me’. ‘Lights Out’ (with Mogg replacing ‘in London’ with ‘Chicago’ in the lyric). Schenker’s extended solo during ‘Rock Bottom’. A beefed up ‘Doctor, Doctor’ and finale ‘Shoot, Shoot’.  

It’s breathtaking stuff nearly thirty years later. But perhaps a lesson in life that you should never take success for granted and that you must always realise that whilst you’ve got to look forward, you may just be living in the best of times, so appreciate them.

Let us know your views on Strangers In The Night

Track Listing

Hot 'N' Ready
Cherry
Let It Roll
Love to Love
Natural Thing
Out in the Street
Only You Can Rock Me
Mother Mary
Kids
Doctor Doctor
I'm a Loser
Lights Out
Rock Bottom
Too Hot to Handle
Shoot Shoot

Line Up

Phil Mogg - Vocals
Pete Way - Bass
Michael Schenker - Guitars
Andy Parker - Drums
Paul Raymond - Guitar/Keyboards

Related Links

UFO - The Monkey Puzzle CD Review

UFO - Showtime CD Review

UFO - Newcastle Live Review (2006)