Andrew Parker - drums; Neil Carter - keyboards, guitar; Pete Way - bass; Paul Chapman - guitar; Phil Mogg - lead vocals
UFO had come a long way when they recorded this show for the King Biscuit Flower Hour in the spring of 1982. The band was promoting their Chrysalis LP, The Mechanix, which had found a home on many FM radio station playlists. Opening with the typical rocker "We Belong To The Night," singer Phil Mogg quickly leads the band into a weighty version of "Let It Rain," from The Mechanix. Not unlike Thin Lizzy (another popular UK hard rock band from this era), UFO were not very original, but they certainly were right for the MTV generation that were already hooked on bands like Van Halen and Judas Priest.
The group runs through a series of riff-rockers including "Long Gone" and the powerful "No Place To Run," one of the best songs to come out of the band's repertoire. "The Wild, The Willing, The Innocent" was one of the few attempts by the band to get more profound in their lyrical themes. They follow with "Only You Can Rock Me," a radio favorite that is driven by Neil Carter's thick Hammond B3 sound, swirling around via its Leslie Speaker cabinet. "Terri," "Makin' Moves," "Doing It All For You," and "Too Hot To Handle" keep the crowd up and rocking. They return for their encore with a rollicking take of the Elvis Presley classic "Mystery Train" and their FM hit, "Rock Bottom."
Formed in London in 1969, UFO had conquered their homeland and then most of Europe by 1974, shortly after hiring ex-Scorpions axe-man, Michael Schenker . The group's albums slowly started filtering into the USA before Chrysalis Records eventually signed the group to a US deal. This show was recorded two years after Schenker had already departed to form MSG, his own group, and had been replaced by Paul Chapman.