Well here we are at the end of
another perfect year (not!). I swear I can’t remember
a year of worse weather, ill-health and just plain bad luck.
UFO had quite a
stomachful, starting in April getting stranded in Thessaloniki,
Greece because of the Icelandic volcanic dust cloud. We had
to wait for a tour bus to be dispatched all the way from Germany
to rescue us and endure a 36-hour journey back through about
five Eastern European countries to get to our next achievable
gig. There were however, a couple of upsides to the situation
- firstly while we were waiting for the tour bus to arrive,
we got to hear blues singer Louisiana Red play in the same venue
the following night and secondly the journey back was made all
the more tolerable by the entertainment of Bassboy Barry and
his newly acquired bazouki – a truly great memory, “Cometh
the hour, cometh the man”!
Fast forward to
the High Voltage festival in London, a malfunctioning guitar
amp blighted our entire set with Vinnie rooted to the spot,
afraid to move an inch in case of triggering another cut-out.
Why this had to happen at one of the most high profile gigs
of the year I’ll never know... especially after a week
of near perfect warm-up gigs in Germany…
Being a bit of a
blues man at heart, I always enjoy watching Eric Clapton’s
Crossroads festivals, so I was delighted to hear we were going
to headline a festival at the same venue, Toyota Park, Chicago
in September. "How good is that?" I thought….
Well it wasn’t, because it was cancelled three weeks prior
to the concert date, due (allegedly) to a dispute between the
promoter and the local radio station – oh well, maybe
it will happen somewhere down the road…
More recently we
did a tour of Scandinavia where we all got really sick. When
you travel on a tour bus, once someone comes down with a virus
it spreads through the bus like wildfire – but this one
was the mother of all viruses, which no-one could shake off.
It went for the throat like a wild beast pinning down its prey
and for all of us who had the responsibility of singing it was
a disaster. No-one could sing any more and unfortunately we
had to cancel the show in Helsinki. Only because of the miracle
that is prescription drugs did we manage to complete the tour.
After our last show
in Copenhagen on 1st November, a rather amusing incident (for
us, anyway) ensued in the dressing room after the show. A voluptuous
Goth with a generous cleavage and heavy eye make-up came in
search of our autographs “for my Mum”(!) When
one uses that sort of rhetoric in a UFO dressing room, I’m
afraid it opens the door for our legendary brand of humour to
be let loose – so I (rather cruelly perhaps) replied in
my best Rodney Dangerfield voice, “Hey, how much do you
charge to haunt a house?” Andy Parker, who was close by
piped up, “Yeah, did no one tell you Halloween was yesterday?
– the graveyard is two blocks to the left!” Needless
to say, she didn’t hang around for the autographs…
Finally, there was
a week-long tour of the UK which very nearly didn’t happen
because of the highly unusual onset of heavy snow. I had opted
to take a leisurely train journey from London to Birmingham,
due to arrive mid-afternoon on the day of the show. Unusually
for us, there was no rehearsal day scheduled prior to the first
show, but none of us thought that would be a problem. My journey
was fraught with difficulty due to the total absence of any
form of public transport or indeed any taxi service in my area,
due to treacherous road and rail conditions caused by snow and
ice. The night before departure I tried in vain to find a taxi
company who was willing to take me either the three-mile journey
to my nearest mainline train station, or all the way to Euston
station in north London. Phil called to say it wasn’t
too bad where he lived and he planned to travel to Gatwick airport
to meet up with the tour bus which was scheduled to pick up
our crew arriving on various flights. However, there was further
heavy snowfall overnight and the nightmare thus began for everyone…
Meanwhile, I managed
to bribe one solitary taxi driver to take me to the local station
in the morning – it was a hair-raising experience but
nonetheless he delivered me safely for which I was exceedingly
grateful. Plain sailing from here, I thought, but how wrong
could I be? There was only ONE train on the departure board
(normally one every 5 minutes) due in AN HOUR, and the station
was already packed to capacity with stranded passengers. Travelling
with heavy luggage, I knew that when that train came in there
would be a mass stampede and I would be left trailing behind
and almost certainly unable to board. Panic set in – how
am I going to get to Euston? As I stood pondering my options,
a tram pulled up outside the station – now the trams don’t
go anywhere near central London but they do link up with the
London Underground – maybe, just maybe this would be my
best option. I boarded a tram bound for Wimbledon, but once
there I found that the Underground had also been suspended.
There were however some trains into London originating from
Southwest England that had not been affected by the snow, so
I could then link up with an Underground line that would take
me direct to Euston – phew!
I got on the train,
cold, bedraggled and not looking my best, with a hoodie pulled
over my head, and was just taking stock of the situation when
suddenly, “PAUL RAYMOND!” a UFO fan recognized me.
He talked to me for the entire journey, which should have been
quite short, but the train got to the stop before I was due
to get off and broke down! Everyone had to get off and wait
for the next London-bound train. A muffled announcement was
made over the loudspeaker that the next train would be arriving
on a platform over the other side of the bridge – there
then ensued a Jacques Tati-style dash (reminiscent of the French
film “Mr Hulot’s Holiday”) across to the other
side where the train was drawing in. Looking back now, it was
like a comedy sketch! I arrived at Euston Station with plenty
of time to catch my train and yes, it WAS “as cold as
ice”! The rest of my journey thankfully ran smoothly and
I arrived at our hotel at around 2.30pm. Vinnie and Andy were
already there and as we sat in the hotel bar exchanging tales
of nightmare journeys, cancelled flights and last-minute salvation,
my phone rang. I looked at the screen, it was showing Phil’s
home number…
Phil’s plans
of meeting the tour bus at Gatwick airport had been completely
scuppered by the additional snowfall as there were no trains,
buses or taxis to get him there, and the airport was closed.
He attempted to get a ride with a friend to get him closer to
London and to a functioning train service but his friend’s
car broke down and had to be towed back to where he came from,
hence the phone call from his home address. The only option
left was for him to drive himself to Birmingham, and nobody
knew whether the roads were accessible or not - you can just
imagine the suspense. We all got ready for the show, and by
this time it was confirmed that we were without our tour manager
and sound engineer, Martin, due to Zurich airport being closed
– and still no Phil as we left the hotel to go to the
venue. Voodoo Six, our support band went on – still no
Phil. Andy came into the dressing room and said “I’ve
just had a phone call from Phil, he’s not going to make
it”. He looked at our dejected expressions then cracked
into a broad grin, “Only kidding! – he’s here!”
Wow! 20 minutes to spare, Phil finally arrived at the venue.
The relief was immense! I don’t think anyone in the audience
that night suspected that there very nearly wasn’t a show,
as Phil put on an outstanding performance – hats off to
the man!
Driving conditions
for the rest of the tour were challenging, especially Holmfirth,
which two days previously had been completely cut off from civilization
– but we made it to every show.
So... on to 2011
and a new UFO studio album planned. Phil tells me there’s
an abundance of good material already. This will be our first
with Barry Sparks invited to contribute, and apparently he has
brought “some goodies” to the table!
For any PRP fans
out there, I have a new CD entitled “Terms & Conditions”,
80% written, recorded and rough-mixed. As usual, Andy Simmons
is the main man on guitar duties and I’m trying to scare-up
a few “guests” this time round.
All that remains
is for me to wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous
New Year, I’m looking forward to it myself!
Keep on rockin!
Paul
