MICHAEL SCHENKER Is Open To Playing One Final Concert With UFO

German guitar god Michael Schenker has left the door open for a reunion of the three remaining members of the classic "Strangers In The Night" line-up for what would be an incredible last gig for the much-loved band.

"I don't know if Phil's physically fit," says Schenker of vocalist Phil Mogg in the latest issue of Rock Candy magazine. "But I'll certainly think about a last UFO show if the possibility arises."

Schenker is clearly in the mood for revisiting his past, having just released an album of classic UFO songs with guest vocalists. He claims that he approached Mogg to contribute to the record, "but I'm not sure the message got to him. Managers can be funny sometimes."

Mogg is currently working with his new outfit, MOGGS MOTEL. But original UFO drummer Andy Parker is also keen to see if there might be a way for what would undoubtedly be a huge gig to happen.

"Absolutely," he told Rock Candy. "Why wouldn't I be up for it? It's down to Phillip, though. I'm really grateful that he survived his health scare a couple of years ago and is back singing. I miss [band members] Pete [Way] and Paul [Raymond] terribly, and I'm really grateful that Phil is still with us. I would have liked to finish on a higher note with UFO, and maybe Phil might change his mind about playing with the band somewhere down the road."

Mogg is playing his cards close to his chest about one last gig with UFO, but what's certain is that fans all over the world would be ecstatic if the singer agreed to perform.

You can read the massive 22-page UFO special, including new interviews with Phil Mogg, Michael Schenker and Andy Parker in issue 46 of Rock Candy, as well as in-depth stories and interviews with W.A.S.P., Carmine Appice, D-A-D, Steve Howe, Richie Kotzen, John Bush, and more.

For more details, visit www.rockcandymag.com.

Rock Candy is a 100-page, full-color bi-monthly rock mag, created in the U.K. It covers the sights, sounds and smells from the greatest era in hard rock music, the '70s and '80s. It is the brainchild of respected U.K. rock journalists Derek Oliver, Howard Johnson and Malcolm Dome — all frontline writers for the legendary Kerrang! magazine in the golden era.

During an appearance on the September 11 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Mogg spoke about why he decided to pull the plug on UFO in 2022, more than 50 years after the band's formation. The singer said: "It's easier when you look back on it. But I think after Pete [Way, late UFO bassist] went… He was suffering a few problems which are rather popular in rock bands, so I hear, he was suffering a few setbacks. But I think when Pete went, it kind of took the real sort of the original flavor out of the band and he was kind of irreplaceable in that sense. You could, obviously, get another bass player, which we did, but it's not the same. It was like taking a big lump out of the band, and as bad as it was at certain times, it was kind of the character of the band. And I know for some time after Pete went, I felt a little bit — it meant I'd have to do double the amount of jokes. It meant I'd have to do double the amount of drinking because he was gone. It meant I'd have to double up. I didn't have anyone to hide behind because Pete would do the interviews too. 'Cause he would come out with such ridiculous things, you'd go, 'Ah, this is great.' He could have come out with some crap. No, but he was good at it. So I think after that, I think the steam went out a bit, and we were slowly shutting down. And I didn't particularly wanna see UFO go in sort of ever-decreasing circles. So I think that was the general gist of it."

Asked about the possibility of UFO playing one final concert as a way of saying goodbye to the fans, Mogg said: "Oh, there's so many permutations on that one. Not really, because I can't see it happening in such a way that it would be worthy of doing. It would have to be pretty damn good. And if you stick something out there and it falls below par, then the audience, people who come along will be disappointed. I'd be disappointed if it was below something else. And I think that's the chance that I really wouldn't want to take unless it was, like, 'Yeah, this is happening. That's great.' You might go, 'Oh, well, I'll give that a shot.' But I can't see it coming together — I can't see the stars aligning. So, yeah, it would be too difficult."

Last month, Mogg told Seb Di Gatto of The Metal Gods Meltdown told that UFO was definitely finished and never coming back. He said:  "I think we've reached that point now. I believe when Pete went, that it kind of took the wind out of our sails, out of the band, really. I know he was going a bit loopy, but he had a lot of the character which was in the band. So, no, we couldn't replace him. And no, definitely not. No. I think that'd end up being like the Frank Sinatra tour, wouldn't it? What's the other band? SCORPIONS kept retiring, didn't they?"

Mogg continued: "The other thing is when you say, 'This is our last tour,' that really should be, because people come along and they've spent their money getting there or doing whatever for the last tour, and then if you turn around and do another one, they go, 'Oh, you've just done your last tour. I've just paid 50 quid for that.' It would be a little bit unfair."

Asked how he would like UFO and Phil Mogg to be remembered in the years to come, Phil said: "Just as a cracking good little band. Nothing too glorious, but just… You know when you go, like I do, I'd seen THE ANIMALS at Club Noreik in Tottenham when I was about 14, 15. And I always would go, 'Oh, that was a good band. I really enjoyed that night.' And I enjoyed Eric Burdon. So, I think that's compliment enough."

Mogg previously addressed UFO's future this past April in an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock. Asked if there is still "more to do" with the band, he responded: "No, no. I think it's come to a conclusion. We did that last U.K. tour in 2019, just before COVID. So that was kind of the end of it, and the time was right."

Mogg suffered a heart attack in August 2022. The now-76-year-old British-born musician was rushed to the hospital where he had two stents implanted into his coronary arteries. This is known medically as a coronary angioplasty and aims to re-open the blocked coronary artery by inserting one or more stents. This helps keep the narrowed artery open.

UFO's farewell tour was scheduled to kick off on October 15, 2022 at the De Casino in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium and run through a final show at the Fuzz Club in Athens, Greece on October 29, 2022.

When the news of Mogg's heart attack was first made public, UFO said in a statement: "On Thursday September 1st, 2022 — after having performed several detailed examinations in the past days — the doctors pronounced a strict performance ban for Mogg until further notice. This is why the entire Last Orders farewell tour, which was supposed to lead across Europe from October 15 to 29, 2022 before ending in Athens, had to be cancelled.

"If and when the tour or — at the very least — individual shows can be made up for, is currently completely unclear and will depend on Mogg's recovery, among other things. His rehabilitation therapy will be starting in about six weeks. According to the doctors, it is not yet possible to give any concrete statements about the duration and scope of the treatment."

In 2021, UFO announced that it would embark on its final tour featuring a series of exclusive concerts in summer 2022 to bid farewell to its fans in style. UFO was scheduled to play the very last concert of in Athens, where the band performed its first show featuring current guitarist Vinnie Moore in February 2004.

When UFO's final concert was first announced, Mogg was anticipating this very special farewell show with mixed feelings, while also very much looking forward to UFO once again meeting their extensive fan base between summer and autumn 2022.

Mogg, who turned 76 in April, said: "After so many years with countless highlights, fantastic experiences and lots of beautiful memories — as well as some difficult moments, naturally — it'll be a worthy finale to say goodbye to your fans in person. I know that there are bound to be some very emotional moments on both sides."

In his original statement announcing UFO's final tour, Mogg said the decision was "a long time coming," adding that while "being out on the road isn't always tremendously luxurious and although the playing is as great as it ever was, the stuff that surrounds it becomes very tiresome. I always told myself that when I reached that stage, I would step down, and that's what I'm going to do. This is the right time for me to quit."

UFO guitarist/keyboard player Paul Raymond died in April 2019. He appeared on more than a dozen of UFO's albums, including "Lights Out" and the live classic "Strangers In The Night".

UFO's most recent lineup included original members Mogg and drummer Andy Parker, as well as Moore, who joined in 2003, and Rob De Luca (bass),a member since 2012.

UFO's latest release was the 2017 covers collection "The Salentino Cuts".

A little over three years ago, Michael detailed events which led to his final exit from UFO in 2002, saying that "the natural flow of the chemistry was destroyed" by the time he left the band.

Schenker, whose original tenure with the British rock institution lasted from 1973 to 1978, rejoined UFO in 1993, recording the "Walk On Water" (1995) album with the classic lineup of the band that also included lead singer Phil Mogg, bassist Pete Way, drummer Andy Parker, and guitarist/keyboardist Paul Raymond.

Explaining how the reunion came about, Michael told Eonmusic: "Phil Mogg came to Los Angeles in '93, begging me to refuel UFO because he completely had destroyed it. I said, 'I have a few conditions. One is, you have to give me 50 percent of the UFO name so you don't destroy it again, especially if I put my energy into it."

The onetime SCORPIONS man went on to say that initially, things were great within the camp, and that he noticed a change in the formerly dejected Mogg almost immediately. "I tell you, when I saw Phil the next time when we started recording, he looked like an one hundred and eighty degree different person," Schenker said. "He was happy, healthy. He was unbelievably fit."

But it was a harmony that wasn't to last. "'Walk On Water' was a blessing after 17 years," Michael said. "It was such a beautiful record that famously carried on from 'Strangers In The Night' [1979]. And then, of course, we went on the road, and then Phil lost it, and wanted control again and destroyed everything."

Despite going on to record two further albums with the band — 2000's "Covenant" and 2002's "Sharks", Michael said that it was further lineup changes (the ousting of both Parker and Raymond) which ultimately destroyed the band.

"I always said to him, 'Never do a reunion with UFO unless it's the original setup, including the producer,'" Michael said. "Because if you take one piece out, the chemistry is finished."

Bringing in producer Mike Varney for "Sharks" in place of Ron Nevinson, the man behind their greatest '70s triumphs, for Michael, the end was nigh. "I said to Phil, 'Don't do this. It will backfire. It will not succeed.' And it did not. The natural flow of the chemistry was destroyed, and basically, we were just limping towards the end."

Despite this, Michael made one final gesture of good will toward Mogg. "I'd had enough of UFO at that point, and in 2002, Phil Mogg asked me, 'Michael, I need the name UFO back.' I said to Phil, 'You know what? God bless you. I'll give you the name back for free. Enjoy your life.' And then that was it. That was the end of it."