UFO Keyboardist Checks In

UFO keyboardist Paul Raymond has posted a lengthy update on his official web site. An excerpt follows:

"Now we've put the festive season behind us, we can start looking ahead to the upcoming U.S. tour in April and May. We haven't toured in the states since 2005 as I recall, which is a real shame — I'm hoping we have not been forgotten.

"Since that time we lost Jason Bonham to FOREIGNER (and LED ZEPPELIN) but we've got the original and inimitable Mr. Andy Parker back, and hopefully (although nothing is for definite yet) Pete [Way, bass] will be able to join us this time. So there we are, almost a full complement of the classic line-up, raring to celebrate the milestone 30th anniversary of the now legendary 'Strangers In The Night'. I'm really excited about coming back, it's been way too long.

"I mentioned earlier getting involved in recording my new solo CD. It has, in all honesty, been a bit of a rocky road! Since 'Man On A Mission', I've updated all my recording equipment, and let's just say I pushed it to its limits and beyond. My old monitors were not quite up to the job and I found that they were not giving an accurate reflection of what was being recorded and so, frustratingly, after getting some new monitors and hearing what was really going on, I've had to painstakingly replace a lot of the original material as I was not happy with the quality of my first endeavor. It has been terribly time consuming, but in hindsight it also gave me a chance to re-evaluate some of the content, so maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all! Every cloud has a silver lining huh? The multi-talented Andy Simmons has been collaborating with me on the project. Not only is he a fantastic guitarist and handy on the old keyboards he is also a brilliant artist — very much in demand, (Ronnie Wood, eat your heart out!) so much so that it's difficult to find time to work together. We'll get there in the end, with a bit of luck before the U.S. tour kicks off."

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Steamhammer/SPV will release UFO's "Showtime" DVD as a state-of-the-art HD-DVD on February 25, 2008. This entertaining two-DVD set features UFO's concert filmed in Wilhelmshaven Pumpwerk, Germany on May 13, 2005 and the 16 live songs span much of UFO's lengthy career. The inclusion of a six-song, live session filmed in Peppermint Park Studios on May 26, 2005 gives fans a whopping 22 UFO classics to enjoy.

The lineup on the DVD includes original bandmembers, singer Phil Mogg, bassist Pete Way and guitarist Paul Raymond. They are joined by American guitar virtuoso Vinnie Moore, and Jason Bonham, who while best known for being son on legendary LED ZEPPELIN drummer John Bonham, has proved his credentials by playing with such rock luminaries as Paul Rodgers (ex-FREE, BAD COMPANY),Slash (GUNS N' ROSES),Richie Sambora (BON JOVI) and Jeff Beck, as well as LED ZEPPELIN themselves at their 2007 reunion.