Part 2

Batttttty : No matter how good post-Mikey guitarists were, it seemed as though they were always viewed as inferior to Mikey. How unnerving was this to the band during your era? Paul : Don't think it really bothered them. They had their own styles and obviously didn't try to ape Schenker. No point in trying to reinvent the wheel eh? They just did their own thing.

Batttttty : Any good 'On The Road With...' stories? Paul : Yes thanks, dozens. In fact I got an email a few weeks back from a young lady whose, er, brief aquaintance I had known on the US tour asking where the really juicy stories were. Maybe she just wanted to see her name in print, I dunno. Anyway you rabble ain't getting 'em for free - I'm saving them for my pension, along with all the other x rated band stories. A few of the milder ones are on my website. My dad read it the other day. He's 90. He waited a few days before he called me, obviously mulling the contents over, then rather understating the point said "hmm, yes, you've led a rather racy life haven't you..."

Batttttty : Your favourites and worst among today's music scene?
Paul : Ummm... I rilly like the new Chilli Peppers stuff. A pop/rock group I'm working with and producing called Free Peace Sweet. I'd manage 'em myself if I didn't know it was a thankless job and I didn't have to deal with all those appalling corporate record company types just out of short trousers and university who think they know everything. Theyre gonna be huge - you read it here first. And I rilly like The Hives - The Vines too. The Von Bondies I saw live a few weeks back - they were also on Jools Holland, pretty good too. A bit of Coldplay and Travis but not too much otherwise the old stanley knife would come out. Supergrass I like a lot - great songs and production. Worst...I listen to the radio a lot driving round every day. All that rap crap - cant stand it. Fuckin' shoot the lot of 'em and have done with it.
  Batttttty : Who is your favorite bass player whose last name rhymes with 'Marks'? (You're meant to say Barry Sparks) Paul : Ahh, you must mean John.B.Sparks, aka Sparko, from the original Dr Feelgood. He used to do backflips whilst playing the bass. Very impressive, especially considering his copious beer intake and beer belly.

Batttttty : Did you find Phil to be a decent bloke or was he ever mean to ya? Paul : Never knew him as a bully. 99.99% decent at all times. Obviously commanded a great deal of respect and rightly so, but I never saw him abuse it. If things weren't right tho' he'd say so, nothing wrong with that. I have a huge amount of respect for him. We used to knock ideas about in my studio room, and there were times when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up when he scatted along to the backing tracks. Phil wasn't usually one of those singers that mulled things over - if he felt an affinity to a piece of music he'd dive straight in with a melody and just make up the words. They'd be the ones we'd work on.
The only other singers who approached that degree of passion to me - for different reasons - were Robin Zander, Rob Tyner and John Waite, but don't let on to Phil - don't think he likes dear Johhny much...
Batttttty : What's your fondest memory and funniest story while in UFO? Paul : There were too many funny stories to possibly remember. I guess a lot of it was only funny to the band tho' - try explaining it to people outside of the band family and they don't get the humour.
One was when the directors of Chrysalis came down to The Manor when we were doing "Misdemeanor" for a progress visit. We'd recorded a load of old tosh the night before, brandied up to the gills - faux-jazz stuff, a bit like Spinal Tap when they had the dodgy bird singing. Fuckin' awful. Nick Tauber played it back, straightfaced, and said this was our new direction, he understood that it was a little different, but that we were determined to explore new musical directions, while we stood behind, trying not to laugh out loud. "Yes yes" the Chrysalis bods were going, "It's certainly an interesting departure, but, er, its a little different isn't it...how long has this taken so far? Perhaps... um, we'll have to get our marketing department down to discuss this further. ". Kept 'em going for about 30 minutes. Reminds me of the Steely Dan story - they sent mixes of their new album to their record label without saying it was them, and received a standard rejection letter: "Thank you for submitting your demos for consideration, but it's not what our label is looking for right now. Wishing you all the best in your future."
Fondest memory - probably the whole of the 1986 world tour!
Batttttty : Do you know Pete Way? And are you friends or mere acquaintances? Paul : I've only met Pete a few times but, as any fule kno', he's a top geezer, and has an endearing habit of making you feel utterly at home in his company. I think anyone who ever met Pete would be treated like a friend.

Batttttty : What was/is your favorite UFO song? Paul : To listen to, I love "Me And You" from Making Contact - "ooochy", as Phil would say, and "Natural Thing" from the live album. Schenker's guitar is so fuckin' chunky - marvellous stuff. Superb rhythm playing. Its a great track to play before going out on the razz for the night.
To play live, it had to be "Love To Love" and "Lights Out". And I'll give one of me own efforts a plug - "Blue" was good to play too. Batttttty : The Only Ones is a great UFO choon. What inspired this song, and did you write the tune and Phil the lyrics, or what? Paul : I had this Korg keyboard, one of the first ones with built in speakers. Only had five sounds on it but the strings woz lush like. Strings, harpsichord, organ, piano and something else I've now forgotten. Had the verse and chorus much down on my 4 track Tascam and played it to Phil. The first thing he sang was "we are the only ones". I knew it would work from that moment. It changed very little once the band played it too - a case of if it ain't broke, don't fix it! What I considered the bridge Phil took to be the chorus - this would often happen and made for some interesting arranging. I think the inspiration came from the combination of the strings and harpsichord line, which I think was played on piano on the album. It had a sad, haunting and mysterious quality to it which was not lost on Phil.
Batttttty : Were you happy with the end results of Misdemeanor? Paul : Err, better call my lawyer on this one! On the other hand, sod it. No, I wasn't happy. I believe libel laws are equally enforceable on the net so I better be careful. How can I put it - well, the final mix bore little resemblance to the backing tracks, which were truly happenin'. Somewhere between the 20th guitar overdub, the Columbian cartels' presence in Amsterdam and the final mix, plots got well and truly lost. And not from the band's point of view you understand. Chrysalis roped in some geezer who did Mister Mister to remix it for the septics. Sounded even worse. Again, it's my personal opinion. Cost a bleedin' fortune. Never made a penny from it. Nice bird on the cover tho'. We tried to track her down when we played NYC but didn't get lucky. Ended up having a party with the Iron Maiden guys instead. Jim woke up the next morning in Steve Harris's bed. Don't even ask... Batttttty : OK, fair enough, I'll shut up then.
 


As a special treat for all you rocknrollers who have waded through this interview till the bitter end
Paul is about to serenade you with a choon that he wrote back in 1997
'The Spider And The Fly'
It'll take ages to get there, but.... go to his homepage and then Current Projects and then
scroll down a bit on the left hand side and then wallop, you're there.

  
 

This interview © Batttttty - August 2002