Spin the Black Circle No. 19: Working from home and rockin’ out with UFO

As another round of COVID is passed around the Yakima Valley like a church collection basket, some of us have been re-introduced to that oh-so-2020 phenomenon of working from home.

Dedicated journalists have performed their craft everywhere from the halls of power to the walls of a phone booth, from rain-soaked football fields to sun-baked police stakeouts. So it wasn’t a big deal for this ink-stained wretch to move his computer gear from downtown Yakima to the rock ’n’ roll basement of my house last month as my wife was stricken with the latest strain of COVID.

Doing that reminded me so much of March 2020, when just about everyone hunkered down with their kids, pets and bowlfuls of delicious carbs to enjoy some Netflix-streamed episodes of “The Office” — and, in my case, classic rock albums from the likes of UFO.

In fact, I had to break out my “Lights Out” LP from the hard-rocking 1970s band during my recent work-at-home week. It was one of my staples three and a half years ago as I laid out pages and wrote occasional stories amid the soggy spring days in North Idaho. No annoying earbuds required!

Many of you may not be familiar with UFO, a British rock band that formed amid the birth of heavy metal in late-1960s England, reached its peak in the late 1970s behind young gun guitarist Michael Schenker and vocalist Phil Mogg, then flew back to the recesses of outer space in the 1980s.

(Actually, Mogg has been strutting across stages for more than 50 years, leading UFO on a 50th anniversary tour that began in 2018 and staggered on through 2022 due to the pandemic)

UFO had some success prior to the record we’re reviewing here. Their songs “Doctor Doctor” and “Rock Bottom” gained some rock radio airplay in the mid-70s, with live versions of “Rock Bottom” showcasing the shredding ability of a then-teenage Schenker.

But it was 1977’s “Lights Out” that really boosted the number of UFO sightings (sorry!) in America, as the band played hundreds of concerts here in the late 1970s. They opened for fellow hard-rockin’ travelers such as AC/DC, Rush, Blue Oyster Cult, KISS, Foghat, Jethro Tull, Styx, REO Speedwagon and Molly Hatchet — a who’s who of classic rock radio!

“Lights Out” is a great mix of hard-hitting rockers and a couple of memorable power ballads — before the latter genre really took off in the 1980s.

Album opener “Too Hot to Handle” features fairly typical lyrics of rock bravado belted out by frontman Mogg, with the rhythm section of bassist Pete Way and drummer Andy Parker carrying the song.

The opening side ends with title track “Lights Out,” written by the entire band, with lyrics both harkening back to the 1940s bombing of London in World War II and referring to some future revolution with swinging batons, guns flashing and sirens wailing. Great dystopian fiction it is not, but the music explodes out of the speakers led by the power chords of Schenker and rhythm guitarist Paul Raymond.

Side two of “Lights Out” includes a strong cover version of 1960s psychedelic band Love’s best-known song, “Alone Again Or,” and two decent original rockers, “Gettin’ Ready” and “Electric Phase.”

But UFO saves their best track for the end — bands could do that in the era of vinyl — with the atmospheric power ballad “Love to Love” closing out the album. Raymond shifts over to keyboards, a string section swells, Mogg croons “Misty green and blue, love to love to love you” … and Schenker ends the proceedings with an absolutely killer minute-long solo.

“Love to Love” takes the previous year’s power ballad hit, “Beth,” and tops it in every way. KISS guitarist Ace Frehley must have been jealous!

UFO never did achieve the U.S. or worldwide fame of many of the bands they opened for in the late 1970s, but for those looking for some solid 1970s hard rock that’s not overplayed in today’s classic rock formats, the “Lights Out” album would be a great place to start.