Re: R.I.P Pete Way

Jeez, I had done a birthday tribute to the UFO/Fastway bassist just the week before.

Details here.

Yes. We were chatting about him.

UFO was an interesting band. They were around a lo-o-ong time (pretty extensive discography). Yet here in the US I’m not sure most casual rock fans are really aware of them. I don’t think I’ve ever heard them played on any classic rock station. They never had the ‘one big hit’ that would make your coworkers say “oh yeah, now I remember those guys”. MY discovery of their catalogue was definitely retroactive.

My friends loved Fastway and Waysted as I was knee-deep in new wave, and their enthusiasm usually rubbed off. I could always find something good in early 80s cheeseball heavy metal (that’s a compliment). RIP Pete...

> My friends loved Fastway and Waysted as I was knee-deep in new wave, and their enthusiasm usually rubbed off.

Curiously, Pete never recorded a note or played a gig with Fastway -- a band that took its name from Pete himself, along with former Motörhead guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke. (The band also included former Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley and future Flogging Molly vocalist Dave King.) Pete left Fastway because of his still-binding obligations with Chrysalis, pertaining to UFO's contract with the label. He took a gig in Ozzy's band while he got his legal issues untangled. By the time he did, though, Fastway had moved on without him.

Chrysalis Records' box set of UFO's '70s years is comprehensive (although it starts after their brief space-rock era) and makes a case that they were as good as Thin Lizzy or AC/DC.

I find their earlier stuff (space-rock era) more interesting. As good as a player as Michael Schenker is, a generic rocker with a nice guitar solo only goes so far. I don't hear anything special in their music. Solid, competent, but nothing exciting. IMO, of course. That said "Lights Out" is a classic and has that extra "something" that makes it the classic it is.