UFO guitarist Paul Chapman revisits the band’s classics
By Andy Argyrakis
From the pages of the official publicity biography

The name Paul Chapman is synonymous with a slew of seminal rock and roll acts, from his ground breaking days in Lone Star, to his participation in Ireland’s influential Skid Row to the hard rock resurgence of Waysted. Yet the guitar player/songwriter is perhaps best recognized for his several year streak in UFO, which first began on the classic Lights Out tour leading to legendary albums like No Place To Run, The Wild The Willing and The Innocent, Mechanix and Making Contact.

As a result, Paul’s fan base swelled to global proportions, staying fervent throughout the past two decades. Adding fuel to the fire as of late has been 2005’s best selling book by UFO: Shoot Out the Lights by Martin Popoff and a cover story contribution to Classic Rock magazine for a highly colorful and controversial Bon Scott article chronicling his last hours (which included time with Paul and others from UFO). 

Throughout that continued streak of attention, fans have been clamoring for new original projects, begging for old songs to be re-released on CD, and perhaps with the most might, sending requests to Paul to revisit the classic UFO catalog in current contexts. In fact, that quantity of requests relating to the latter were so overwhelming that the guitar slinger took a look through his discography, called up some of his famous friends and began recording the forthcoming tribute title Show and Tell.

“Between the amount of people who contacted me about this and all of the renewed interest in these songs, it was necessary for me to do this,” says Paul. “I’ve worked a long time assembling all the elements for these songs and 20th century UFO sounds nothing like 21st century UFO. I’ve worked with so many producers over the years- from George Martin to Roy Thomas Baker, but this production really puts the songs over the edge.”

Aside from guitars, bass and production by Paul Chapman, “No Place To Run,” “The Wild The Willing and The Innocent” and “The Writer” also include singer Robin McAuley (McAuley Schenker Group), drummer Johnny Dee (Waysted, Britny Fox) and mixing by Joe Smith (Deep Purple, Molly Hatchet, Backstreet Boys, N’Sync). In addition, Paul has been corresponding with friends from Tesla, Foreigner and Motorhead, plus Doogie White (Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen), Joe Hasselvander (Raven), John Gallagher (Raven) and Neil Carter (UFO), along with several other considerations still in the works.

On top of that, the CD’s set list has been fully mapped out, slated to include other staples such as “Makin’ Moves,” “Anyday,” “When It’s Time To Rock” and “Lettin’ Go” (with many more to be let out of the bag as the project nears completion). Not only is Show and Tell a dream come true for diehards, but serves as a testament to the everlasting music of UFO and Paul’s deft precision, which have earned him status as one the world’s most accomplished and applauded guitarists who only gets better with time.

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