Michael Schenker, whose upcoming album of UFO songs features a rare new vocal from Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose, has revealed that Rose actually sang three songs during the recording sessions.
In an interview with the Appetite For Disortion podcast, Shenker reveals that when Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash recorded his contributions to the My Years With UFO album in Frankfurt – soloing on a version of the 1977 classic Mother Mary – he told producer Michael Voss that he’d talked to Rose about the project, and that the singer was keen to be part of it.
“I said to Slash, ‘That would be fantastic. Ask Axl which song he would like to do,'” says Schenker. “And so actually Axl ended up singing Too Hot To Handle, Only You Can Rock Me and Love To Love. But I think they also were on tour at the time, and so Axl was not actually happy with his performance on Only You Can Rock Me and Too Hot To Handle.
“And I guess it was too many songs, because they were in the middle of a tour, and he preferred to just focus on Love To Love. And he is a perfectionist, I have noticed, and so we waited until he was ready, and then finally he went, ‘Okay, Love To Love‘ I approve. You can release it. And that was it.”
In the end, Europe frontman Joey Tempest sang on Only You Can Rock Me, and Too Hot To Handle was fronted by former Rainbow man Joe Lynn Turner. Perhaps Rose’s versions of the tracks will emerge in 2064, when the inevitable 40th anniversary deluxe edition is issued.
My Years In UFO is scheduled for release on September 20 via earMusic, and finds Schenker employing the services of several other guest musicians, including Europe’s John Norum, Roger Glover, Dee Snider, Michael Voss, Joel Hoekstra, Carmine Appice, Adrian Vandenberg and Stephen Pearcy, plus band members Derek Sherinian, Brian Tichy and Barry Sparks.
Michael Schenker: My Years In UFO tracklist
Natural Thing (Dee Snider and Joel Hoekstra)
Only You Can Rock Me (Joey Tempest and Roger Glover)
Doctor, Doctor (Joe Lynn Turner and Carmine Appice)
Mother Mary (Slash and Erik Grönwall)
This Kids (Biff Byford)
Love To Love (Axl Rose)
Lights Out (Jeff Scott Soto and John Norum)
Rock Bottom (Kai Hansen)
Too Hot to Handle (Joe Lynn Turner, Adrian Vandenberg and Carmine Appice)
Let It Roll (Michael Voss)
Shoot, Shoot (Stephen Pearcy)