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MICHAEL SCHENKER

MICHAEL SCHENKER’s Guitars Stolen From Recording Studio In Germany

Manos Spanos
Sometime between 6 p.m. on Friday, August 29 and 11 a.m. on Sunday, August 31 at Kidroom Studios in Greven, Germany, where Michael Schenker is recording the new TEMPLE OF ROCK album, "Spirit On A Mission", thieves broke in and stole and number of Schenker's Dean Flying V and Michael Voss' guitars. At the moment, the full extent of what has been stolen is being assessed and the crime scene fingerprinted. However, Schenker's brand new Chrome V is one of the guitars that have been taken. A source close to the band said: "The Dean Chrome V is one of only three ever made. Michael's version is unique and made to his own specifications. There is not another like it, so it will be hard to sell." German police are examining evidence and the studio for fingerprints and DNA evidence to help catch the criminals. There will be more details once the extent of the damage and a thorough inventory has been taken at the crime scene. Anyone with any relevant information is asked to contact the Greven Police Station on +49 2571 9280. MICHAEL SCHENKER'S TEMPLE OF ROCK's last CD, "Bridge The Gap", featured Michael Schenker alongside vocalist Doogie White, guitarist/keyboardist Wayne Findlay, bassist Francis Buchholz and drummer Herman Rarebell. The effort marked the first time Schenker and fellow ex-SCORPIONS members Buchholz and Rarebell appeared on the same album since the classic 1979 SCORPIONS LP "Lovedrive".
01 min read

MICHAEL SCHENKER Says Songwriting Is ‘Like Putting A Puzzle Together And Never Really Knowing What Comes Out At The End’

Manos Spanos
Greg Prato of Songfacts recently conducted an interview with legendary guitarist Michael Schenker. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Songfacts: How do you find that you write your best songs? Michael: I just do it the same way over and over. I love to play. I play and discover on a regular basis, so when I bump into a great piece of something that I think, "Wow, I should capture that" — and it's usually just 5 seconds, 10 seconds long — I'll put it on the cassette recorder in its raw form and I'll just leave it there. When it's time to make a new record, I listen to what I have selected, and then that inspires me to write the additional parts to it. So I never really know what the song is going to be until the album's finished. On this album in particular, I was looking for more of a balance: Not too many mid tempos, but enough fast songs and many different elements in it that keep it going and keep it interesting. It's like putting a puzzle together and never really knowing what comes out at the end. Songfacts: How did the songwriting work in the band UFO? Was it more of a collaboration? Michael: Well, when I joined UFO, they were a psychedelic band. They were playing very different music. But I was attracted to them being British, since that's where the music that I fell in love with came from: [LED] ZEPPELIN, BLACK SABBATH and Johnny Winter. Well, Johnny Winter was American, but a lot of the music that we were listening to at that point in time when I was 15 years old was coming from there. When I toured with UFO and SCORPIONS, the guitarist from UFO lost his passport, so in order to continue the tour, I had to play for both bands. That was when I was 16 years old. I opened up with the Scorpions and then I played with UFO for a couple of days. And that's when they asked me to join them. I always told the SCORPIONS that if a British band would ever ask me, I would go just to get to a country where there was the interest for rock and roll. In Germany, it was dead. It was disco music and it wasn't very interesting what I was doing. So I was more than happy to go over there. They invited me over and I took the offer. When I got there I just laid down a riff and another one and another one, and Phil [Mogg] did his vocals to it and it just became a totally different band based on the pieces that I gave them, which every song was built on. I wrote that way right from the beginning, and it's still how I write today. But because I had just joined them, we were more in the mode of making a record, touring, making a record, touring, making a record, touring. Because we were doing everything in the short amount of time, we spent a lot of time at the rehearsal studio. Some very early songs, like "Rock Bottom", were very spontaneous. We were just sitting there looking for an additional song, and when I played "Rock Bottom", the riff, that's when Phil jumped up and said, "That's it! That's it!" So we started putting it together and putting it into form. But in general, I would always come up with some riffs, give it to the singer and he would find something, too. Then we'd go into the rehearsal studio and work on it. That's basically how we used to write. Songfacts: How close did you come to joining Ozzy Osbourne's band after Randy Rhoads' death? Michael: That was around '81. Graham Bonnet just came over and we started writing and doing things, and then I get a phone call in the middle of the night from a very devastated Ozzy Osbourne telling me what happened [Rhoads was killed in an airplane accident, on March 19, 1982]. I said, "Okay, it's the middle of the night. I'll let you know, but I have to speak to Peter Mensch" and so on. And then I had to look... I was tempted to do that, but at the same time I was in the middle of doing "Assault Attack" and it was going to be the second album with Cozy Powell. We were getting ready, and I had to look at my situation. Then I heard some crazy stories about Ozzy dragging people across the stage by their hair and stuff like that. And then some other horror stories that didn't sound too good. I was tempted to do that, but something tells me, you know what, Michael, first of all, the SCORPIONS, my own brother, he asked me to play, to help the SCORPIONS and to join them and tour with them. And I couldn't do it because I'm not made for copying people. I love to invent things, to express myself, and so my vision is a different vision. Sometimes you have to battle a little bit with your true vision and temptation. Same with AEROSMITH: It was a good thing it didn't work out, because again, I would have not enjoyed myself. I know that. At the end of the day, I said, "I can't do that." It came to the point when I stretched it for so long that I think Cozy Powell took it over and told them, "He's not going to do it." And that was that. It was a very strange situation. Read the entire interview a
05 min read

MICHAEL SCHENKER’S TEMPLE OF ROCK: New Song ‘Neptune Rising’ Available For Streaming

Manos Spanos
"Neptune Rising", a brand new song from MICHAEL SCHENKER'S TEMPLE OF ROCK, can be streamed using the SoundCloud player below. The track comes off MICHAEL SCHENKER'S TEMPLE OF ROCK's new album, "Bridge The Gap", which will be released on December 2. MICHAEL SCHENKER'S TEMPLE OF ROCK features legendary German guitarist Michael Schenker alongside vocalist Doogie White, guitarist/keyboardist Wayne Findlay, bassistFrancis Buchholz and drummer Herman Rarebell. The CD marks the first time Schenker and fellow ex-SCORPIONS members Buchholz and Rarebell have appeared on the same album since the classic 1979 SCORPIONS LP "Lovedrive". Says Schenker about "Neptune Rising": "'Neptune Rising' is a song I wrote in the studio. It's about Wayne Findlay. He reminds me of a Neptune with his crazy hair and beard. One day I had this vision of seeing him with the Trident coming out of the ocean. Wayne loves water and the undersea world. So, I suggested that we design a guitar that looks like a Trident. The guitar is almost completed and will be called Trident and will be seen on our next tour." "Bridge The Gap" is described in a press release as "an album of 13 hard-hitting, adrenalin-fueled melodic rock'n'roll songs that showcase Shenker's distinctive and explosive guitar playing." Scottish vocalist Doogie White, who co-wrote the album with Schenker, soars across every song, and stamps his enthusiastic personality with every note and phrase. Wayne Findlayadds another dimension to the dynamic, classic Schenker sound with his Dean seven-string guitar and keyboard orchestrations. "Bridge The Gap" is a thunderous, explosive collection of brand new songs steeped in shades of dark and light. Musically and lyrically, the new album shows a re-energized guitarist at the top of his game, surrounded by top drawer musicians. The album was recorded from January to March 2013 at Kidroom Studios, Germany and was produced by Michael Schenker and Michael Voss, and engineered by Voss. "Michael and I had talked about recording an album together after the tour of 2012," saysDoogie White. "We never spoke about it again until January 2013 when he sent me seven ideas he had been working on. "Last October, I started writing the music for the new album," adds Schenker. "I sent material to Doogie in the New Year and he started writing melodies and lyrics. I laid down some arrangements at Michael Voss's studio. There was a lot of energy flying about during the recording process. I had the same drive making this album as I had when I was 16. I wanted it fast, heavy and melodic. It felt like bridging the gap from my teenage and 'Lovedrive' years to what I am doing now. I'm back to where I was a long time ago and I love it." "Never having really written with Michael before, apart from 'When The Devil Knows You're Dead' (from 2011's 'Temple Of Rock' album), I didn't know how flexible he would be writing wise," recalls Doogie." I laid down some vocal tracks as ideas and when Michael heard them. we were off and running. Within two weeks we were in the studio laying down tracks." Schenker admits that when he wrote this album, he tried to get a balance between songs that are heavy, fast and melodic, complimented by his signature guitar solos. "I wanted to combine the old with the new," he says. "That's why the album's called 'Bridge The Gap'. With Wayne playing seven-string guitar we created some low, heavy modern sounds. Since I play and experiment on a regular basis, I always have some new, fresh sparks to share when I record a new album. I am inspired from within. It's infinite like a kaleidoscope." "As former members of the SCORPIONS, Herman, Francis and I have been out of the loop of rock'n'roll for quite a while. Getting together for the first time since the 'Lovedrive' album is an incredible jump. We're connecting the past with the present. We're bridging the gap." Schenker remains philosophical about the name of the new album. He believes the name reflects what is going on in the fast-moving world around him. "Everything that is currently going on in this world is showing that people are desperate for change," he says. "We need to bridge the gap of poverty. There are too many innocent people getting killed in terrorist attacks. We need to leave all of this chaos behind us. We have to be strong. We have to continue moving forward, working together in a balanced way." Schenker is amazed how melodic the new album turned out, but he still insists the songs still feature a bit of darkness as well. "I came up with the name of the album, before I even started writing. When Doogie started writing the lyrics to the new songs he had something to go by. I guess 'Bridges Burned' is a new song that is something of a word play on 'Bridge The Gap'. I love this song. Doogie's singing is excellent on this." "'Horizons' is a really powerful and exciting track from the new album," says Schenker. "I love the energy and Doogie's great vocal lines."
07 min read