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Pete Way dead 😮


dave_bass5

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Just seen this in the news. Cant believe it. He was a huge influence on me when i first started playing. Saw UFO a so many times. Strangers in the Night was the first album i ever learnt to play all the way through. 

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/legendary-ufo-bassist-pete-way-dead-at-69/

 

 

Edited by dave_bass5
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One of my heroes when I was younger saw them on four consecutive tours, had the tour t shirts etc. I have the UFO at Rockpalast DVD, me and a group of mates (I was in the Army) were at the front for the gig and Phil Mogg shouts down to us "you are f*#king mad!" Proudest day of my life.

we may have had a drink beforehand though!

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Saw UFO for the first time in 1978 at Birmingham Town Hall as a 15 yr old.

It was such an exciting experience, and a benchmark for live gig experiences for years to come. It was the ‘classic’ line up and they were a band right on top of their game.

That they should have achieved more commercial success - and the reasons they didn’t - have been well documented over the years, but them and AC/DC (Bon era) were the only rock bands I knew that my punk mates also loved at the time.

I think a lot of rock fans at the time were somehow suspicious of them - a bit “flash”, a bit “London”, not quite as down and heavy as, say, Sabbath or Purple. But that was part of the attraction for me. They were the first band I saw in the flesh that really looked like rock stars, in a way that Bowie, or the Stones or the Faces did on TV.

And then there was the bass player...

image.thumb.jpeg.9569580ed5d899564ec255d2192ee15d.jpeg

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A sad loss..... And how he managed to play at all running around the stage at 200mph in those stripey trousers with a Thunderbird banging on his knees was beyond me. I saw them numerous times at Hammy Odeon back in the day and it was always a top gig. 

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19 hours ago, Beedster said:

UFO formed in ‘69, that’s one hell of a ride. He was the first bass player I heard of over and above the Macca/Lynott/Lemmy superstar bunch, played some great lines also. RIP Pete

Was trying to recall how Pete Way's name seems to have been a constant for so many years, so spent a bit of time thinking back to the era in question, and it all came back to me today. I was at school in London and a new guy called Nick arrived and joined my class. He was a music guy I could tell, so we became friends quickly (we were 12 years old I guess). We hung out listened to music, The Jam especially, he was a big fan and a bit of a mod, even wore a parka to School. He mentioned that he had a family connection with a bass player in a rock band, a guy called Pete, but being a rock band, Nick wasn't interested in Pete at all. But Nick got some free tickets and went to see Pete's band, and despite being a dyed in the wool mod, and despite not wanting to like either Pete or the band, was blown away by both. From that point forwards, he become a mod who liked UFO. Hated Motorhead/Purple/Sabbath/Zep, but loved UFO. This was '77/'78 IIRC, feels like a lifetime ago, but seems Pete and the band won a lot of friends in the following years. RIP Pete. 

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Shame he became estranged from the band and was not part of their farewell. His antics were part and parcel of their appeal. 
Interviewed him once post-gig at the Astoria. It had changed clientele at 11 and become a gay disco; we sought refuge from the thumping music in a dark corner, don’t know what people thought we were up to. 😂

RIP Pete...

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I never saw them or had any of their recordings. I did, however, meet PW briefly. Very briefly. I was at Rockfield studios and packing up to leave. The next band booked in were Waysted. As we were getting ready to vacate the accommodation, PW walked in, said 'hi: and then collapsed face down on the living room floor. 

Edited by Bilbo
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