Yes Tonka...THANK YOU for great music with Lone Star & the great stuff with UFO. Especially the UFO stuff, which I think is their best music! R.I.P. brother.
@MetallicBill I saw Phil literally beg a packed 2500 seat theatre in Pittsburgh to accept Paul. Shenker wasn't there when the band hit the stage and everyone felt cheated. they paid to see Michael. any way Phil stopped the show and asked us to give the guy a chance and we did and it was a great concert but it certainly wasn't the prodigy. I work in trhe music industry and have my entire life and that is the only time I had ever seen that happen.
I regret never having had a chance to see him live. He came to "Reggie's" in Chicago but I found out after the fact. I like his performance on "Live in Texas" 1979.
RIP. just like I remember talking to him years ago when he toured with UFO. nice guy. when I told him I was a singer songwriter never could master guitar but was a good chord player he said that's nothing to be ashamed of! keep at it. he's on my wall right now looking right into the camera live in New Orleans 81!
Paul is an amazing musician....you can bring Paul any song and he will completely know the song in literally minutes, what a talent! Paul, you just cannot say enough about, he is a talent that just can't duplicated....Great individual! Wow, I'm glad to have taken lessons from this man, cannot say enough about the life lessons learned from him....
George Edwards That's true, George. There are a few songs I like from previous work, but most of it lacks the great rhythm guitar hooks with the tone, that I like from Paul. Great melodies from the Chapman era. Melody is what makes a song sound good to me, no matter what genre. A lot of the 70's UFO stuff is too fast, and kinda noisy. I'm not into the solos so much that Schenker was so good at.
To me, Pauls guitar sound and his playing makes him very special in the UFO history. His sound is soooo good; rhythm is raw and creamy and when he solos it's a little more defined sound that rips! I prefer Paul compared to Michael in that respect.
You didn't mentioned Zebra Leader Paul........fond memories of Cat's place, over the butcher's shop in Crwys Rd in 1969. It's good to see you looking so well. Blessings, Andy Thompson
Paul 'Tonka' Chapman - Rest in peace. can anyone with a better knowledge confirm whether he actually played on any of the tracks on Strangers in the Night back in 1978. I know he was drafted in at very short notice to replace Michael Schenker who walked out on the band during that particular tour of the U.S. but it would be nice to know whether any of his playing is actually included on this classic Live album.
He was thanked in the liner notes of Stangers but he did not play on any of the songs. Saw him make that statement during an interview, so it is to be believed...
@ianowen9717 Schenker didn't walk out on the 1978 Obsession tour at all! Though he did quit the band during the mixing of Strangers In The Night. Also the rumours that he went AWOL in 1977 are false too!. After the UK leg of the Lights Out tour ended in June 1977, he told the band that after the years of constant touring, he was exhausted, and that if the band wanted him to stay with them he needed to rest, and couldn't face doing the US leg of the 1977 Lights Out tour. The band concocted a publicity story, for the music press, that he'd gone missing. and got Paul Chapman in as cover. Michael returned to the band in September 1977 and finished off the US tour. Tonka gets a well earned Thank you on Strangers because he helped the band out in 1977, and also by the time Strangers was released on the 2nd January 1979, he was a full time member of the band.
I started playing guitar because of Schenker. My first chance to see him at Cleveland Public Hall with UFO and a replacement, Paul, was on guitar. Schenker's departure had not yet been announced. After one song Mogg said "This one's for the dead guitar player." I was devastated thinking Michael was dead. Perhaps most of the audience was as well. Chapman did OK. But didn't have the flair or the chops of Schenker. It was a terrible night. Mogg did not present it well at all. Terrible, terrible night.
You say Chapman didn't possess the flair or chops of michael. Neither did any of us. You could say he same about Mathias jabs , and yet ultimately he was the guitarist for the scorpions. I personally feel Paul Chapmans contributions have aged like find wine.
