Michael Schenker
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| Michael Schenker | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | January 10, 1955 in Sarstedt, Germany |
| Genre(s) | Hard rock, Heavy metal |
| Years active | 1969 - present |
| Label(s) | BMG |
| Associated acts | MSG, UFO, Scorpions, Ratt |
| Website | Official Website |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Gibson Flying V Dean Signature V model |
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Michael Schenker (born January 10, 1955) is a German hard rock and heavy metal guitarist and former member of UFO and a founding member of Scorpions and the Michael Schenker Group (M.S.G). He is the younger brother of Rudolf Schenker, who is still a guitarist with Scorpions.
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[edit] Career
Born in Sarstedt (also known as Barstedt), Germany, Schenker has had a long career that has seen him rise to become one of the most influential and respected rock guitarists working today. He started playing in his early teens when his brother Rudolf brought home a Flying V guitar, which captured Michael's imagination. Schenker debuted with Scorpions on their debut album Lonesome Crow at age 16 and was lauded at the time for his mature technique.
Schenker joined UFO under unusual circumstances. The band left the UK to play some dates in Germany. Their guitarist at the time, Bernie Marsden, forgot his passport and was unable to make the first gig. At the venue UFO spotted Michael playing a soundcheck with the Scorpions and managed to persuade him into playing that evening's show.
Shortly thereafter, Schenker was offered the lead guitar spot in UFO and with the blessing of his brother Rudolf, accepted it. At first, communication between Schenker and the rest of the band was difficult because he spoke virtually no English, instead relying on his girlfriend as an interpreter. Schenker has since become fluent in English.
Schenker wrote the music for most of UFO's major label (Chrysalis) debut album Phenomenon. His playing on this and subsequent UFO albums attracted attention from music critics and especially from the guitar community. Schenker's melodic style and clear, articulate playing were rooted in the approach of Hank Marvin who with his band the Shadows, was influential in establishing the electric guitar as a lead instrument. Also evident in Schenker's playing is the familiar and fundamental blues-based hard rock framework established by players like Jimmy Page, Leslie West, and Jeff Beck.
Schenker had a turbulent career with UFO, often walking out mid-song and causing shows to be canceled. Despite having a series of successful albums and tours, Schenker finally left UFO in October 1978 (last show in Palo Alto, California).
Schenker re-joined the Scorpions in late 1978, when they were recording the album Lovedrive, thus resulting in his contribution of lead guitar on 3 songs ("Another Piece Of Meat","Coast To Coast" and "Lovedrive"). In 1979, Schenker toured with the band in support for the album but 3 months later, after numerous occasions he could not perform on stage (due to fatigue and alcohol problems), he finally left the band and was permanently replaced by Matthias Jabs (who originally joined the Scorpions before Schenker's return, and recorded the rest of the lead guitars apart from the three pieces which Michael played.)
Schenker was offered jobs with Aerosmith (detailed in their biography Walk This Way) and Ozzy Osbourne. Osbourne said in a 1982 Hit Parader interview that he did contact Schenker following the death of Randy Rhoads:
It so happens I did contact Michael Schenker, but he wanted a king's ransom before he'd do anything...I don't need that annoyance.
Schenker decided he wanted to play his own music and not be a hired hand for another band. In 1979, he founded the Michael Schenker Group.
The history of MSG is strewn with personality conflicts and incidents between band members. In 1982, original vocalist Gary Barden, who sang on the first two studio albums The Michael Schenker Group and M.S.G. II as well as the band's third release (the live album One Night at Budokan) was fired in favor of Graham Bonnet (Rainbow, Alcatrazz).
Bonnet lasted one album (Assault Attack) and was fired from the band because he often lost his voice during shows, although the actual firing happened after dropping his pants in a warm-up gig in Sheffield before the Reading Festival. Barden was called by at the last minute and did the show with only a few hours rehearsal and opening the appearance with the words: "surprise surprise". Although many fans proclaimed Assault Attack as being MSGs best recording, Barden was enticed back to the band for Reading (documented on the BBC Radio One Live in Concert) and stayed with M.S.G. for the recording of a new studio album (Built to Destroy) and the band's second live album (Rock Will Never Die).
After Barden's second departure, Schenker reorganized the band around himself and new vocalist Robin McAuley as the McAuley Schenker Group and steered the group to a more commercial hard rock sound. After three albums with the lineup, Schenker and McAuley parted company.
Schenker rejoined UFO for their reunion album Walk on Water. A short tour, punctuated by a fight between Schenker and vocalist Phil Mogg, ended the reunion.
Schenker then resurrected the Michael Schenker Group with all new members and recorded three more albums, The Unforgiven, Written in Sand and Arachnophobiac. The group toured yearly around the United States and Europe.
He later rejoined UFO for two further releases, Covenant and Sharks.
Schenker fell on hard times in the early 2000s after his divorce in which he lost rights to his own music, his Mercedes, and his prized Flying V guitars, which was detailed in an April 2004 interview with Guitar World magazine. He picked himself up and got back to the business of making and performing music, recording the album Arachnophobiac and supporting it with two years of touring.
2005 brought the 25th anniversary of the Michael Schenker Group. Schenker put together a new album of songs called Tales of Rock'n'Roll to celebrate the anniversary and enlisted singers from each iteration of the band to sing on the album.
After the near-disaster North American and European tours of 2007 which saw cancelled shows and less-than-stellar performances, Michael regained his composure and hit the road in the UK as Michael Schenker & Friends in 2008. Shows in this tour have received rave reviews and show Michael once again at his best. Michael is currently working with Gary Barden, Don Airey, Simon Phillips and Neil Murray on a new MSG album In The Midst of Beauty which is scheduled for release in April 2008.
Michael has recently announced that the touring band for the 2008 MSG tour will probably feature former MSG members, Chris Glen (Bass) and Ted McKenna (Drums).
[edit] Family
Schenker's son, Tyson Schenker (born May 5, 1984 in London), is a fledgling rock guitarist. He plays a classic Gibson Flying V like his father once did (albeit blue instead of trademark Schenker black and white). He joined his father and uncle Rudolph onstage with Scorpions during the 2006 Wacken Open Air music festival. Tyson's current project is The Audio Cartel, while previously he was a member of the Cambridge UK-based rock band Faster Inferno, which split in 2006.
More recently Dean Guitars produced a Schenker signature Dean V (with subtle differences from the Gibson, but still displaying the split black and white trademark Schenker finish) and Michael now plays Dean guitars almost exclusively.
[edit] Discography
[edit] with Scorpions
- Lonesome Crow (1972)
- Lovedrive (1979)
[edit] with UFO
- Phenomenon (1974)
- Force It (1975)
- No Heavy Petting (1976)
- Lights Out (1977)
- Obsession (1978)
- Strangers in the Night (1979)
- The Best Of (1992)
- Walk on Water (1995)
- Covenant (2000)
- Sharks (2002)
[edit] with Michael Schenker Group/McAuley Schenker Group
- The Michael Schenker Group (1980)
- M.S.G. (1981)
- One Night at Budokan (1981)
- Assault Attack (1982)
- Built To Destroy (1983)
- Rock Will Never Die (1984)
- Perfect Timing (McAuley Schenker Group) (1987)
- Save Yourself (McAuley Schenker Group) (1989)
- M.S.G. (McAuley Schenker Group) (1992)
- Nightmare : The Acoustic M.S.G. (McAuley Schenker Group) (1992)
- M.S.G. Unplugged (McAuley Schenker Group) (1993)
- Written in the Sand (1996)
- The Unforgiven (1999)
- The Unforgiven World Tour (2000)
- Be Aware of Scorpions (2002)
- Arachnophobiac (2003)
- Heavy Hitters (2005)
- Tales of Rock'n'Roll (2006)
- In the Midst of Beauty (2008)
[edit] Solo
- Thank You (1993)
- Thank You 2 (1998)
- Adventures of the Imagination (2000)
- The Odd Trio (2000)
- Thank You 3 (2001)
- Dreams And Expressions (2001)
- Thank You 4 (2003)
- Doctor, Doctor: The Kulick Sessions (2008)
[edit] Other Schenker projects
- Contraband (1991)
- The Plot (2003)
- Under Construction (2003)
- Schenker-Pattison Summit - The Endless Jam (2004)
- Schenker-Pattison Summit - The Endless Jam Continues (2005)
- Siggi Schwarz and Michael Schenker - Live Together 2004
[edit] Videography
- Michael Schenker Group - Rock Will Never Die (1984)
- Michael Schenker Group - Live in Tokyo 1997 (1997)
- Michael Schenker Group - World Wide Live 2004 (2004)
[edit] References
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
[edit] External links
- 360 Degree Spherical Panorama of Michael Schenker in concert
- Michael Schenker Himself, Official site
- Michael Schenker Interview
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