Old Rockers Never Die
Well, they do, but some die a lot harder than most of us.
Legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore will be playing two dates in New Jersey later this month with Blackmore’s Night. These have been rescheduled; Details can be found on the official website.
The band haven’t released much in recent years but Ritchie is now seventy-nine and at that age touring comes a poor second to family life with Candice, the young Autumn and Blackmore Junior.
However, on September 27, he and Candice will be releasing the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary edition of Fires At Midnight. It is difficult to credit the band has been around that long, and even more difficult to credit that Blackmore’s Night came after Rainbow, after Deep Purple, and a career even before that playing with Screaming Lord Sutch in addition to session work.
If you are not familiar with the legendary guitarist, here is an introduction written for his seventieth birthday.
At 76, Phil Mogg is three years and one day younger than Ritchie. The only lead vocalist UFO ever had has also been taking it easy of late, on doctor’s orders, having suffered a heart attack in August 2022. The band were on their final tour, fittingly called Last Orders. The last leg of the tour had to be cancelled. Although this was billed as the band’s fiftieth anniversary, UFO actually started in 1968.
Bass player Pete Way, who was also a founder member, died in 2020. His funeral service was broadcast live on the Internet. Others who have gone to that great gig in the sky include guitarist Paul Chapman and the multi-talented, time-serving Paul Raymond who died in 2019.
Although well past retirement age and in spite of the heart attack, Phil can’t leave it be. The result is a project called Moggs Motel – no apostrophe. Phil has roped in Neil Carter, who played with UFO in the 80s and replaced Paul Raymond in 2019. Although this isn’t strictly UFO, this isn’t the first time Phil has recorded like this. There was Mogg/Way and $ign Of 4 two decades and more ago, apparently for contractual reasons.
There will be no tour but Phil told one interviewer he would consider playing a few dates. Moggs Motel will be released on CD, vinyl and digital format on September 6, pre-order from Cleopatra Records. The single Sunny Side Of Heaven can already be found on YouTube.