UFO will release their 1982 album Mechanix on 4 December 2026, newly remastered at AIR Mastering and expanded with previously unseen photographs, new liner notes by David Hann and a newly mixed recording of the band’s Hammersmith Odeon show from 28 January 1982. Ahead of its release, Phil Mogg spoke to MetalTalk about the album’s costly creation, the departure of Pete Way and the moment UFO began to come apart.
It is the usual chaos on a weekday lunchtime when I call Phil. “I was expecting the chimney sweep. I thought, blimey, he’s coming back,” he laughs. Once we have clarified that it is me, and I congratulate him for his autumn house maintenance planning, I check in with the UFO frontman. The good news is that apart from a cold, which he assures me, “I’m sure a couple of pints will sort it out”, he is well and in good health. We have a good chat about Rockfield Studios and ageing in general before moving onto our main topic.
We are speaking to discuss the next release in the UFO remastered series, their 10th album Mechanix. Their highest-charting studio album, much to Phil’s surprise. “I thought that was No Place To Run.”
So, what does Phil remember about it? His usual response does not surprise me. “Not a lot. This is the one with Gary Lyons, isn’t it? We did it at Queen’s old studio and then finished it off in Oxford.”
That studio was Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, before the album was completed in Oxfordshire. Phil reflects that that was not a great idea. “What an absolute waste of money,” he says. “Who in their right mind would go to Switzerland to record an album? There was the flash studio, all the accommodation, and then you discover your manager and producer had put themselves into the most expensive hotel in Switzerland.
“You don’t think about the fact that you’re paying for it and that the money must be paid back. I’m probably still paying for this album.”
Phil Mogg says it was really beautiful up there, but not really conducive to doing a rock album. “The only joy we got there was me and Pete Way nicking Paul Chapman and Neil Carter’s fuel,” he smiles. “We were staying in these chalets up in the mountains, so we went up and nicked the wood for their fires while they were still in the studio. We removed it.
“Late at night, Chapman went berserk. ‘Hey, I fucking come back from my hard day’s work. I’m freezing, you’ve stolen all the wood’. You know that was funny.”
Despite the cost and frustration, Mechanix is an album that Phil Mogg is happy with. “The album didn’t really suffer from it. We managed to have some laughs, and we squeezed out some good songs. I liked The Writer. That was a cool song. But I think this was where the band actually started to come apart.”
For the uninitiated, the band had replaced Paul Raymond with John Sloane and then Neil Carter. The former Wild Horses man was in place by the time that The Wild, The Willing and The Innocent was released, having joined the band for their headline set at Reading in 1980, but Mechanix was his first opportunity to contribute to the writing.
Neil is noted as saying that he felt partially to blame for the departure of bassist Pete Way. “I loved Aerosmith and the way they used horns,” he is recorded as having said. “But I didn’t really understand the saxophone back then. I wanted it to sound like Aerosmith, not like Showaddywaddy. To this day, people still hold me responsible for Pete leaving. Well, that’s not why Pete left, but it was one of the things he didn’t like. The poppiness appearing.”
Phil assures me that there were many factors. “There are loads of reasons for that. He never liked it, not that I particularly liked it. Somethin’ Else with those saxes on. When I saw him later, I said, for fuck’s sake, why don’t you say something? You know, no good just bottling up or all that. I just said that you’ve got to say something.
“But, of course, after Pete went, it took the wind out of the band. Pete had been the main player from the start. From the start, he was the main player. And he was more of a main player than Mick Bolton, Larry Wallace, Bernie Marsden, all the other guitarists that have been before. Schenker, Paul Chapman. Pete was the guy, and I didn’t realise that until he went.”
Both Phil and Andy Parker have been clear in their view that producer Gary Lyons produced the album. It wasn’t a relationship that worked.
“Well, he didn’t work,” says Phil. “He was Paul Chapman’s choice, and it wasn’t what I would call a good deal. Someone allegedly mixed to the engineer from his bedroom window in Oxfordshire. He really should have been in the studio, so it didn’t work out as we’d hoped.”
Despite these problems, UFO were still drawing strong crowds but were running out of energy. “We were doing very well, but the band was tired,” Phil says. “We had done tour after tour and then an album. You would get an itinerary for three months, and there would be one night off.
“You can’t carry on like that. We gave everything to the album, but afterwards we should have taken a long break. We liked a bit of the party. It was great. But we were doing it every night. Yeah, you cannot do it. That is all in retrospect now.”
UFO then toured America with Ozzy Osbourne. “We did Oakland Stadium in ’82 at the Day On The Green,” Phil recalls. “Then we joined the Ozzy tour in 1982, and unfortunately that was the one where Randy Rhoads died. It threw everything. It was all very sad and stupid.”
This was a tour where the band stretched to dozens of dates. According to Setlist.FM, 63 US dates to be exact. It was unsurprising that the band had gained a bit of a reputation for partying.
“In the early ’80s, excess went hand in hand with touring,” Phil says. “Some people dipped their toes in, others went much further. It was all going on, but I’m glad that’s out of the way. After a while it became a pain.”
By the end of the Mechanix tour, UFO were a somewhat battered UFO. No one was getting healthier, and more importantly, no one was getting wealthier.
It is at this point that the tragedy of UFO really becomes apparent. Just as they had a set wide-ranging and strong enough to match any band, and a new record that really should have pushed through, they stayed the same. Unlike Def Leppard or Iron Maiden, they never had management that could take them to the next level.
After Hipgnosis created earlier artwork, John Pasche’s cover for Mechanix was certainly different. “I looked at it and thought it was a bit Russian, a bit Soviet,” Phil tells me. “It grew on me, and it looked great on a T-shirt.
“I’m looking at it now and thinking, that’s a cool cover.”
As we carry on our chat, Phil reveals he has not yet had his advance copy and promises to tell the PR that I expressed my huge disappointment at such terrible treatment.
There is some positive news from the Mogg camp. Phil tells me that there is a new album in the pipeline “We’re recording an album. We’ve got the material, and it should come out next year. I think we’re going to do some dates too. I asked for them, and now they’re coming through. I’m thinking, I had better pull my socks up.”
And with that, Phil tells me that he will see me at one of those promised dates and heads off to his local spa. “It’s called The Plough,” he chuckles before saying our goodbyes.
Originally released in 1982, Mechanix marked a pivotal chapter in UFO’s evolution, capturing the band as they transitioned into a new era. This definitive reissue has been newly remastered at AIR Mastering, bringing renewed clarity and punch to the original recordings.
The package is enriched with previously unreleased photographs, offering a visual snapshot of the band during this period. New liner notes by David Hann provide fresh insight into the album’s creation and legacy, drawing on exclusive interviews with key band members, including Phil Mogg, Andy Parker, and Neil Carter.
A major highlight of this edition is the inclusion of a newly mixed live recording from Hammersmith Odeon on 28 January 1982, restored by renowned producer Brian Kehew.
Capturing UFO onstage at London’s legendary Hammersmith Odeon, this performance showcases the band’s raw energy and musical firepower on the eve of the release of Mechanix.
This expanded edition of Mechanix stands as both a historical document and a compelling reminder of UFO’s enduring place in hard rock history. Released on 4 December 2026 via Chrysalis, pre-orders are available from ufo.lnk.to/MCHX. MetalTalk will have an interview out soon with Brian Kehew, plus a look back at the album. You can read more on UFO here.
UFO – Mechanix (2026 Remaster):
- The Writer
- Somethin’ Else
- Back Into My Life
- You’ll Get Love
- Doing It All For You
- We Belong To The Night
- Let It Rain
- Terri
- Feel It
- Dreaming
Bonus Tracks:
- Heel Of A Stranger (B-Side)
- Back Into My Life (Single Edit)
UFO – Live A Hammersmith Odeon, 28 January 1982
- We Belong To The Night
- Let It Rain
- Long Gone
- The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent
- Only You Can Rock Me
- No Place To Run
- Love To Love
- Doing It All For You
- Makin’ Moves
- Too Hot To Handle
- Mystery Train
