Dinosaurdays - Michael Schenker Group (MSG)

Guitarist Michael Schenker had previously featured in the Scorpions and with UFO. He decided to venture out on his own and he enlisted the services of vocalist Gary Barden, bassist Mo Foster, drummer Simon Phillips and keyboard player Don Airey. This line-up recorded the bands' debut self-titled album in 1980. Their approach had much in common with both Schenker's previous bands and earned the band a sizeable fan base. The second album, simply called "MSG", featured Cozy Powell on drums, Paul Raymond, ex-Savoy Brown and UFO, on keyboards and rhythm guitar and ex-Teargas and Sensational Alex Harvey Band bassist Chris Glen. Only Barden (and obviously Schenker) of the original line-up survived to record this second album. They enjoyed great success in the Far East, where they recorded this excellent double live album during August 1981. This was the album that finally helped to establish the band in Europe. The band underwent further changes on subsequent albums, with the likes of vocalist Graham Bonnet replacing Barden and ex-Rory Gallagher drummer Ted McKenna replacing Powell, although Barden returned when Schenker fired Bonnet. MSG disintegrated in the mid eighties, with Barden forming Statetrooper, and Schenker moving back to Germany, where he teamed up with ex-Grand Prix vocalist Robin McCauley to form the McCauley Schenker Group. This collaboration breathed new life into the band and they released two very good albums in 1987 (Perfect Timing) and 1989 (Save Yourself), once again establishing a solid fan base. A third album, "MSG", was released in 1992, but this appeared to be largely ignored. Schenker is still very much around nowadays, featuring excellent musicians such as drummer Shane Gaalaas in his new MSG, and he's recorded a number of albums under the name during the past few years. He recently released a new solo album (check out our new releases section) and a second one is due for release in the next few months. According to one or two of those reliable sources we previously mentioned, Schenker has also recently been collaborating with the god of voice, Glenn Hughes.

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