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McAuley Schenker Group | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 1986–1993, 2012 |
Labels | |
Spinoff of | Michael Schenker Group |
Past members | Robin McAuley Michael Schenker Mitch Perry Rocky Newton Bodo Schopf Steve Mann Jesse Harms Jeff Pilson James Kottak Spencer Sercombe |
McAuley Schenker Group (commonly abbreviated to as MSG) was a multi-national rock band based in Los Angeles featuring core members Robin McAuley (vocals) and Michael Schenker (guitar), a successor (and eventual predecessor) to Schenker's earlier band Michael Schenker Group. [1] McAuley was initially contacted to replace singer Gary Barden in MSG. However, the strong partnership immediately formed between McAuley and Schenker led to the change of the name from Michael Schenker Group to McAuley Schenker Group, retaining the same initials of the previous band MSG. [2]
The band consisted of German, Irish, American, and British members. It could be considered a supergroup, as all members had solid musical careers; for example, guitarist Steve Mann had performed on albums by Tytan, Sweet, Saxon and alongside bassist Rocky Newton in Lionheart. Newton had previously fronted the short-lived late-1970s group The Next Band, which also featured one-time Def Leppard drummer Frank Noon. Guitarist Mitch Perry had replaced Yngwie Malmsteen in Steeler, played with Billy Sheehan in Talas and recorded an album with Australian hard rockers Heaven. Drummer Bodo Schopf had credits with Eloy, among others, and later joined Steve Mann in Sweet. They relocated to Los Angeles, trying to exploit the increasing popularity of hard rock and glam metal in the US. [3] They released three studio albums, one EP and an acoustic live album before disbanding.
Their first album Perfect Timing was released in 1987, and included their first hit "Gimme Your Love". Two years later, Save Yourself was released, giving this incarnation of MSG its biggest hit with the power ballad "Anytime". M.S.G. followed in 1992 and "Unplugged" Live came out in 1993.
After the 1992 tour with a strictly acoustic set and the release of the unplugged live, in 1993 McAuley and Schenker went their separate ways, the first getting married and retiring from the music scene for a few years, the latter working on his first solo album and eventually reforming the Michael Schenker Group in 1996. [2]
After a stint fronting Survivor, McAuley started cooperating with Schenker again, playing 26 shows across the US in February and March 2012.
MSG, or monosodium glutamate, is a salt found in food, either naturally or as an additive.
UFO were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the new wave of British heavy metal. The band's final lineup consisted of vocalist Phil Mogg, lead guitarist Vinnie Moore, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Neil Carter, bass guitarist Rob De Luca, and drummer Andy Parker. They had gone through several line-up changes, leaving Mogg as the only constant member, and had disbanded three times. The band also featured former Scorpions guitarist and Michael Schenker Group (MSG) founder Michael Schenker, who was a member of UFO from 1973 to 1978 and rejoined the band sporadically between 1993 and 2003, when Moore replaced him. In May 2018, Mogg announced that he would retire from UFO after one last tour as a member of the band in 2019; however, their farewell tour was set to conclude in 2022 before it was cancelled, due to Mogg's health issues. Mogg confirmed UFO's third disbandment in April 2024.
Michael Schenker is a German guitarist. He played in the rock band UFO and leads the Michael Schenker Group (MSG). He was an early member of the hard rock band Scorpions, a band co-founded by his elder brother Rudolf Schenker. In the mid-1970s, Schenker joined UFO, playing lead and rhythm guitar. He left the band in 1978 to briefly rejoin Scorpions for the recording of Lovedrive, and then to form MSG. He has rejoined UFO three times, producing an album each time. Schenker continues to perform and record. He has been called "a legendary figure in the history of metal guitar."
Graham Bonnet is an English rock singer. He has recorded and performed as a solo artist and as a member of several hard rock and heavy metal bands including Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz, and Impellitteri. He is known for his powerful singing voice but is capable of also singing soft melodies. His singing has been noted as "very loud" by both his contemporaries and himself, and he claims to be a self-taught singer with "no discipline for lessons". Bonnet's visual style, considered uncharacteristic of hard rock musicians, has been described as being a cross between Don Johnson in Miami Vice and James Dean.
The Michael Schenker Group is an English hard rock band, formed in London in 1979 by former Scorpions and UFO guitarist Michael Schenker. In 1986, Schenker and vocalist Robin McAuley formed the McAuley Schenker Group, which lasted until 1993. Afterwards, in 1996, the Michael Schenker Group was reformed. After the release of their second live album, 1984's Rock Will Never Die, its members began to have serious discussions that caused a two-year hiatus, and Michael ended the band in 1986.
Lionheart is a British hard rock band formed in late 1980, originally featuring singer Jess Cox, guitarist Dennis Stratton, guitarist/keyboardist Steve Mann, and bassist/vocalist Rocky Newton, and drummer Frank Noon. The band split up in 1986 but reformed in 2016 with a line-up featuring Stratton, Mann, Newton, plus vocalist Lee Small and Clive Edwards on drums.
Robin McAuley is an Irish singer. He is best known as the vocalist for the rock band McAuley Schenker Group from 1986 to 1993, which saw the band release three studio albums: Perfect Timing, Save Yourself, M.S.G., the live album Unplugged Live, and the Japan-only EP Nightmare: The Acoustic M.S.G. He has made further appearances with Schenker in 2012, and also in 2016 with Michael Schenker Fest alongside original MSG singers Gary Barden and Graham Bonnet, and Doogie White of Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock.
Heavy Hitters is a 2005 album of cover songs by the Michael Schenker Group. Originally planned by Schenker as a collection of covers featuring himself and a "revolving all-star cast of guest musicians," the album was labeled and marketed as an MSG album, with the result that Schenker received only a flat fee.
Christopher John Glen, known simply as Chris Glen, is a Scottish rock musician. He is best known for playing with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band from 1972 to 1977, and The Michael Schenker Group from 1980 to 1984, 2008 to 2010, and 2016 to 2020. He also performed with Michael Schenker Fest, featuring original MSG band members.
Perfect Timing is the debut album recorded by the McAuley Schenker Group. It was the first collaboration between Michael Schenker and Robin McAuley, resulting in Schenker's first top 100 US hit with the song "Gimme Your Love."
M.S.G. is the third and final studio album by Michael Schenker and Robin McAuley's project, the McAuley Schenker Group. It was released in 1991 in Japan and 1992 in Europe.
Save Yourself is the sixth full-length studio album recorded by the various M.S.G. lineups, and the second album credited specifically to McAuley Schenker Group. It was released in 1989 on Capitol Records. "Save Yourself", "Anytime" and "This Is My Heart" were all singles released from the record. The album peaked at No. 92 on Billboard 200 Album chart.
Edward McKenna was a Scottish drummer who played with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Rory Gallagher, The Greg Lake Band, and The Michael Schenker Group. He also toured with Ian Gillan for a short period of time in 1990, alongside fellow former SAHB member, bassist Chris Glen. He lectured in Applied Arts at North Glasgow College from 1996 to 2011.
The Michael Schenker Story Live is a live album by the hard rock band Michael Schenker Group, released in May 1997 through Michael Schenker's own record company.
Nightmare: The Acoustic MSG is an EP by the McAuley Schenker Group, released only in Japan, as a companion to the album M.S.G.. It contains acoustic versions of songs from M.S.G. and Save Yourself and follows the flow of unplugged recordings which were very trendy in those years. The recording of the unplugged version of these songs and their success in Germany and Japan inspired Schenker and McAuley to tour with only an acoustic set, which was later released in the live album "Unplugged" Live.
"Unplugged" Live is a live album by the McAuley Schenker Group, recorded in California, during a tour with a completely acoustic set. Michael Schenker released this live album at the height of "unplugged" mania in the early 1990s, revising his blistering guitar antics as reflective, nylon-string, semi-classical ballads. The album features Shark Island guitarist Spencer Sercombe on second guitar and backing vocals. "Unplugged" Live is the final release of the McAuley Schenker Group, which disbanded in 1993; Robin McAuley got married and retired from the music scene for a few years, while Michael Schenker began working on instrumental solo projects.
Grand Prix were an English hard rock and pop rock band, active between 1978 and 1984 and notable for featuring two future members of Uriah Heep.
Steve Mann is an English guitarist, keyboardist, record producer and engineer, best known as a member of Andy Scott's Sweet from 1989 to 1995 and as a member of many bands by German guitarist Michael Schenker.
Mitch Perry Brownstein is an American guitarist, keyboardist and record producer, best known for playing with artists including Alphonso Johnson, Michael Schenker, Edgar Winter, Lita Ford, The Sweet, Asia, Cher, Talas and Steeler.