It turned out so right for strangers in the night. (Dooby Dooby Doo) .... by Mark Carroll

   Strangers In The Night. The best live album ever? Maybe the best album ever.
We all love it. But some lucky souls were there at the shows recorded for it. My mate Mark Carroll was. Here's his short account of a milestone in Rock History.

    I remember getting ready to go to Chicago. My older brother Scott was driving us in his  72 Chevy Impala 4 door. We were all starting by partying at my friend Leonard "B.B." Guerrero' house.Must have been about a dozen of us had tickets for the show.
   Anyways,me,B.B., Scott and Larry "Clutch" Combs  went in Scotts car to Chicagos International Amphitheatre and took our seats.Fifteen rows from the stage and center.The first band came out and I can't remember who it was. The second band was City Boy, don't know why I remember them.Most likely because of the hit 5705. I don't think it mattered who it was really, we were there to see UFO and Michael Schenker of course.After all, I'd broken out of hospital to see the Lights Out tour and been a maniacal fan since hearing Phenomenon when it came out!
   So you can imagine, we were ready for the main event.But before UFO came on,someone,not sure who, noticed the microphones hanging from the ceiling!Hmm and maybe they're doing a radio broadcast?.Just added to the excitement for me.
   Then the lights went down,and the now legendary announcement was made. "Hello Chicago,would you please welcome from England U.F.O !!!We went wild.
  The band were Rocking and so was the Ampitheatre.It was maybe 2 or 3 songs in,when,Phil Mogg said something like, "I don't know if you've noticed the microphones, but we're recording tonights event for posterity".Well we thought we were rocking before but the crowd just went freakin' nuts! If Chicago loved UFO before, now it was like they'd proposed marriage! Partners for life and no one would ever come between us.
  Scott and B.B. were trying to whistle so hard, I thought thier teeth would come out! They wanted to be heard on the recording. I was hollering my damned head off for the same reason. The whole crowd was.
   I remember that the band jammed their asses off, Michael was on fire and so were the rest of the band. After the show all everyone was talking about  was what a great show it was and how good they sounded.Of course the other thing we were all excited about was the show being recorded. Wondering when the record would come out.

    Its a long time back but I think I found out it would be called Strangers In The Night, and also when it was being released from Circus magazine. A stroke of genius that title really. A world famous song but given the twist of a night out at a gig? Brilliant.

  The downside?I bought a T-shirt.Had it for a couple of years.Then my brother Scott borrowed it and I never saw it again dammit!But I still have that album. And Im on it. And no one can take that from me.
    
Thanks Mark Carroll