UFO: Too Hot To Handle

“Lights Out” may be the only album I have by the British metal band UFO. There is good reason for that – the 1977 album was their highest charting LP in the US landing at the #23 spot on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart. Much of the success of this album stateside was the airplay generated by AOR radio stations of its initial single “To Hot to Handle.”

While I use the category of “Bubbling Under” for our Saturday feature for anything that didn’t chart in the Top 40, “Too Hot to Handle” is a truly a “Bubbling Under” hit as it appeared only on Billboard’s Bubbling Under chart at #106. In fact it is the only song by UFO to appear on any American chart.

While the success of this song was not due to its release as a single but as an album cut, the single release in the US and the UK were issued in red vinyl and are somewhat of a collector’s item today. “Too Hot to Handle” was composed by lead singer Phil Mogg and bassist Pete Way.

The cut also contains a killer lead from Michael Schenker – whose membership in the band over the years helped them evolved from a space rock band to a metal band. “Lights Out” is also the first album to feature the band’s newest member Paul Raymond . Raymond, who played rhythm guitar and keyboards, was previously a member of Savoy Brown.