Batttttty reaches out to ....
Danny Peyronel

Danny was the original keyboard-player with UFO, appearing on the No Heavy Petting album, and responsible for some of the early UFO classics.
He's also a founder member of the Heavy Metal Kids, amongst other things, as well as an opera singer. Yes, you heard me right... an opera singer. Hard to imagine this fella doing a Pavarotti impersonation isn't it....

Danny is currently involved in the rebirth of the HEAVY METAL KIDS and their new album HIT THE RIGHT BUTTON REVIEWS HERE and HERE

First off, tell us about your UFO years and your input into the NHP album. You were a bit under-credited on that album, yes? Hmmm...I don't think I ever felt under-credited on NHP...mis-credited yes! In the US version of the album, the only typo errors involved my credits as a writer. I seem to remember that Martian Landscape was credited to two of the other guys as well as me, and, as usual, I didn't get a credit for co-writing On with the Action. In fact, I believe I never got a credit for 'Action' in any territory, but I did co-write it with Michael and Phil and did, mostly, get royalties for it. I even have a pic of us in the dressing room of the club in San Francisco exactly at the time the idea came! I tell you where I was completely under-credited and that's the infamous Story of UFO video/dvd. I'm featured on at least six songs and there isn't as much as a mention of me from anybody, not even in the "history of the band" extra-feature on the dvd... how petty and thoughtless is that, eh? I'm not saying that Phil, Michael etc had anything to do with any of these oversights - it was more likely a management decision.
Hmmm, remind me to kick some corporate UFO assssssss on your behalf..... OK, now tell us what inspired Highway Lady, Martian Landscape, Can You Roll Her, etc. - the stories behind those songs.

Highway Lady was inspired by the outdoors'y version of the oldest profession in the world. Of course nobody ever gives a thought to these girls, but it has to take a lot of guts and determination to earn a living that way, out in the streets and subjected to all sorts of dangers, night after night.
Martian Landscape was about this distant exotic outpost of Europe in the southern hemisphere, namely Argentina, which is where fate would have it that I should be born... Of course, I never had much in common with the place, and having grown up in Europe and the US, and my family being European...I live in and love Europe, so all that seems like another lifetime. The song is more like an expression of wishful thinking, really, rather than anything remotely realistic - even in a figurative sense.
Can You Roll Her started out as Andy and I just jamming, you know, me doing like a super fast Hammond distorted chords thing (which unfortunately turned into a piano thing... nowhere as good... I think someone may have mentioned that is seemed too Jon Lord'ish or some other bollocks) and him doing a double bass drum thingy... then Phil came up with some lyrics, which I think were pretty cool and totally in tune with the song.

Were you encouraged to play rhythm guitar on top of the keyboards, or did you just do your own thing? It wouldn't have helped much to have been encouraged to play guitar, because I can't play guitar at all - unless you consider real moron-like strumming 'playing'! ...nahhh...it's a shame really, but I've never really had any flair for the stringed-thingy!

Tell us how you came to join UFO and why you left. Pete and I had met when I got back from our tour of the USA with my band, the Heavy Metal Kids. A mutual friend, Paul Varley, had brought Pete over to my house. We got along great and I asked him to our gig at London's Roundhouse where we were headlining. He came down to the show and a good time was had by all. He asked me if I would play on the next record... I said "Sure".

Cut to a short while later... I was on tour with the HMK in France and Germany. The new guitarist in the band and I were not seeing eye to eye.
In the circumstances I thought it would be best for the band if I moved on. I felt at the time that if I had not, the band would have split up there
and then. I had a feeling that the UFO boys were touring Germany too, so I got in touch with them. They invited me to Koblenz, where they were staying that night to do a gig. Pete said "we have a piano in the truck and there's a couple of songs from the latest album, Force It, which we can't do without the keyboards. Why don't you give it a shot?"
Anyway, I did. We rehearsed a couple of songs in the soundcheck and did them that night. It was terrific and they called me back for the encore.
After the show, Pete and Phil said, "That was terrific, Danny! Look, when we get back to London, if you want the job, it's yours!" I said great, but
let's take it slowly... let me get back and have a listen to your records and we'll talk when you get back.
By the time they did, I knew all the songs on all the records. We rehearsed and after I finished my obligations with the HEAVY METAL KIDS, by doing the last Scottish dates on the tour, I went back on the road with UFO, to do some German festivals, then the Reading Festival in England and then straight to the States.
Why did I leave? Why did I leave??? I was fired! The story is pretty straightforward and has been already written up quite accurately in the liner notes of some NHP re-issues. The record company and management, which at the time, incredibly, were one and the same (talk about conflict of interest!!!) expected NHP to be the final breakthrough for UFO in the US. After all, FORCE IT had scratched the top-50, so this could well be IT.
When, for whatever reason (and we all know there are trillions of factors for a record to do well or not, and most of them have nothing to do with the band...) NHP did not do as well as they were hoping, everybody needed a scapegoat, someone to blame.
I was the perfect candidate because I was the new boy AND had written or co-written four of the songs. Naturally, I was upset at the time, not least because I was really excited about the possibilities that the band had if we gave it time to develop, especially songs-wise. The most upseting thing was to have been notified by this manager/record label employee guy whose name I can't even remember. It was a valuable lesson though. Whenever I had to let anyone go in future, I wouldn't ever do it on the phone. Strictly face to face.
Still, it's very flattering to know that after my departure, the boys continued with the sort of musical direction that my songs had started.

I'll come back to some more UFO questions later, but for now... tell us about the years in between then and now. What have you been up to? These years have been the best part of getting fired from UFO! I've just had a wonderful life, living all over the world, starting an excellent little family (still with the same girl I was with since UFO and even earlier), making great friends all over the place and playing in my other favourite band ever - TARZEN. I worked with tremendous people, like my mate Rick Fenn (guitarist with 10CC), with whom I wrote stuff that ended up in the MASON-FENN album PROFILES. Nick Mason (Pink Floyd's drummer) got Dave Gilmour to sing one of the songs I co-wrote with Rick and I sang the other. Very exciting! Needless to say, this little effort got my name into the hallowed and never-ending chronicles of the Floyd saga! (yes...a little like the Fellowship of the Pinks...). In addition to this I've done some work with my great friend Richie Ranno from Starz. There was also the title track of Meatloaf's third album, MIDNIGHT AT THE LOST AND FOUND, which made its way into the greatest hits album, several live records and was even covered by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra... please don't ask! Oh, alright then..... I won't.

I went down to South America to produce some records. One was a live album by my brother's band, RIFF. It was then I realized how good he'd become. We moved to Madrid and met Salvador, a totally brilliant guitarist. Got on like a house on fire. That's how TARZEN was born, with Ralph Hood (Grand Prix) on bass. We did one album on ATCO and a disastrous (not our fault, really!!!) American tour with Twisted Sister. Then Ralph lost interest and gained it for the world of computer sales or something of the sort. We did a second album, MADRID, that only came out in a few territories and then that was it...what I thought was the perfect band was over...would I get another chance?
One of our fellas has asked whether your Tarzen albums from the 80s will ever be re-issued on cd? Hey, you never know! I'll certainly see what can be done. Main problem seems to be that the first one is owned by Atlantic/Atco. They don't seem to be too bothered about these things... we've heard the same said of the original HEAVY METAL KIDS catalogue. Of course, if someone licenses any of this stuff from them, they stand to make something ... but it would seem that they don't care and don't mind making nothing... odd, eh? Well, that's the music business for ya!

The Heavy Metal Kids were part of an exciting new breed of music at the time you joined them - what did it feel like to be playing in that band back then, and what was it was like to work with Gary Holton etc.

IT WAS TERRIFIC!!!!!!!!!!! I've always thought of those days as the best of my life so far. Of course, at the time we felt kind of lonely doing what we were doing, since there was only the dinosaur bands and us...but that was half the fun too! We really felt like rebels that were rubbing people the wrong way and loving it! People like the Damned and the Pistols were hanging out with us before the punky-pooh thing exploded... following us to gigs and stuff... We were a funny lot too, with a very particular sense of humour. Anything else after the Kids was like going from Monty Python to the Benny Hill show.
Working with Gary was always good value. He could be an obnoxious bastard at times, but you forgave him everything, because he had a really good heart. He was bright, talented, extremely funny and very very warm. His tremendous stage personality made it so that every night on stage was a totally different experience! Anything could happen and that was the best! We were very good mates and I miss him terribly.

OK, now.... drum roll.... tell us about the new Heavy Metal Kids project. You've re-formed the band, and you're doing lead vocals on the new album 'Hit The Right Button'. How did this all come about?

Funnily enough, Salvador called me from Alicante and suggested we should do a CD with Ronnie and Keith.
So I moved Heaven and Earth to find them. When I did, Salva proceeded to bail out, dissappear completely, never to be heard of again... very in keeping... guitarists !!!!!!!!
Anyway, I'd been living here in Milan for nearly a year and met these terrific guitarists, Marco Guarnerio, who also runs the great DIDDESTUDIO here and Marco Barusso, who's a great producer (so is Marco G. but that's another story). Ronnie Thomas and Keith Boyce, who, with me, are the other original surviving members of the HEAVY METAL KIDS, both came over to visit, met the Marcos' and that was that. We jammed, we wrote, we recorded. And what a buzz!!! We finally came up with the ultimate HEAVY METAL KIDS record, "HIT THE RIGHT BUTTON". We'd never before felt we'd been able to translate onto record the power of our live show... but we have this time! There's nothing nostalgic about this record at all... it's as if we'd just picked up where we left off, but very much NOW.

In fact, the only problem seems to be that most people who hear the record without knowing who it is, think it's some group of 20 year olds... wait till they see us live with the walking sticks !!! Ha! ha! ha! But seriously, it's very fortunate that, not only do we all have plenty of hair, but not one of
us has become a fat bastard with age... in fact several of us look considerably better now !!!!!!!!!
This very week we're signing the contracts for the release of HIT THE RIGHT BUTTON. It will be out in the UK and US first and very soon after in the
rest of the world.
We will be launching it with a little series of selected gigs in the UK, ending in the 'official' launch at London's UNDERWORLD.
After that, we'll be touring Europe like mad, and doing as many of the big open-air festivals as possible. Then...wherever they want us!

OK, now back to UFO .... did you have any input on the Lights Out album - anything you weren't credited for because you'd already left? No, I had nothing to do with that record. I did notice a live version of On with the Action, as a b-side, I believe, of a picture-single from the Strangers album. Naturally, I wasn't credited on that either.
How well (or not) did you get on with Michael Schenker. Did you foresee the way his life would turn out, from things you witnessed during your time with UFO? Does the thought of those crazy hazy whoopsadaisy days make you wanna curl up into a ball and suck your thumb? Hmmm....this is a good one... I think I got along particularly well with Michael in those days. Maybe because he realized that I wasn't (technically) English either? And perhaps I would be more inclined to be more patient with him... specially communication-wise? Don't know... but I do remember helping him into his hotel room and pretty much putting him to bed on at least one occasion. The hallway wasn't the best place for him to lie in....

I must admit that in those days, I thought Michael was very much the poor victim. Since then, I've come to understand that I was probably completely wrong and I now feel for Phil and Pete. They might not have been perfect schoolboys, but I don't envy their lot throughout these years. Also, time has made me re-evaluate my feelings about Phil as a singer. He's a very unique and interesting singer, with a real personality. Immediately recognizable. I now think his role in the sound of UFO has very likely been more fundamental than Michael's by a long shot... he's way more responsible for the UFO sound, in my view. I mean...he only has to open his mouth with the first word of a song, and you know who it is, right? Oh yes indeed - an amazing, unique voice. Wonderful.

What things do you like doing when you're having a tea-break from being a heavy metal kid ?
Well...obviously spending way too much time on the net for one... Mmmm...? Nope, sorry, I don't understand the concept of 'too much time on the net'. Anything else? I collect lots of stuff... I'm totally obsessed with ancient history (and I live in the right place for that!) ... I love movies (my son Jesse, who lives in New York, is a terrific up-and-coming director), reading, football (Juventus, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Boca Juniors are my teams), trying to keep fit, etc., etc., etc. Well you look pretty fit to me, darlin!
Now.... this Opera stuff ? Wossallthatabahhhttttt? Explain! We were living in New York in the 90's and I'd grown totally fed-up of the "music business", after a short and uneventful stint at writing with Desmond Child (Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Cher, Alice Cooper, etc.) in La-La-Land.
I suddenly re-discovered my Northern Italian roots and went nuts for opera. Blimey... I had always been able to jokingly imitate Pavarotti doing "Nessun Dorma" and stuff, so I sang for a few respected teachers. I was looking for either "keep singing in the shower" or "if you work hard for x years, you could have a career". I had an incredible reaction and studied and worked for some five years. Somewhere in there, I did a few recitals and sang the leading role in a few operas here and there... unbelievable! I guess I was just trying to prove something to myself, which I did. However, I soon found that the opera world made the rock world seem like a teddy bear's picnic. The jealousies, pettiness and general silliness was just toooo funny... and the rewards weren't even there!

And this Sade stuff? Were you a fan of Sade or did you just see a job-advert and think it meant something quite different, with whips and stuff? The latter is correct. No, seriously, her producer Robin Millar was the guitarist in the first band I had after UFO, The Blue Max - one uneventful album on Charisma Records. He tracked me down when we were recording the first TARZEN album at Jimmy Page's Sol Studios near Maidenhead and asked me if I could write some lyrics to a song on Sade's album. Then she called up and was really nice, so, I had them ready in 15 mins...
I was just doing a favour...

What were the last 3 cds you bought? Who do you like to listen to? I have really eclectic taste...I liked Bowie's latest, Joe Pesci's "Vincent LaGuardia Gambino sings for you", some of the Chilli Peppers stuff, and quite a few of the American bands that are doing what we started with the Heavy Metal Kids all those years ago... you know, Limp Bizkit, Blink and all those...oh yeah...recently heard a really hot new band of 17 year olds from Scotland called QUARANTINE... they're about to have a new record out on BMG, I believe.

What gigs have you been to recently that impressed you? None. Fair enough!

What are your plans for the future. Ideally, what would you like to be doing in five years time? Ideally or otherwise, I'd like to be recording and touring with the HEAVY METAL KIDS in five and ten years time... they were my first love and I'm happy to say that they still are. Musically, what you you best like to be remembered for? Remembered???... that sounds too much like something that would happen after I move on to the next bit in this silly deal we call our existence...? In which case I couldn't really care less... But I guess I'll have little say in the matter, eh?...ok, ok, I'll have a go... A decent little songwriter, a truly rockin' keyboard player and most of all... the singer in the HEAVY METAL KIDS.
Well let's hope it hits all the right buttons with the fans - good luck darlin!

© Batttttty Feb 2003