In a recent interview with The Metal Voice, guitarist Michael Schenker talked about how he has influenced an entire generation of guitar players that would define 1980s heavy metal.
When the interviewer brought up the fact that several members of Iron Maiden have publicly acknowledged the inspiration they drew from his early recordings, the guitarist replied:
“Yeah, it’s all true. [Maiden bassist] Steve Harris is a complete Pete Way [late UFO bassist] fan. He even dresses like him. So does K.K. Downing from Judas Priest; [he] dresses like me. I went to the Whisky [A Go Go in West Hollywood, California] when I was 18 years old, when I was on my first American tour, and there was JP playing.
”And my girlfriend and I, we wanted to see, because we heard about that. And there was K.K. Downing, the guitarist from JP, having my perm and playing a Flying V [guitar] in almost an identical outfit.
”I mean, I looked at my girlfriend; she looked at me. It was like déjà [vu]; it was, like, ‘What is this?’ It was me again. I couldn’t believe it; it was unbelievable.”