It’s hard to believe the bugger just turned 71. Fit as a fiddle. Trim waist, same mop of
curly hair, trademark shades. Still gigging and writing terrific music. There must be
something in the Connecticut air that agrees with him. Ian Hunter moved to the US in
1975, after the collapse of Mott The Hoople, and has been making American Music ever
since.
There have been no less than seven Ian Hunter compilations’ floating around over the
years so what makes this one any different from the rest? For a start you won’t find any
Mott The Hoople songs on here and there are no live versions of songs replacing the
often vastly superior studio versions. There is also a wider range of material covered too
with songs from the out of print “ Dirty Laundry “ and “ The Artful Dodger ” which was
bizarrely only released in Norway. There’s no “ Once Bitten Twice Shy “ a huge hit for “
Great White ”, no “ Cleveland Rocks ” ( Drew Carey Show theme )and no “ Ships ” a top
10 hit for ( gasp ) Barry Manilow. Great songs no doubt but done to death on official
product.
So what is there then? Well there’s the wonderful “ Irene Wilde ” a bittersweet tale of
rejection ( played nightly when Hunter was in Ringo Starr’s All Star Band ). There is also
the heart wrenching “ Michael Picasso ” written about the death of Hunter’s best friend
and musical collaborator Mick Ronson. Hell there are too many songs for me to go
through them track by track. Play it in your car on your way to work and find out
yourself.
Ringosshed 2010
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QNPKM2O3