Well that would explain it since I've done some searching and can't find it at all. So yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if it was only a regional release since "Cleveland Rocks" itself is a very regional specific song.
Thank you for this thread Cosmic Harmony! Great info! Great selection of tunes!
I find myself just hanging in threads listening to music and this thread is really bringing back some memories for me. I've had a USB turntable on my Christmas list for a couple of years... This thread makes me want to go out and pick one up... right now.
Glad you liked it so much Terra and thanks for reading (one of these days when ((I'm not working most likely)) I'm going to sit down and finish writing this thread. Perhaps on Sunday....).
I'm glad I was able to help bring back memories with this thread. I hope they're good ones.
"Letter To Brittania From The Union Jack" is another good song from that album.
As the 70's closed and the 80's rolled in Ian's output slowed, only releasing two albums during the entire decade and them both being in the first half. The first of these two albums was "Short Back 'n' Sides".
After unexpected success of his last two released, "You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic" and "Welcome To The Club", Ian was not sure which musical direction he wanted to take next. To try and remedy this Mick Jones of The Clash was brought in to help with the production as well as record guitar and backup vocals for the album alongside Mick Ronson. The album for the most part had a raw and tough sound presumably from Mick Jones' punk rock influence. One exception to this however was the track "Old Records Never Die", which is a favorite of mine in his catalog for it's subject matter as I find it increasingly painful to see so many of my favorite musicians grow older, Ian himself being one of them.
Ian's second and last studio album of the decade was 1983's "All of the Good Ones Are Taken". It is possible his most varied album in terms of musical styles used on it. Mick Ronson was absent from almost the entire album, only playing guitar on one song, track seven "Somethin's Goin' On". The reason for this is that he was putting major consideration into retiring from the music business. Despite Mick's lack of involvement on this album however the title track managed to become a minor hit in the US after MTV put the song's music video on heavy rotation. The video is very notable for it being one of the few times Ian is seen without his sunglasses (the album cover itself is also another of these rare instances). That factor aside, the rest of the video is very funny and enjoyable (or at least I think so) and features "well known" dog trainer Arthur J. Haggerty as Ian's portly butler.
For the remainder of the decade Ian spent much of his time away from music and with his family. He did however write occasional songs for movie soundtracks such as The Wraith, Teachers, and Up The Creek. As the decade drew to a close however Ian and Mick (whom no longer wanting to leave music) once again decided to work together on a new album and this time they'd share everything....This brought about the moniker of Hunter Ronson.
The duo started to record their first album under their new banner in 1990 and it was finished and released by the year's end with the title of "Yui Orta". Ian and Mick saw this album as their comeback album but Mercury records did little to promote it and eventually dropped the pair, despite them touring Europe and the US heavily. There were hopes for a followup album but that never materialized as Mick was diagnosed with liver cancer soon after. The title for the album is a reference to to the Three Stooges' catch phrases of "Why you" and "I ought tah" as they were a favorite of both men.
(For this song Mick recycles his guitar riff from Ian's only top 40 hit "Once Bitten, Twice Shy")
In April 1992, both Mick and Ian would play their final major gig together. Unfortunately it was not under the happiest of circumstances as the gig was at the Freddie Mercy Tribute Concert. At the event Ian was introduced by David Bowie and played "All The Young Dudes" along side the surviving members of Queen, David, Mick, and Def Leppard members Joe Elliot and Phil Collen. This was the first concert Ian had played of this magnitude since his time with Mott, 20 years earlier and he'd been out of the public eye for well over a decade by this time.
A year after the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert (almost to the day) Mick Ronson finally succumbed to the cancer that was slowly eating away at him for the last few years on April 29th, 1993. The following year Ian was featured on Mick's posthumous solo album "Heaven and Hull" along with David Bowie, Joe Elliott, John Mellencamp, and others. At the time of Mick's passing the album was only about half finished so it was Mick's friends who added their parts to complete it. The closing track on the album was the rendition of "All The Young Dudes" from the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. In the video footage it is very easy to see that Mick is very gaunt and weak looking but still played brilliantly.
In 1994, Ian played at the Mick Ronson Memorial Concert and the following year released the unplanned album "Dirty Laundry". Initially he'd only planned to record a few songs at Abbey Road Studios and save them for his next album but after pushes from several co-writers a full album was pulled together and released even though Ian himself hadn't even written half of song that appeared on the final album. Ian says the problem with this album is that he was still coming to terms with Mick's death and just was not in the right place to be releasing and album and "Dirty Laundry" was kind of forced.
The following year the album "The Artful Dodger" was released, initially only in Norway. The reason for this was that at the time Ian was without a manager and felt that he felt he couldn't release an album without proper management. For this album he worked with Norwegian producer Bjorn Nessjo, whom had also produced "Dirty Laundry" because even though Ian wasn't really satisfied with his previous album he was impressed with the production of it. Ian described this album his most focused album up to that point in his career and the most notable song being "Michael Picasso", which was written as a tribute to the late Mick Ronson. The song is soft and quite chilling.
Ian took the remainder of the 90's off after releasing "The Artful Dodger". He resurfaced in 2001 as a member of Ringo Starr's All Starr Band. The rest of the lineup was filled out by Sheila E., Greg Lake, Howard Jones, Roger Hodgson, Mark Rivera, and of course Ringo. Also that year he release the critically beloved "Rant" (my favorite of his catalog). The album was centered around Ian life and his view of the world, particularly in regard to politics. This was also the first album since 1976's "All American Alien Boy" where Ian was the sole writer for the album.
He toured for the next several years with The Rant Band (the musicians whom he recorded "Rant" with) and recorded two live albums, 2004's "Strings Attached" and 2005's "The Truth, The Whole Truth, Nuthin' But The Truth". "Strings Attached" was a very emotional album performed with a 20 piece string orchestra and "The Truth..." was a more traditional live album which featured guest appearances from Joe Elliot, Brian May, and former Mott The Hoople bandmate Mick Ralphs (Ian has worked with three notable Micks by the way. A bit weird, huh?). Also in 2005 he won the Songwriter of the Year award for Classic Rock Magazine, despite the fact that he'd not released any new material in four years.
(From "The Truth..." and the studio version is from "Rant")
Six years after the release of "Rant" Ian finally went back into the studio and recorded another critically loved album "Shrunken Heads". It was the first album released on Ian's own record label Jerkin Crocus, which receives it's name from the Mott song of the same name off of the "All The Young Dudes" album. "Shrunken Heads" followed in the footsteps of the album that proceeded it with covering many introspective topics for Ian as well as providing a seasoned and profound view of the world. This album is less political than "Rant" and puts more emphasis on the rockers that have been a staple of Ian's career.
Ian's 12th and most recent studio album "Man Overboard" is by coincidence the best album to close this with as Ian wrote as if he was looking back over his 70 year life and thinking "I might not have always done things the pretty way but I'm happy with it all and can't complain.". He veers off the political road he was on and for this album focuses on telling small stories and singing about his experiences in life. "Man Overboard" is a very mellow album that focuses a lot on ballads with fantastic lyrics and paints beautiful pictures in your mind as you listen to it. It was also very well received by critics.
Ian Hunter is a man who is mostly remembered for three years with Mott The Hoople but he has had a long career in music that has goes all the way back to the mid 1950's. He's been playing music longer and is older than The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan. He's influenced the likes of KISS, The Clash, Oasis, Blur, R.E.M., Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, and Queen. Bryan Adam, Meat Loaf, Axl Rose, Slash, Joe Elliot, David Bowie, Brian May, Ian Astbury, and Roger Daltrey have all accompanied him on stage over the years. And his songs have been covered by artists as wide spread as Great White, The Presidents of the United States of America, Barry Manillow, Blue Öyster Cult, Status Quo, The Pointer Sisters, The Monkees, Bonnie Tyler, Willie Nelson, and others.
So while Ian has not had commercial success in decades he is still carrying on with what he loves to do and is doing so quite persistently and without slippage as even now at the age of 71 he's still touring around the world and putting out very impressive albums for his small, intimate fanbase. And while he is far from a household name in music his artistic honesty and music has earned him the respect and admiration of countless other musicians and fans alike.
I have the deepest respect for Ian as a musician and as a person. His music cuts through me like no one else's can.
Oooh now, where to begin? My dearest sister, this is a masterpiece of epic proportions. You should be proud of this thread, and your writing skill. It has rather sparked my interest in Ian; it appears he has lived a most fascinating life and has seen so much in the time he's lived it. I hope someday you're able to meet him, just to shake his hand. I'll get on with some reviews later tonight (I need something to do anyway but haven't the attention span or the patience right about now) of the songs posted. There's a ton of them to tend to, but I'll gladly give them my best.
I firmly believe this is my opus in terms of threads. My Queen thread could have taken that title but I'd not properly developed my thread making skills yet. Glad you like it honey.
Practice makes perfect, and this is pretty damned close, my dear!
This is definitely your best so far. I always like reading your threads because of the way you write. It's readable while being so eloquent and academic at the same time. You have skill that could easily be channeled into many different kinds of writing activities (I already know you're a mistress of poetry) - you know how to structure things so well and so evenly; it just amazes me you didn't go on to college yet and major in English/composition.
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