Ian Hunter and Mott The Hoople – Gold

5 Stars

Audio CD (paid link)

Those good folk at Crimson Records have released a triple CD collection under their Gold label of the best of Ian Hunter, and Ian Hunter related Mott The Hoople songs from 1972-1983, and what a trip it was. Fifty songs clock in at 3 hours and 31 minutes.

Kicking off CD One is the Bowie written, but Mott the Hoople arranged, ‘All The Young Dudes’ that reached Number 3 in the UK and made ground in the United States of America. Taking Mott The Hoople from breaking up, having never turned their potential into success, to overnight sensations. The ending rap at the finish of this song is sheer genius by Ian Hunter, as he leers at their old record company Island. Mick Ralph’s guitar intro gave it instant recognition.

Given his start, Ian Hunter took up the baton of chief songwriter and frontman for Mott The Hoople, finding his mojo instantly with a chain of rapid-fire hits. All of these are included here. ‘Honalochie Boogie,’ ‘All The Way From Memphis,’ ‘The Golden Age Of Rock’n’Roll,’ ‘Foxy Foxy’ (a tribute to Phil Spector), ‘Saturday Gigs’ (Hunter’s farewell to Mott The Hoople Fans) and ‘Roll Away The Stone,’ a song that actually out sold ‘All The Young Dudes,’ all came pouring from Hunter’s pen.

But it’s the inclusion of the deeper album cuts that really draw attention. Songs such as ‘Hymn for The Dudes,’ and ‘I Wish I Was Your Mother’ that really got the fans excited. The music kept on coming even when Mott hit bumps in the road when keyboard player Verden Allen left the band in a pique of rage as he felt he wasn’t being given enough credit to be replaced by the wonderful Morgan Fisher on piano and Mick Bolton on organ before Blue Weaver stepped in to cement the position.

Then Mick Ralph left to be replaced by the mercurial Ariel Bender (Luther Grosvenor, ex Spooky Tooth) who gave the band that final flip on stage with his unstoppable energy. Mick Ronson replaced Bender in the final months.

Three albums were released in this time period 72-74. The David Bowie/Mick Ronson produced All The Young Dudes album, then Mott in 73, voted Rolling Stone Magazine’s album of the year. Finally, The Hoople in 74, by which time they were superstars. They toured with a young band called Queen who gladly admit the debt they owe to Mott the Hoople, the influence being taken from songs like ‘Marionette,’ which is one of the highlights of this collection.

There are Mott The Hoople all-out rockers on Gold, like ‘Violence or Crash Street Kids,’ songs that would send their adoring fans into a frenzy live. Plus more thought-provoking songs like ‘The Ballad of Mott the Hoople,’ the story of how the band almost split up after a gig in an old aircraft hangar in Switzerland. ‘Sea Diver,’ with orchestration from Mick Ronson (the arrangement for which was originally sketched out in pencil on an empty cigarette packet), gave its name to the Mott The Hoople Fan Club. Reflective songs like ‘Rose’ are lovely songs that slipped into the set list would give the piano player a chance to shine and the band a breather before ploughing back into rockin’ the arena.

The weight of responsibility was too much for an exhausted Ian Hunter at the time, and he grabbed his new guitarist Mick Ronson and split Mott The Hoople to go solo. This was the mid-seventies. Today, the band would have received proper support from management and been sent on a six-month vacation to recover, but Mott The Hoople was gone in the blink of an eye. Mott The Hoople had always been a democracy, and it was often hard to get a decision made, so going solo made a lot of sense.

Halfway through CD2, Mott The Hoople fades away with ‘Saturday Gigs’ only to burst back at you with Ian Hunter’s smash hit debut solo single ‘Once Bitten Twice Shy’ with its famous opening “Allo,” including a rave-up Mick Ronson solo to bring the song to a rousing conclusion.

This time the hit singles did not keep coming, but the albums remained strong. 1975’s debut album is a classic. Six tracks have been added here, including Mick Ronson’s tour de force ‘The Truth, The Whole Truth, Nuthin, But The Truth.’ The soul-bearing ‘It Ain’t Easy When You Fall/ Shades Off’ finishing with the pounding rave-up ‘I Get So Excited.’

American Alien Boy was released in 76 after Ian Hunter had moved to America. Mick Ronson had gone off on his travels, exploring the avenues of rock’n’roll. So, Ian Hunter assembled the cream of session musicians, based around the keyboard work of Chris Stainton and including a sensational performance by Jaco Pastorious on bass guitar. Queen came into the studio to pay their dues and added backing vocals to ‘You Nearly Did Me In.’

The truly plaintive ‘Irene Wilde’ is a tale of unrequited young love, which will pluck at any male heart strings. The title track is monumental whilst ‘Letter To Britannia From Union Jack’ is where Hunter wears his heart on his sleeve. At the time, the album was disappointing in the sales department as it had no real up-tempo songs and people wanted to rock. Today, ‘All American Boy’ is looked back on as a very underrated album; perhaps a better appreciation will be shown by its strong showing on this collection.

With the previous album not meeting record company requirements, Tom Roy Baker of Queen fame was brought in to produce the next album. Ian Hunter formed The Overnight Angels, including another David Bowie side man in Earl Slick, so they could rock. The resulting album did have a couple of certified classics on it, including the title track and ‘England Rocks’ (which grew up to be Cleveland Rocks). ‘Wild’n’Free’ showed the punks how to punk it out. Some of the other tracks were a little eclectic, but it’s a good solid rock’n’roll album. It did not please the record company, though, and was not even released in America. On the evidence of listening to this album, it’s hard to understand why.

Hunter soon split the Overnight Angels, having a rethink and got back on track with ‘You’re Never Alone With A Schizophrenic’ combining again with Mick Ronson. Sadly, we do not get any of that fabulous hit album in this collection.

The early eighties were not good for Ian Hunter, which is reflected here with no songs from his 1981 album Short Back and Sides, which is a shame as it certainly made a good fist of things. Then comes the inclusion of the best four songs from All Of The Good Ones Are Taken from 1983.

Perhaps these songs would be strong by anybody else’s standards, but after over three hours of Ian Hunter at his best, it’s a sorry way to finish.

Of course, class is permanent, form temporary; Ian Hunter came storming back to prominence in the noughties onwards with a string of magnificent albums and live shows.

This is indeed a fine collection from Crimson/Gold. Special mention must be made of the production and engineering, as the album runs chronologically with each song nicely lined up.

At around US$12 for three CDs, this should be in your collection even if you have all the albums from which this compilation is taken. If you’re not sure who this Ian Hunter chap is or what is a Mott The Hoople? Then send for the album immediately.

Written by Mott the Dog.

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