The title track The Artful Dodger of the LP was recorded in 1995 but there is an early version released on Experiments - Previously Unreleased Recordings (box set only). Ian starts the tune with a spy reference as he used in American Spy but takes it in an entirely different direction. Here he is a bit of a scamp trying to score with a woman in a bar. The woman is having G 'n Ts which is a shortening of gin and tonic, a cocktail made out of gin and tonic water. The dysfunctional Artful Dodger, Jack Dawkins, is a rogue character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel Oliver Twist. The Artful Dodger hopes drinking will do the trick since she's drinking heavily. The song is a fun tune and one of few straightforward macho type tracks that Hunter has written. They go back to a flat for a romp. It's a change of pace and occasionally Hunter has released simply humorous songs such as Skeletons (In Your Closet) and The Artful Dodger is in that vein and no more serious than picking up a woman in a bar and having sex.
The cleverness in the lyrics is that the words are more playful and cryptic than a simple let's do it in the road blandness and bluntness. Darrell Bath is the Artful Dodger. The verse on the liner notes about running it up and down the flagpole are actual words of Bath. Hunter asked him to repeat them when they came out one day and he wrote them down; Darrell is a character.
This was released as a single and included the non-album track F*ck It Up on the flip side.
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PC Plodger
When the girl you are having sex with is a PC and you bang on the front wheel, whilst the sirens are off, making a loud noise and making people watch you .
Plodger - To voilate somone in the Bum Bum
The Artful Dodger
(Ian Hunter)
How ya doin' - all right?
I-I-I spy with my little eye
Something beginning with you
Drool drool drool nearly fell off me stool
I hope you fancy me too
Now I don't wanna set the world on fire
Any old iron, any old iron will do (all right)
Smirk smirk smirk the G 'n T's work
She can knock 'em back like a fish
Smarm smarm smarm I turned up me charm
I think I'm on a promise (he thinks he's on a promise)
Some say yes 'n some say no
And my old man says 'Mind how you go'
A little bit o' this, a little bit o' that
If you can't take a joke well sod ya
(Oh) I'm a dysfunctional chap
'n they call me the Artful Dodger
Chat chat chat it's back to the flat
I strum me little Spanish guitar
Gloat gloat gloat she said 'n I'll quote
'You can take down my particulars' (take down her particulars)
It's a funny old life if you weaken, innit?
You gonna have a laugh, yeah you've gotta give it
A little bit o' this, a little bit o' that
Look out for PC Plodger
If a job's worth doin' it's worth doin' well
'n they call me the Artful Dodger
(Get on yer bike!)
I said yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
If you can't take a joke well sod ya
(Oh) I'm a bit of a lad
'n they call me the Artful Dodger
(Now) a little bit o' this, a little bit o' that
Hoist up the Jolly Roger
That's the way to do it!
Call me the Artful Dodger
'n I'm doin' all right
Yes I'm doin' all right, yes I'm doin' all right
Yes I'm doing very well, thank you
How ya doin' all right (We're doin' all right)
How ya doin' all right (We're doin' all right)
How ya doin' all right (Yeah we're doin' all right)
How ya doin' all right (We're doin' all right)
They call me the Artful Dodger
They call me the Artful Dodger
They call me the Artful Dodger ... (repeat and fade)
Ian recorded his 1997 album in Canada and Norway in 1995. Ian used a variety of musicians on this album, but he retained Bjørn Nessjø as producer because Ian was impressed with his work on Dirty Laundry. Ian jointly owns this recording with Bjørn (recordings are normally owned by record companies), and is now leasing it to record companies. Ian felt he needed management before he could do this in the UK and USA, which is why this album was released initially only in Norway (in 1996).
This is a strong album, though it takes a couple of listens to get used to. This is mainly the fault of Too Much, which is a slow opener - the rockers come later, but it is not another Laundry (that said, tho', a friend of mine bought this album immediately after the Burnley gig purely on the strength of Too Much). The standout tracks are Now Is The Time, Something To Believe In, 23A Swan Hill and The Artful Dodger. Michael Picasso, Ian's tribute to his mate Mick Ronson is quieter and more subdued than the live version we'd grown used to (from tapes of the Ronson Memorial show). Resurrection Mary is also a different tempo from the version performed at the Mick Ronson Memorial Concert in 1994.
Ian has described this album as being his most focussed. He also says that he is still writing... maybe his next album won't take another six years!
The album was released in the UK on 21st April 1997 on the Citadel label (CIT1CD); the title track was released as a single on the same day (CIT101CDS). This single included the non-album track F*ck It Up.
The UK release is a picture CD and comes with some nice photos of Ian, together with lyrics.
| The Artful Dodger | 4:20 | Originally issued on The Artful Dodger; also on the compilation Old Records Never Die. |
| Artful Dodger (early version) | 4:07 | Originally released on Experiments - Previously Unreleased Recordings (box set only). |
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