As the project came to a close more work came to Hunter Ronson. The pair were tapped to produce Ellen Foley's Night Out LP and Ian offed a shelved ballad, Don't Let Go. There is a demo only released on the Anniversary issue of You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic but oddly enough a live version was recorded for Live Strings Attached in 2002. Hunter wrote the song but it just didn't fit on Schizophrenic with enough ballads already. It sold well for Ellen Foley. It's a straight forward ballad on persevering when the odds are stacked against you. Hunter worked on David Werner's Epic album singing High Class Blues and when Van Morrison was not available Ian sang a duet with Genya Ravan on Junkman.
The project became one of Hunter's most popular releases and received rave reviews on both sides of the pond. Although, the singles didn't do so well and American releases of Just Another Night only went to #68 while When the Daylight Comes hit #108. The album entered the UK LP chart on 5 May, staying for three weeks, reaching #49; in the USA it hit #35 on Billboard and charted for twenty-four weeks which triggered Hunter Ronson to tour for six months. Since the E Street Band was not available recruits included: bassist Martin Bailey, keyboard player Tommy Mandel, guitarist Tommy Morrongiello, keyboards and sax George Meyer, and drummer Hilly Michaels, later Eric Parker when Michaels left. The Ian Hunter Band featuring Mick Ronson embarked on seventy nine concerts from June to November 1979. Concerts in Chicago and Toronto were filmed for television and they played The Friday Show and Midnight Special.
A later repackaging of the album included studio bonus tracks, live versions, unreleased studio takes, a demo, an alternative version, and early versions of songs. Another song, Alibi, is simply a jam and a stream of consciousness song. Oddly, Hunter does not even remember recording or singing it!
In short, the album had it all, great songs, musicians, management, label, studio, engineer, and production. After two years Hunter had struck back with one of the hottest recordings of his career and now commercial opportunity was all his at Chrysalis Records.
Ian Hunter On Track for Sonicbond Publishing, TheDoctorOfDigital@pm.me
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