Bastard, Ian Hunter, You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic

Bastard is one of the seminal tracks from Schizophrenic and one of the most regularly played live songs during the 1979-1980 touring days with Mick Ronson. There is a live reprise in 1989. Ian has said live and in interviews that this is a love song, not like the usual love songs, and his point is that this one is more realistic of actual relationships. Ian was traveling from Woodstock to his house in Katonah with Mick and Suzi Ronson from the first line about "Vestal Virginia"which led to the development of the entire song. John Cale's "eerie, ominous" sound that Ian thought ideal for the tune. Despite Cale's nervousness since he likes to perform live Ian thought he "captured the mood and enhanced the track."

With songwriting at times it is the first line that starts the process. The line came on a journey from Woodstock to Hunter's house in Katonah with Mick and Suzi Ronson. With a strong first line the rest comes easier. The macho-funk in the song is reminiscent of The Rolling Stones Black and Blue era. 

To open the track there is a clever word-play of "Vestal Virginia" as a take-off on the Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome. Vesta's acolytes vowed to serve her for at least thirty years, to study and practise her rites in service of the Roman State, and to maintain their chastity throughout. This Virginia is graphically different. A similar reference of course is included in Procol Harum's classic 1967 hit A Whiter Shade of Pale, as "One of sixteen vestal virgins." 

Also recorded at the Park West, Chicago IL 22nd June 1979 on Collateral Damage.

SIGN UP NOW FOR THE PRE-RELEASE OF IAN HUNTER ON TRACK FOR SONICBOND PUBLISHING AT THEDOCTOROFDIGITAL@PM.ME!

Ian Hunter On Track for Sonicbond Publishing, TheDoctorOfDigital@pm.me

One of sixteen vestal virgins." 

Bastard

(Ian Hunter)

Vestal Virginia - ain't got a bad thought in ya - you're a bastard
Mean as a killer - instinct that's within ya - you're a bastard.
Laughs like a drain and it messes up my brain
Cos you know I like the pain of never knowing
Space cow I'll chew the bad blood running through ya
Kiss you as you hit the floor 'cos you don't even know that you're a bastard

There's a crisis in the kitchen but that don't stop you bitchin' - you're a bastard
You got that Yellowjacket touch, with the stings that hurt so much - you're such a bastard
Flirting in the shadows, aiming all those little arrows, you're as shallow as the gallows you got me in to. (yeah)
Voodoo dolls gonna line the room, handcuffs glinting in the gloom,
one day you'll find that hidden door, inside everyone screams that you're a bastard.
(you're such a)

You twist me til I'm lame, then you spin the coin again - you're such a bastard
You're so naturally perverse, you ain't even gotta rehearse -you're such a bastard
Fly like a witch, without running in some pitch
Why don't you break the switch that takes me over
My prison is your brain, your prisoner's insane
Forgot all the keys, you can break the chains but you don't even take the blame you bastard.

(Bastard, bastard) I'm enjoying that lately, you know just the beginnings
(bastard)
The agony and the ecstacy meeting at the middle of my mouth
The agony and the ecstacy can't spit it out.
Sometimes on a rainy day I draw you.
Hope for....love.

Ian Hunter LP/CD: "You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic"

Sleeve and track listing

CHRX 1214 / 50999 698134 2 9. 

Disc 1

1. Just Another Night
2. Wild East
3. Cleveland Rocks
4. Ships
5. When the Daylight Comes
6. Life After Death
7. Standin' In My Light
8. Bastard
9. The Outsider
10. Don't Let Go (demo)¹
11. Ships (take 1)¹
12. When The Daylight Comes (early version)¹
13. Just Another Night (early version)¹
14. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On¹
15. Ships (early version)²
16. Just Another Night (electric)²

Disc 2

1. FBI³
2. Once Bitten Twice Shy³
3. Life After Death³
4. Sons And Daughters⁴
5. Laugh At Me⁴
6. Just Another Night⁴
7. One Of The Boys⁴
8. Letter To Brittania From The Union Jack⁵
9. Bastard⁵
10. All The Way From Memphis³
11. Cleveland Rocks³
12. All The Young Dudes⁴
13. When The Daylight Comes³
14. Sweet Angeline³

¹Bonus track on 30th Anniversary 2-CD issue

²Download only (eg from Amazon) - not on the physical CD!

³Live, Agora Ballroom, Cleveland OH 18th June 1979

⁴Live, Hammersmith Odeon, London 22nd November 1979

⁵Live, Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley CA 7th July 1979

Sleeve variations

The US CD sleeve

The original UK sleeve

Review

Ian came back after a two-year absence in 1979 with this album. Mick Ronson was back on guitar, and Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band were the backing musicians (they had just worked on Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album).

This is a brilliant album, and the yardstick by which all his other work is judged. From the opening beat of Just Another Night to the closing strains of The Outsider there isn't a bad track on here. Mixing full-tilt rockers (Cleveland Rocks, Life After Death) with sensitive ballads (Ships) the album is well-paced and leaves the listener wanting more.

This was issued on CD on Chrysalis in the UK in 1994, and on Razor & Tie in the USA in 1995. The UK release was a limited-edition "25th Anniversary" edition, in a long (blue) box, with a blue jewel-case and booklet (which was about Chrysalis generally, not Ian). Sound quality is very good. No bonus tracks.

1999 saw this CD reissued in the UK, this time on the EMI label as part of their "Classic Rock" series. It boasted new sleeve notes, and improved (remastered) sound quality.

2009 saw a 2-CD issue with a wealth of bonus tracks and a second disc of previously-unreleased live material. As a live document the second disc works very well, despite being recorded at a variety of venues.

Of the bonus material on the first disc perhaps the most Interesting is the early version of Just Another Night which features radically different lyrics, showing how such a classic song can develop from the initial germ of an idea to the finished product. 

Bastard	6:37	Originally issued on You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic, and also on the compilations The Collection, From The Knees Of My Heart, The Journey, Once Bitten Twice Shy, Shades of Ian Hunter and The Singles Collection 1975-83.
Bastard (live 22nd June 1979)	6:19	This live version (recorded at Park West, Chicago IL) can be found on Collateral Damage. Not on the box set.
Bastard (live 7th July 1979)	6:40	This live version (recorded at Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley CA) is on the 30th Anniversary issue of You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic. Not on the box set.
Bastard (live 5-11th November 1979)	8:19	This live version (recorded at The Roxy, Los Angeles CA) can be found on Welcome to the Club, and on the compilation From The Knees Of My Heart.
Bastard (live 5-11th November 1979, edit)	(6:10)	An edited version of this live track (recorded at The Roxy, Los Angeles CA) was a single b-side and is also on the CD issue of Welcome to the Club.
Bastard (live 22nd November 1979)	7:48	This live version (recorded Hammermith Odeon, London England) was originally issued on If You Wait Long Enough For Anything, You Can Get It On Sale (box set only).
Bastard (live 19th April 1980)	7:41	This live version (recorded Rockpalast TV Show, Grugahalle, Essen Germany) was originally issued on Live At Rockpalast (not on the box set)
Bastard (live 15th February 1989)	8:38	This live version (recorded The Dominion, London England) can be found on BBC Live in Concert.

The Ballad of Little Star, Overnight Angels, Ian Hunter

The Ballad of Little Star has a bit of history as it began as A Little Star during the Alien Boy sessions. As resurrected it was Ian also reminiscing about being on a reservation in Canada during Mott The Hoople; it inspired the song. A little organ grinder circus-like intro begins the track and then smolders with sparse piano. This is one of the topics that Ian visits occasionally about Native Americans as with Ta Shunka Witco (Crazy Horse) and River of Tears: "the reservation killed your nation." As Little Star's father explained:

Bowed those fine heads that, once proud, roamed the plains
They sought nothing to gain 'til our fathers civilised
And broken hearted arrows roamed the skies
Then you were born to feel the pain
Little Star

SIGN UP NOW FOR THE PRE-RELEASE OF IAN HUNTER ON TRACK FOR SONICBOND PUBLISHING AT THEDOCTOROFDIGITAL@PM.ME!

Ian Hunter On Track for Sonicbond Publishing, TheDoctorOfDigital@pm.me

The Ballad of Little Star

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7IPl7jBUlN0

(Ian Hunter)

You don't look a day over ten so why be
Do you have to pretend to be older than you are
Beads and mirrors by your body
And in some roadside bar you feel the pain
Little Star

Lost on a merry go round, on the game
You can never be found cause you don't know who you are
The reservation killed your nation
And in some tourists car you feel the pain
Little Star

You know you know
We grow and grow
We never slow
We always win
And you feel lost
And you feel crossed
And you feel tossed
Just like the wind
Your father will have told you of the wind

Bowed those fine heads that, once proud, roamed the plains
They sought nothing to gain 'til our fathers civilised
And broken hearted arrows roamed the skies
Then you were born to feel the pain
Little Star

You know you know
We grow and grow
We never slow
We always win
And you feel lost
And you feel crossed
And you feel tossed
Just like the wind
You know you know
We grow and grow
We never slow
We always win
And you feel lost
And you feel crossed
And you feel tossed
Just like the wind
Your father will have told you of the wind

Ian Hunter LP/CD: "Overnight Angels"

Sleeve and track listing

Sony/Columbia 474781-2. 

1. Golden Opportunity (4:31)
2. Shallow Crystals (3:58)
3. Overnight Angels (5:12)
4. Broadway (3:46)
5. Justice of the Peace (3:01)
6. (Miss) Silver Dime (4:34)
7. Wild n' Free (3:08)
8. The Ballad of Little Star (2:32)
9. To Love a Woman (3:54)
10. England Rocks¹ (2:53)

Running time: 37m 33s

¹bonus track on the remastered CD.

Review

After receiving (and turning down) several offers in 1976, Ian realised he wanted to be in a band again. After the less than commercial success of Alien Boy, he went in to the studios wanting to record fast songs again (having recorded Alien Boy never wanting to do a fast song again!). With Roy Thomas Baker producing (he had produced several Queen albums), this should have been a monster.

The result could almost be described heavy metal - it is certainly not a typical Ian Hunter album. The rockers are certainly there, but the production is too thin - everything is at the same level in the mix (up front!), with Ian's voice almost drowned out at times.

Released when punk was at its height, the album and subsequent tour received mixed reviews. Columbia in the States was more forthright - they refused to release it (although a few test pressings exist). Ian would soon part company from CBS/Columbia and Fred Heller (his manager), and soon disowned the album, describing it as "that horrible album" and "a mistake", and hasn't played any track from it in concert since. 

The Ballad of Little Star	2:32	Originally issued on Overnight Angels. Also on the compilations Once Bitten - the CBS Collection and The Singles Collection 1975-83.
The Ballad Of Little Star (live 11th October 2010)	2:50	This live version (recorded at The Journal Tyne Centre, Newcastle England) was released on Bag Of Tricks (Vol 3)(box set only).

Babylon Blues, Ian Hunter, Man Overboard

The LP has some good tunes but as Babylon Blues comes between his solo career and connecting with the Rant Band it could get overlooked; nonetheless, this is a first-rate track. This is Hunter's put-down a self-destructive figure and an unsympathetic critique of celebrity meltdowns; it is a fine slice of boogie-style pop. 

This is a female academic who is pulling the singer down. She is nothing but bad news and there are no identifiable clues to indicate if this is from personal experience or a more general observation on the declining state of higher education. Whatever the situation it is evil hence the reference to Babylon fits and the lyrics raise the possibility of implicit anger. It is a strongly worded and powerful diatribe. 

SIGN UP NOW FOR THE PRE-RELEASE OF IAN HUNTER ON TRACK FOR SONICBOND PUBLISHING AT THEDOCTOROFDIGITAL@PM.ME!

Ian Hunter On Track for Sonicbond Publishing, TheDoctorOfDigital@pm.me

Babylon Blues

(Ian Hunter)

Take a look at yourself babe, take a look at yourself
Take a look at yourself babe
You ain't exactly a picture of health
In your finest hour at the height of your power
Everything's gone sour
Your ivory tower morphed into a cell

Confidence shattered, mad as a hatter, 
What's the matter, what's the matter, what's the matter, what's the matter with you?
Don't try pulling me down to your level
Ain't nothing worst than a phony-assed rebel
You do what you want to but leave me out o' this
You're tangled up in the Babylon blues

You a yellowin' book, got an amethyst skin, you been taken in by the parasites
Feeding off your adrenalin
You gotta fight without, you gotta fight within, you gotta flat-out swim
That ominous current that's sweeping you in

Meals on wheels? Sympathy? 
What d'ya want, What d'ya want, What d'ya want, What d'ya want from me?
There's a big black cloud hangin' over your head
Looks like silver but it's heavy as lead
You do what you want to but leave me out o' this
You're tangled up in the Babylon blues

Say you gonna quit, that's the end of it, but the pieces don't fit, what am I stupid?
I don't buy it, I don't buy it
Just another blind beggar on the road to fame
With a messed up body and a messed up brain, I don't buy it
I don't buy it
I don't buy it
I don't buy it
I don't buy it

It's a cynical world, babe, it's a bad old world, it's a sinister world babe
You get what you want an' you're still miserable
At the terminal gate, at the terminal gate, at the terminal gate
You better back off before it's too late
An' I remember when you opened your mouth an'
Everybody freeaked at what came out
When I'm gone, remember that
You can't take the alley outta' none o' those cats
You do what you want to but leave me out 

After two albums that were somewhat political in nature (2001's Rant and 2007's Shrunken Heads), 2009 find Ian in a more mellow frame of mind. After a long and successful career he has time to look back on his life and say "Yeah... I've no complaints..."

The album opens strongly with The Great Escape, which tells of the singer's narrow escape after a "lack of respect" for a local thug. Indeed, several songs seem to be telling tales of the rougher side of life, such as the title track which informs us "They say crime doesn't pay, well take a walk down my way..."

Ian doesn't forget his working-class roots either, with the delightful Girl From The Office, which is reminiscent of the Kinks at their best and has a very English feel to it, and tells the story of a factory-floor romance. As always with Ian's songs of this nature, it has a happy ending (he gets the girl).

Ballads have always been a strong point with Ian, and these are prominent especially on the second half of the album. Not all work, however, with These Feelings being a particular weakness.

More up-tempo songs are on the first half of the album. I hesitate to say "rockers", as medium-pace is about the best we get these days (I did say Ian is more mellow these days) and guitars, although present, are rarely high in the mix any more. Those expecting another Just Another Night or Cleveland Rocks should perhaps look elsewhere. That was then and this is now... That said, Arms And Legs is a strong guitar-led song that will really work well in a live setting, as is the next track Up And Running.

Ian hopes to tour with the album both in the USA and UK, so we will wait and see how the songs work in a live setting. Reports from the two gig so far (at the time of writing, end July '09) are positive. As for where this album fits in Ian's extensive back catalogue time only will tell. It is more immediately likeable than its predecessor (sometimes it takes a few plays to "get" an Ian Hunter album, but I liked this straight away), but ulimately I feel it may end up a notch or two down from his very best.

Babylon Blues

4:54

Originally issued on Man Overboard.

You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic, Ian Hunter, 4th LP

 

Ian Hunter LP/CD: "You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic"

Sleeve and track listing

CHRX 1214 / 50999 698134 2 9. 

Disc 1

1. Just Another Night
2. Wild East
3. Cleveland Rocks
4. Ships
5. When the Daylight Comes
6. Life After Death
7. Standin' In My Light
8. Bastard
9. The Outsider
10. Don't Let Go (demo)¹
11. Ships (take 1)¹
12. When The Daylight Comes (early version)¹
13. Just Another Night (early version)¹
14. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On¹
15. Ships (early version)²
16. Just Another Night (electric)²

Disc 2

1. FBI³
2. Once Bitten Twice Shy³
3. Life After Death³
4. Sons And Daughters⁴
5. Laugh At Me⁴
6. Just Another Night⁴
7. One Of The Boys⁴
8. Letter To Brittania From The Union Jack⁵
9. Bastard⁵
10. All The Way From Memphis³
11. Cleveland Rocks³
12. All The Young Dudes⁴
13. When The Daylight Comes³
14. Sweet Angeline³

¹Bonus track on 30th Anniversary 2-CD issue

²Download only (eg from Amazon) - not on the physical CD!

³Live, Agora Ballroom, Cleveland OH 18th June 1979

⁴Live, Hammersmith Odeon, London 22nd November 1979

⁵Live, Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley CA 7th July 1979

Sleeve variations

The US CD sleeve

The original UK sleeve

Review

Ian came back after a two-year absence in 1979 with this album. Mick Ronson was back on guitar, and Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band were the backing musicians (they had just worked on Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album).

This is a brilliant album, and the yardstick by which all his other work is judged. From the opening beat of Just Another Night to the closing strains of The Outsider there isn't a bad track on here. Mixing full-tilt rockers (Cleveland Rocks, Life After Death) with sensitive ballads (Ships) the album is well-paced and leaves the listener wanting more.

This was issued on CD on Chrysalis in the UK in 1994, and on Razor & Tie in the USA in 1995. The UK release was a limited-edition "25th Anniversary" edition, in a long (blue) box, with a blue jewel-case and booklet (which was about Chrysalis generally, not Ian). Sound quality is very good. No bonus tracks.

1999 saw this CD reissued in the UK, this time on the EMI label as part of their "Classic Rock" series. It boasted new sleeve notes, and improved (remastered) sound quality.

2009 saw a 2-CD issue with a wealth of bonus tracks and a second disc of previously-unreleased live material. As a live document the second disc works very well, despite being recorded at a variety of venues.

Of the bonus material on the first disc perhaps the most interesting is the early version of Just Another Night which features radically different lyrics, showing how such a classic song can develop from the initial germ of an idea to the finished product.

Overnight Angels, Ian Hunter, 3rd LP

 

After receiving (and turning down) several offers in 1976, Ian realised he wanted to be in a band again. After the less than commercial success of Alien Boy, he went in to the studios wanting to record fast songs again (having recorded Alien Boy never wanting to do a fast song again!). With Roy Thomas Baker producing (he had produced several Queen albums), this should have been a monster.

The result could almost be described heavy metal - it is certainly not a typical Ian Hunter album. The rockers are certainly there, but the production is too thin - everything is at the same level in the mix (up front!), with Ian's voice almost drowned out at times.

Released when punk was at its height, the album and subsequent tour received mixed reviews. Columbia in the States was more forthright - they refused to release it (although a few test pressings exist). Ian would soon part company from CBS/Columbia and Fred Heller (his manager), and soon disowned the album, describing it as "that horrible album" and "a mistake", and hasn't played any track from it in concert since.

1. Golden Opportunity (4:31)
2. Shallow Crystals (3:58)
3. Overnight Angels (5:12)
4. Broadway (3:46)
5. Justice of the Peace (3:01)
6. (Miss) Silver Dime (4:34)
7. Wild n' Free (3:08)
8. The Ballad of Little Star (2:32)
9. To Love a Woman (3:54)
10. England Rocks¹ (2:53)

Running time: 37m 33s

TEXT

Rock's Back Pages, Ian Hunter, Research and Articles

Rock's Back Pages

https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Artist/ian-hunter

All American Alien Boy, Ian Hunter, 2nd Album

Ian recorded his second solo album in NYC, and this finds him in an altogether softer mood - there are none of Ian's trademark rockers on this album. Management differences meant that Mick Ronson was absent ("I'll never work with Mick again so long as Tony DeFries is his manager" - Ian), adding evidence that at least partially Boy included management as a target, so Ian brought in Chris Stainton on keyboards to act as a balancing force in the studio ("I need someone who'll argue with me"). The album featured a first-class coterie of musicians including the terrific David Sanborn on sax, humorously revealed by Ian that he was in the loo during his solo. 

Highlight of the album is Irene Wilde (which Ian maintains is a true story), and You Nearly Did Me In (which features Queen's Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor on backing vocals).

The 2006 reissue sees excellent sound quality, and a host of bonus tracks none of which have been released before. It also comes with an excellent booklet written by Campbell Devine. The original version of Rape has been restored, which some may see as a disappointment compared with the rare intro on the previous 1998 CD.

This is the third release of this album on CD. This album was previously available on a USA CD. Sound quality was good, considering that by all accounts the master tapes were not in good shape. No bonus tracks. In 1998 this album was issued in the UK as part of Sony's Rewind series. Sound quality was excellent, audibly better than the USA CD. The 1998 CD also came with a previously-unavailable version of Rape, which had the Singin' In The Rain intro. This version was previously available only on a few US test pressings and had never been issued officially before!

All American Alien Boy is the second studio album by Ian Hunter. Because of management issues, Mick Ronson did not appear on this album;^[3] instead, Hunter brought in keyboardist Chris Stainton to act as a balancing force in the studio. Unlike his previous album, the album didn't feature any of his trademark rockers (apart from "Restless Youth") and he opted for a more jazzy direction including bassist Jaco Pastorius. The album title is a play on Rick Derringer's 1973 album All American Boy.^{[citation needed]} Queen appear as backing vocalists on the track "You Nearly Did Me In".

In 2006, the album was reissued with several bonus tracks.

Track listing[edit]

All songs written by Ian Hunter.

Side one

1. "Letter to Britannia from the Union Jack" – 3:48
2. "All American Alien Boy" – 7:07
3. "Irene Wilde" – 3:43
4. "Restless Youth" – 6:17

Side two

1. "Rape" – 4:20
2. "You Nearly Did Me In" – 5:46
3. "Apathy 83" – 4:43
4. "God (Take 1)" – 5:45

30th Anniversary bonus tracks

1. "To Rule Britannia from Union Jack" (session outtake) – 4:08
2. "All American Alien Boy" (early single version) – 4:03
3. "Irene Wilde (Number One)" (session outtake) – 3:53
4. "Weary Anger" (session outtake) – 5:45
5. "Apathy" (session outtake) – 4:42
6. "(God) Advice to a Friend" (session outtake) – 5:34

Charts[edit]

Chart (1976)	Peak position
Australian (Kent Music Report)	63[4]

Personnel[edit]

• Ian Hunter – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano on "All American Alien Boy", backing vocals
• Chris Stainton – piano, organ, mellotron, bass guitar on "Restless Youth"
• Jaco Pastorius – bass guitar all tracks, guitar on track "God (Take I)"
• Aynsley Dunbar – drums
• Jerry Weems – lead guitar
• David Sanborn – saxophone
• Dominic Cortese – accordion
• Cornell Dupree – guitar on "Letter to Brittania From the Union Jack"
• Don Alias – congas
• Arnie Lawrence – clarinet
• Dave Bargeron – trombone
• Lewis Soloff – trumpet
• Freddie Mercury – backing vocals on "You Nearly Did Me In"
• Brian May – backing vocals on "You Nearly Did Me In"
• Roger Taylor – backing vocals on "You Nearly Did Me In"
• Bob Segarini – backing vocals
• Ann E. Sutton – backing vocals
• Gail Kantor – backing vocals
• Erin Dickins – backing vocals

ALL AMERICAN ALIEN BOY

All American Alien Boy (April 1976)  
CBS 81310  
UK: 29 US: 177

Since a second Hunter-Ronson album was out of the question, Ian Hunter assembled a new band for his second solo album. It was an excellent one, with Jaco Pastorius on bass, Chris Stainton on piano and organ, Gerry Weems on guitar, David Sanborn on sax, and Aynsley Dunbar on drums.

The strength of this jazz-flavoured band along with Hunter’s experiences as a new resident of the USA inspired some of the most thoughtful lyrics he would ever write.

Letter to Britannia from the Union Jack is a melancholic look at his old home country, which he saw as “a victim of your history,” a nation with a glorious past but a sadly unglorious present. The backing is tuneful but sombre.

All-American Alien Boy is more up-beat, a pounding seven-minute monologue on being a “whitey from blighty”, with prominent bass from Pastorius, fine guitar work from Weems, combined with Sanborn’s sax and female backing vocals to make a collage of sound. Hunter’s singing is somewhat recessed in the mix, but full of passion and with some memorable lines, such as “up and down the M1 in some luminous yo-yo toy”, or “the women came from heaven, the men came out of some store.” One of my favourites.

Irene Wilde is a more traditional Hunter ballad, and a song he still performs. A true story, says Hunter, based on his teenage angst encountering a girl he fancied at a bus station, who made it clear that dating was out of the question. Great melody, gentle backing and a heartfelt delivery.

Restless Youth, which closes side one, is the nearest this album has to a rocker, about a troubled boy in New York who is killed by a cop. Hunter blames his fate on “politician thieves.” As a political statement it’s not convincing, but it does chime with Hunter’s general view that the kids are all right, or would be if properly treated.

Side two opens with Rape, which describes (I think) a young man who commits a rape but gets off scot free because he is “sick rich and stoned” and has a good lawyer. “Justice just is Not!” is the punning conclusion. Hunter’s mentor Bob Dylan does this sort of song better; but it is a strong number nevertheless.

Next up is You Nearly Did Me In, which remarkably has most of Queen on backing vocals. The story is that Queen (who had toured with Mott the Hoople) just happened to be visiting the studio at the right time. It’s another highlight of the album, a song possibly about drug addicts, “lost children of the night”, with a great chorus, though exactly why the narrator is nearly “done in” has never been clear to me. The close of the song is epic though. “What ever happened to dignity? What ever happened to integrity? What ever happened to honesty?” Sanborn’s alto sax is gorgeous on this song.

Apathy 83 is a kind of reprise to the song by the Stones, and according to Devine the title was handed to Hunter by none other than Bob Dylan, after what they considered a poor Stones concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. The two happened to meet soon after; Dylan asked Hunter what he thought of the Stones concert. “Insipid,” sand Hunter. Dylan replied, “yeah, apathy for the devil.”  
The song takes that thought and applies it to the politics of the time; apathy is allowing evil to flourish. To my mind this is one of Hunter’s best political statements as he rants against misdeeds in high places. Nice accordion from Dominic Cortese.

The album closes with God (Take 1), a dylanesque song in which Hunter explores religion. “I wanted to let people hear how it would sound if I really imitated Bob Dylan,” said Hunter. The song is perhaps my least favourite on the album though, rather ponderous.

All American Alien Boy is distinctive in Hunter’s solo career, beautifully performed, expertly sung, lyrically thoughtful, melodic and jazz-tinged. It was well reviewed but, says Hunter, “pretty boring on one level.” It was a huge departure from the raucous energy of Mott the Hoople, much more so than the album before it. The kids couldn’t relate and sales were disappointing. “The fact that it died commercially was a total bummer,” says Hunter.

In a recent interview with Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, the two reflect on the album. Hunter reminds us why Ronson was not on the album. “Mick was still with Tony [Defries]. Mick was going to get more than I got, so I said no,” he says.  
“You put out Alien boy,” says Elliott. “I’m 16 years old, and … what are you doing? You’ve made this album for my dad. I want more of the first records. Where’s all the rockers? It’s all very clever clever.”

“By the time I was the age you were when you made that record, all of a sudden that record made sense to me,” Elliott continues. “It took 20 years but I got it. The title track is phenomenal, because not only is it an incredible delivery, like rap before rap, it’s got the most incredibly beautiful bass playing by Jaco Pastorius, absolutely stunning, but it took me years to get my head around it.”

Hunter says it was Ronson’s favourite record of his, eventually, though not at the time.

Me, I love the album, though I wish it ended with Apathy ’83.

Robert Christgau

Robert Thomas Christgau (/ˈkrɪstɡaʊ/ KRIST-gow; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known^[1] and influential music critics,^[2] he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became an early proponent of musical movements such as hip hop, riot grrrl, and the import of African popular music in the West.^[1] Christgau spent 37 years as the chief music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice, during which time he created and oversaw the annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. He has also covered popular music for Esquire, Creem, Newsday, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Blender, and MSN Music, and was a visiting arts teacher at New York University.^[3] CNN senior writer Jamie Allen has called Christgau "the E. F. Hutton of the music world – when he talks, people listen."^[4]

All-American Alien Boy [Columbia, 1976]
The concept fails. Hunter isn't even a one-star generalizer, and he obviously lacks that rare knack for the political song, though the bit about needing both the left wing and the right to fly is sharp (and scary). Yet the attempt at protest is gratifying, at least as honest as it is confused. At odd moments the music kicks a line like "Justice would seem to be bored" all the way home; "Irene Wilde," a throw-in about young love, is a small treasure; and "God (Take 1)" is nice Ferlinghetti-style doggerel. So while I can't recommend, I kind of like. B-

Hunter's star-filled next album, 1976's All American Alien Boy, was recorded in the new environs of New York's Electric Lady Studios.  While Mick Ronson didn't join in, All American Alien Boy saw producer-artist Hunter accompanied by jazz greats David Sanborn and Jaco Pastorius, as well as Mothers of Invention drummer Aynsley Dunbar, Blood Sweat and Tears' Lew Soloff and Dave Bargeron, and even Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen.  The loose concept album was inspired by Hunter's travels throughout America, and largely embraced a more sophisticated, less overtly aggressive rock sound.  Messrs. Mercury, Taylor and May can be heard, along with Sanborn, on "You Nearly Did Me In," one of its five songs reprised here.  In Ronson's absence, Chris Stainton was brought onboard as a creative foil for Hunter, and supplied the album's evocative keyboards and organs.  Aynsley Dunbar's drums shine on "Apathy 83," and Pastorius' signature bass commands attention throughout.  Soloff and Bargeron, of the Blood Sweat and Tears horn section, brought their powerful brass to the epic title track which is heard here in its shorter, unique single version.  Though the album failed to chart, it's today recognized one of Hunter's finest hours, as can be clearly heard on the selections here.

AMERICA HAS been good for Ian Hunter. The self portrait he paints on his second solo album All American Alien Boy retains his distinctly British character while broadening his musical horizons with large chunks of americanised rhythms. After all, how could he fail living in the land of Coca-Cola and Bob Dylan?