Black Tears, Ian Hunter, When I'm President

Black Tears is bluesy, heavy, melodic, and moody with a guitar solo that is reminiscent of a beloved Mick Ronson contribution. The track has stormy piano with interesting chord changes, sparked by Mark Bosch's astounding and emotional solo done in just two takes. 

Can the emotions of a lover draw you in since tears are "Little beads of misery that kill me when you cry"? In this case, the lover says: "Let me kiss the circles better underneath your eyes." Those black tears can't be stopped and they return as when a levee breaks. Each of the colors are pointedly crying then as black eyes are: "Black tears, every drop a kiss You know how to suck the soul out of every note there is." What a terrific line but then the onset of tears could be fake or real, switched on and off but when the black tears come the lover can get them out of there. The color-filled lyrics paints a brilliant picture and then intriguingly ends on an unresolved note. Brilliant. 

Hunter saw Chrissie Hyde at a gig when invited to attend by Martin Chambers the drummer who played at the Mott re-unions. Hyde's heavy black eye makeup started streaking under the strong stage lights. Black tears came as a good phrase to use for a song. 

The original was released on When I'm President and there is a live version from 2021 recorded in Oslo, Norway.

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Black Tears

(Ian Hunter)

Black tears, vulnerable veneers 
Just another weapon in your arsenal of fear
Little beads of misery that kill me when you cry
Let me kiss the circles better underneath your eyes

Black tears, dancin' in the rain
You can't seem to stop 'em, here they come again
It ain't funny when the levee breaks
You could drown a river, baby, you could raise a lake

I watched your blue eyes turnin' into green eyes
I watched your green eyes turnin' into sad eyes
I watched your sad eyes turnin' into red eyes
I watched your red eyes turnin' into black eyes

Black tears, cluttering up the place
Tiny little accusations trickling down your face
Black tears, every drop a kiss
You know how to suck the soul out of every note there is

Black tears falling like the leaves
Little flakes of nakedness twisting in the breeze
Stormy weather, that's some power you've got
I don't know when you're fakin' it and I don't know when you're not

I watched your blue eyes turnin' into green eyes
I watched your green eyes turnin' into sad eyes
I watched your sad eyes turnin' into red eyes
I watched your red eyes turnin' into black eyes

That's some kind of power you got
You can switch 'em on and you can turn 'em off

I watched your blue eyes turnin' into green eyes
I watched your green eyes turnin' into sad eyes
I watched your sad eyes turnin' into red eyes
I watched your red eyes turnin' into black eyes

That's some kind of power you got
You can switch 'em on and you can turn 'em off

Black tears, I had no idea
Put your hat and coat on, let me get you out of here

Ian Hunter and The Rant Band CD: "When I'm President"

Sleeve and track listing

Proper Records PRPCD104

1. Comfortable (Flyin' Scotsman)
2. Fatally Flawed
3. When I'm President
4. What For
5. Black Tears
6. Saint
7. Just The Way You Look Tonight
8. Wild Bunch
9. Ta Shunka Witco (Crazy Horse)
10. I Don't Know What You Want
11. Life

Review

Now this is more like it. Ian's new album is a welcome return to form. The good news is this album is chock full of rockers. The bad news is... well, there isn't any. In the fullness of time this album could well turn out to be his best in many years.

The run of good albums that started with Rant and continued with Shrunken Heads continues here. Guitars are to the full, with strong solos from both James Mastro and Mark Bosch. Ian's singing is strong without ever sounding strained and the rhythm section is as tight as a duck's whatsit.

What helps of course is that the songs are top-notch. Comfortable (Flyin' Scotsman) sets the tone, being a powerful full-paced rocker with guitars and subtle use of saxes. The title track is also strong, a mid-paced rocker with a repeated keyboard refrain reminiscent of The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again.

What For is another rocker with strong guitars and piano reminiscent of early Mott The Hoople. Ian hasn't rocked like this for years, and it sounds like he's having fun. Black Tears is slower but powerful and moody with a guitar solo that reminds me of the much-missed Mick Ronson. Saint is another up-tempo rocker, this time it reminds me at times of Twisted Steel. Wild Bunch meanwhile is a rocker that reminds me of The Faces.

There are so many good songs on this album it is hard to pick out highlights. What's interesting is that this album is credited to Ian Hunter And The Rant Band. This is much more of a band album than most of Ian's recent albums, and it is much the better for it.

What more can I say? It's brilliant... 'nuff said,

Black Tears	3:37	Originally issued on When I'm President.
Black Tears (live 8th October 2012)	3:32	This live version (recorded at the John Dee, Oslo Norway) was released on Bag Of Tricks (Vol 3) (box set only).

Ian Hunter LP/CD: "All Of The Good Ones Are Taken" 7th LP

 

Mixed quality

Ian Hunter LP/CD: "All Of The Good Ones Are Taken"

Sleeve and track listing

Sony/Columbia 474780 2. 

1. All of the Good Ones Are Taken (3:42)
2. Every Step of the Way (3:55)
3. Fun (4:21)
4. Speechless (3:49)
5. Death 'n' Glory Boys (5:57)
6. That Girl Is Rock 'n' Roll (3:18)
7. Somethin's Goin' On (4:33)
8. Captain Void 'n' the Video Jets (4:12)
9. Seeing Double (4:24)
10. All of the Good Ones Are Taken (3:48)
11. Traitor¹

¹ Bonus track on the 2007 CD

Review

Ian recorded this album at the end of 1982, and is a real mix of styles. Mick Ronson was absent, as he was seriously considering quitting the music business ("At one point I was even considering becoming a chef" - Mick). Strongest tracks are Speechless (later to be covered by Status Quo), and the title track. Every Step of the Way was also later covered by The Monkees on their Listen To The Band box set.

Side two closes with a slow version of All Of The Good Ones Are Taken, while side one opens with a fast version. The original version was "lost", but the record company persuaded Ian to re-record it ("But I couldn't get the feel back" - Ian). The fast version was released as a single, which was accompanied by a video which was shown for a while on MTV.

Big Time, Ian Hunter, You're Never Too Small to Hit the Big Time, YUI Orta

When touring in early 1989 this was called You're Never Too Small to Hit the Big Time until the title was shortened to Big Time but this tune seems like the ultimate road song about no matter how small you are you can still make the big time. It is an optimistic piano-based boogie in the style of Once Bitten Twice Shy and it deals with hope. Is it wishful thinking by the untalented or more biographical since Ian didn't seem to enjoy his claim to fame during his most popular era? And, it can be interpreted as in his diary, Diary of a Rock ' Roll Star, that fame is not all it is cracked up to be because your heart grows cold. The road is tedious, unhealthy, filled with temptation, but "you are never too small to make the big time." Artists strive for stardom no matter what the drawbacks are. 

Hunter moved back to Manhattan in 1985 to kick-start his writing and this was the first song that emerged. The move immediately reinvigorated his work. He wrote this tune after only two months which got him thinking he could get a few more for an album. The record is about hope and as a reminder it should be played during early morning work for motivation. If you are single-minded you will develop the focus needed to do better. Anything can happen. 

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Big Time

(Ian Hunter)

One more town on the merry-go-round
One more room with no view
One more punk eatin' nothing but junk
Trin' to make a phone call to you
Well maybe I'll never, get myself together
But something's in the back of my mid
It only takes one call-you can laugh at 'em all
You're never too small to hit the big time

One more slob feeling sick as a dog
After one more night on the booze
One more dive more dead that alive
Tryin' to get my message through
Now, maybe I'll never get my self together
Maybe its the end of the line
But I'm having a ball-bouncin' off the walls
You're never too small to hit the big time

You're never too small, you're never too small
You're never to small to hit the big time
They can make you crawl, they can make you fall
But you're never to small to hit the big time
You're never too small, you're never to small You're never too small to hit the big time
If you're fat, if you're bald it don't matter at all
'cos you're never to small-I said you're never to small

To hit the big time (Yes indeed)
(The big time(- limousines)
(The big time)-you can have it all
(The big time)- I say you're never too small

One more crowd shoutin'-turn it up loud
One more rose at my feet
One more ring from that cute little thing
One more reason to cheat
Well, maybe I'll never get myself together
Maybe its the end of the line...

Ian Hunter CD: "YUI Orta"

Sleeve and track listing

Lemon CD LEM 6. 

1. American Music (4:12)
2. The Loner (4:47)
3. Women's Intuition (6:31)
4. Tell It Like It Is (4:23)
5. Livin' In a Heart (4:34)
6. Big Time (4:03)
7. Cool (4:30)
8. Beg a Little Love (6:26)
9. Following In Your Footsteps (5:02)
10. Sons 'n' Lovers (4:55)
11. Pain (4:43)
12. How Much More Can I Take (3:48)
13. Sweet Dreamer (6:28)
14. 4th Hour Of My Sleep (3:08)¹
15. Power Of Darkness (3:32)¹

Running time: 71m 11s

¹Bonus tracks on the 2003 CD reissue

Review

Ian teamed up with his old mate Mick Ronson once again to record this album in the middle of 1989. Ian and Mick had toured the USA and Europe in late 1988/early 1989, before the album was even recorded, and the result is a highly polished album - one of their best.

Highlights include the Stonsey Women's Intuition (if only Mick 'n' Keef were still this good!), the full-tilt rocker How Much More Can I Take, Big Time (Ian borrows his own riff from Once Bitten...), Tell It Like It Is (Mick borrowing the Get It On riff) and Mick's guitar showcase Sweet Dreamer which is breathtaking beautiful.

When the album was released, they toured the USA and Europe again to promote it. Intended in some ways as a comeback album for both men, the record company did little to promote it themselves, and it didn't sell in great numbers. They were dropped by the record company, and all plans for a follow-up were put on hold when Mick Ronson was diagnosed with liver cancer.

Unavailable for many years, this CD has finally been reissued on the Lemon label (a planned reissue on NMC having fallen through when NMC went bust). This reissue includes a couple of Ronno bonus tracks from 1971 - great for the completist but somewhat at odds with the rest of the album. The insert includes the lyrics from the original CD, but the sleeve notes are appallingly inaccurate - a shame really that Campbell Devine's notes for the aborted NMC release weren't used.

In 1995, Windsong issued an official release of their 15-Feb-89 concert, which had been recorded by the BBC for radio broadcast. This live album has since been reissued on Strange Fruit.

As is normal these days, there was material left over in the vaults, some of which is circulating amongst fans. This includes (Give Me Back My) Wings, which was demoed but never recorded, Ill Wind (now available on the Once Bitten Twice Shycompilation), More To Love Than Meets The Eye and Look Before You Leap, which IMO would have been a great single and features some beautiful guitar work from Mick Ronson

The album title is derived from "Why you... I ought to...", a phrase popularised by The Three Stooges.

Technical

The original CD

The reissued CD

Comments

Analysis of the reissued CD shows some compression being used; this has boosted overall loudness slightly (by some 2.2dB) without any noticeable affect on sound quality. 

Big Time	4:03	Originally issued on YUI Orta.
Big Time (live 15th February 1989)	6:47	This live version (recorded The Dominion, London England) can be found on BBC Live in Concert.

Big Black Cadillac, Ian Hunter, Stranded in Reality, Experiments - Previously Unreleased Recordings

Buick Skylark, Sunset Boulevard Nights, no lyrics, YouTube.

The most information available is in Stranded in Reality. 

Experiments - Previously Unreleased Recording

http://www.hunter-mott.com/discography/stranded_in_reality.html#detail-exp

Big Black Cadillac

4:03

Originally released on Experiments - Previously Unreleased Recordings (box set only).

Ian Hunter LP/CD: "Short Back 'n' Sides" 6th LP

More like Overnight Angels.  

Ian Hunter LP/CD: "Short Back 'n' Sides"

Sleeve and track listing

Chrysalis CDCHR 6074. 

Disc 1 (Short Back 'n' Sides)

1. Central Park n' West (4:00)
2. Lisa Likes Rock n' Roll (3:56)
3. I Need Your Love (3:34)
4. Old Records Never Die (4:18)
5. Noises (5:51)
6. Rain (5:54)
7. Gun Control (3:12)
8. Theatre of the Absurd (5:49)
9. Leave Me Alone (3:29)
10. Keep on Burning (4:46)

Running time: 44m 55s

Disc 2 (Long Odds And Out-takes)

1. Detroit (rough mix - instrumental) (3:42)
2. Na Na Na (4:13)
3. I Need Your Love (rough mix) (3:46)
4. Rain (alternate mix) (5:50)
5. I Believe In You (4:15)
6. Listen to the Eight Track (6:08)
7. You Stepped Into My Dreams (4:41)
8. Venus In The Bathtub (4:29)
9. Theatre of the Absurd (6:08)
10. Detroit (out take 5 - vocal) (4:00)
11. Na Na Na (extended mix) (4:29)
12. China (Ronson vocal) (4:36)
13. Old Records Never Die (version 1) (4:18)

Running time: 60m 43s

Review

At the end of 1980 Ian returned to the studio to record the follow-up to Schizophrenic and Welcome To The Club. Mick had effectively stopped playing live earlier in the year, and Ian himself was unsure which (musical) direction to take. He got Mick Jones as producer, and on paper the fusion of Mott The Hoople with The Clash should have produced a phenomenal album.

I'll make no bones about it - I hate this album. The material is mixed, and the production (and all the sound effects Mick Jones added) IMO ruined the good songs on it. At the time Ian liked the album, with Mick using different production techniques in the studio. But today he hardly ever plays material from it, a sure sign that it ain't up there with the best.

The 2-CD set offers excellent packaging and excellent sound quality. The original album is on one CD, and a second CD ("Long Odds and Out-takes") containing alternate mixes and unreleased material from the Chrysalis era.

The Best Thing, written by Corky Laing, with Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson, and Felix Pappalardi.

The Best Thing

(Corky Laing)

You try to love the way that you did before
But he don't be that loved anymore and I'm
I'm coming from the pouring rain
My eyes are red but they still see through
The feeling that's coming over you
And I'd love to come again (come again)
I wanna love you over again You, you wanna know
You're the best thing that's happening to me
In a long long time
Be wise, open up your eyes
You, you wanna know
You're the best thing that's happening to me
'N I wanna love again.

I try (I try) to put your body right out of my mind
But you keep on coming on and on
I thought it was just for last night
A passing fancy, a bird in flight
But you keep on coming on
So I wanna come again
I wanna love you over again
(I wanna love you over again)
I love to love you over again
You, you, you wanna know
You're the best thing that's happening to me
In a long long time Be wise, I wanna love again
Come on love again
Come on love again
You, you wanna know
Come on love again
I wanna come again
You, you wanna know
You're the best thing that's happening to me

You, you wanna know
You're the best thing that's happening to me
You, you wanna know
You're the best thing that's happening to me

The Best Thing

3:29

This collaboration (Laing/Hunter/Ronson/Pappalardi) can be found on The Secret Sessions (not on the box set).

Welcome to the Club, Ian Hunter, 5th LP

 Ian Hunter LP/CD: "Welcome to the Club"

Sleeve and track listing

Chrysalis CDCHR 6075. 

Original vinyl sleeve

Disc 1

1. FBI (3:52)
2. Once Bitten Twice Shy (5:25)
3. Angeline (4:56)
4. Laugh at Me (3:40)
5. All the Way From Memphis (3:33)
6. I Wish I Was Your Mother (6:47)
7. Irene Wilde (4:13)
8. Just Another Night (6:03)
9. Cleveland Rocks (6:01)
10. Standin' In My Light (5:49)
11. Bastard (8:12)

Running time: 58m 38s

Disc 2

1. Walkin' With a Mountain/Rock 'n' Roll Queen (4:20)
2. All the Young Dudes (3:29)
3. Slaughter On Tenth Avenue (2:25)
4. One of the Boys (7:36)
5. The Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll (4:01)
6. When the Daylight Comes (9:00)
7. Once Bitten Twice Shy/Bastard/Cleveland Rocks (medley) (6:10)
8. We Gotta Get Out of Here (3:14)
9. Silver Needles (5:56)
10. Man O' War (4:19)
11. Sons and Daughters (5:04)

Running time: 55m 40s

Review

Ian's 1979 Schizophrenic album sold much better than anyone had expected, and Chrysalis were keen to keep the momentum going with another album. Because he doesn't write on the road, Ian didn't have the material together, so a 2-LP live set (recorded towards the end of the 1979 USA tour) was put out instead. It basically comprised three sides live and one side of new material live in the studio.

The 2-CD set offers excellent packaging and excellent sound quality, albeit with different artwork (the original having been lost). The CD includes the rare UK single b-sides One Of The Boys (live) and Once Bitten Twice Shy/Bastard/Cleveland Rocks (live medley), and the previously-unreleased The Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll (live) and When the Daylight Comes (live).

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.

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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

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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. 

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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.