by MartyMoffatt » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:33 pm
Ian Hunter is one of the most underrated songwriters and performers around. He was belting out classics long before Springsteen and has been a huge influence on British rock music. In 1974 his band Mott The Hoople even took Broadway by storm supported by a very young Queen and had a rock operatic song called Marionette which predated and must have influenced Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. Def Leppard's Joe Elliott cites Ian Hunter as one of his greatest musical heroes.
I quote from his official bio... 'Ian has been cited as a major inspiration and reference point for numerous bands including the Clash, Kiss, Def Leppard, REM, Motley Crue, Blur and Oasis. Hunter's influence has remained incalculable; accompanied on stage by Ian Astbury of The Cult, Axl Rose and Slash, Roger Daltrey, Meat Loaf and Bryan Adams amongst others (and at their request), there are now over 50 different cover versions of Ian's songs from artists as diverse as Great White, The Presidents of the United States of America, Status Quo, Blue Oyster Cult, Bonnie Tyler, Barry Manilow, The Pointer Sisters, Willie Nelson, Thunder and The Monkees - further evidence, surely, that he is one of our greatest-ever songwriters.'
In October this year Mott The Hoople are playing some reunion gigs in London, nearly 35 years after they last played together (all five original members of the band). For me this is a more eagerly anticipated reunion than Zeppelin was.
To anyone not acquainted with Ian Hunter, I thoroughly recommend any of his extensive back catalogue. If you could combine the lyrical excellence of Bob Dylan, the passion of Bruce Sprinsteen, the iconic persona of David Bowie, with a liberal dose of British humour and a cracking R&B sound - that's Ian Hunter.