Shades if Ian Hunter: No longer a young dude, Mott the Hoople frontman keeps rocking
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Ian Hunter will play some old, some new and some unexpected tunes tonight at the Carnegie Music Hall in Carnegie.
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When he makes a rare local appearance tonight at the Carnegie Music Hall of Carnegie -- in shades, of course -- Ian Hunter says that "people can expect a third old, a third recent and a third 'What the hell is he doing?' "
The old third is the main draw, stemming from the rocker's heyday as a member of iconic glam band Mott the Hoople from 1969 to 1974 and then that fertile period up until 1983 when he was making solo albums like "All American Alien Boy" and "You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic."
"The third recent" will come from the three albums he's made with his current group, the Rant Band, including 2009's "Man Overboard." As for that mystery third, it likely won't add up to full third and will probably include a choice cover or two. "Just some things you wouldn't expect," he says, and that changes from night to night.
With: Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers.
When: 8 tonight.
Where: Carnegie Music Hall, Carnegie.
Tickets: $35; 1-877-435-9849.
At 72, the British singer-songwriter is in the upper age bracket for a rock 'n' roller, having started back in 1958 when groups were still wearing matching jackets. He played in little-known bands such as The Apex, The Shriekers and The Scenery before being invited in 1969 to front Mott the Hoople with guitarist Mick Ralphs and producer Guy Stevens, who would later produce The Clash's "London Calling."
Mott got off to a shaky start with four albums that made little impact on either the British or American charts. The turning point came just as Mott was about to call it quits when David Bowie offered the band "Suffragette City." They didn't take that, but they did take "All the Young Dudes," which they turned into a glam-rock classic. It was also the start of a creative period that would lead to a pair of charting albums -- "Mott" and "The Hoople" -- filled with such keepers as "All The Way From Memphis," "Roll Away The Stone" and "Golden Age Of Rock 'n' Roll."
Mott the Hoople was always bigger in England, but the band found some love in a heartland city that would inspire one of Mr. Hunter's best-known songs, "Cleveland Rocks," later the theme song of "The Drew Carey Show."
"We were never that big in Pittsburgh," he recalls. "Cleveland was the first place to find Mott. When we came over in '69 the clubs were basically empty. We were just starting out. The first place that actually went crazy was Cleveland. In those days, comedians would use Cleveland as the joke of the country. I used to say 'Why are they doing that? Cleveland is hipper with music than anywhere else.' Memphis was pretty hip as well. But the coasts, New York and LA, they were way behind."
First Published October 27, 2011 12:00 am
