[…continued from last post]

Ian Hunter: Short Back n’ Sides – CR – 2xCD [2024]

Disc 1 [Short Back n’ Sides]

1. Central Park n’ West
2. Lisa Likes Rock n’ Roll
3. I Need Your Love
4. Old Records Never Die
5. Noises
6. Rain
7. Gun Control
8. Theatre Of The Absurd
9. Leave Me Alone
10. Keep On Burnin’

Disc 2 [Long Odds n’ Outtakes]

1. Detroit [rough mix – instrumental]
2. Na Na Na [extended mix]
3. I Need Your Love [rough mix]
4. Rain [alternative mix]
5. Listen To The Eight track
6. China [Ronson vocal]
7. You Stepped Into My Dreams
8. Venus In The Bathtub
9. Theatre Of The Absurd [Wessex mix]
10. Detroit [outtake 5 – vocal]
11. I Believe In You
12. Old Records Never Die [version 1]

Ian sure looked like a spiv on the Lynn Goldsmith cover shot, which seemed to prep the listener for some retro Rock n’ Roll which was here, sort of, but not in any large amounts. Hunter always had a thread back to the music of his teenage years if one bothered to look past the packaging. But the operative word for this album was eclectic. It would venture down many stylistic corridors that Hunter never subsequently visited again. Perhaps a logical function of having Mick Jones of The Clash co-producing after the point where that band had left the Punk Rock chrysalis far behind them to embrace the technicolor chaos of the previous year’s “Sandinista!”

Having feted the city of Cleveland on his prior album, this time the closer-to-home allure of New York City, warts and all, was the subject of “Central Park n’ West.” Topper Headon’s cheerful, clanky percussion marked this as being slightly askew from the start; as if the garish Syndrum hook throughout the song didn’t make readily apparent. This was not the sound of slickness. Even with Mick Ronson’s gregarious and friendly guitar leads adding even more warmth to the number. There’s almost a touch of zydeco lobbed into the mix with the terse touches of accordion wheezing gently throughout the song. It’s a fun, if slightly disarming, opener that set a friendly tone for the listener. It already sounded quite different to the vibe of “You’re Never Alone With A Schizophrenic” which preceded it, but just how different would be soon apparent.

While the Netherlands [always a hotbed of Hunter fandom!] as well as the US and Spain picked “Central Park n’ West” as a single, the UK tipped “Lisa Likes Rock n’ Roll” as the lead single. With Spain sagely choosing both tracks for single release. It began abruptly, with what sounded like a simple beat being maintained on a metal water main pipe with the reverb jacked all the way up. Then the acoustic guitars began chugging away; creating a vibe that sounded like Bo Diddley in dub as the maracas framed the minimal riffs.

Ian sang the first verse of the cheerful paean to Mick Ronson’s then four year old daughter, Lisa. Eentually the whole band joined on on the second verse. Tymon Dogg was only credited for violin on the album, but I’d swear that it was him alone on the dubbed out expression vocals at the subsequent middle eight as anyone who knew and loved “Lose This Skin” could ID the man’s voice at 200 yards. Through it all Ian kept things simple, as befitted a song inspired by a four year old girl. Only blurring the primary colors of the song with the slightly dissonant minor chords in the song’s climax.

The second American single made a lot of sense. “I Need Your Love” was a big, brassy Motownish number as recorded and mixed by Hunter’s pal Todd Rundgren, with whom he had toured in the US the previous year, fund-raising for Independent Presidential candidate John Anderson. Following the more left-field tracks that opened the album, it felt like it had been flown in from a completely different record, with Ian’s baritone crooning for the first verse before eventually leaping up to his normal register. Gary Windo contributed a really MOR sax solo that was ripped screaming from the late 70s which was maybe the one sonic aspect of this album that didn’t sit well with me. Strangely enough,, one of the most distinct features of this song were the prominent backing vocals from co-producer Jones. He’s really prominent singing counterpoint to Hunter’s leads. But I could see the commercial value of having Windo on this song. If this song didn’t make hit status, nothing would.

What would an Ian Hunter album be without a heart-rending balled? He’s got an enviable record with the form. “Old Records Never Die” slotted into the harbor where an “Irene Wilde” or “Ships” had docked of late. The song was surely inspired by the killing of John Lennon the months prior and painted a poignant picture of how another artist could process that trauma. The peals of seagull guitar from Ronson gave this song a plaintive elegance that deftly avoided any bathos.

Next came the most radical shift the album would lob at its listeners. “Noises” was the last thing anyone would have expected from Ian Hunter. It began with jolting, gated pulse bursts of a power chord played on several instruments at once echoing in dub as Ian recited Beat poetry in a space several rooms away. Power drills whirred in the distance and then at the 45 second mark the track suddenly coalesced into a synth-funk whomper driven by piano and Bernie Worrellesque synth bass.

Meanwhile Mr. Hunter speed rapped stream of consciousness lyrics sounding rather Cockney, and really, the whole enterprise by the time it was cooking [and it did cook], resembled nothing so much as the work of another Ian…Mr. Dury and his Blockheads. Not a complete shock considering the proximity of Jones to the Blockheads at the time, but was it an Ian Hunter record? Not exactly at a time when Ian Hunter songs never ever featured another 90 seconds of clattery Dub coda appended to them after their fadeout for nearly six minutes of dancedubfunk attack.

Next: …Dylan + Disco