Still defiant after all these years

Ian Hunter is releasing a new album next month.

To put this in perspective, the former lead singer with Mott the Hoople is 83 and stopped touring four years ago after he developed tinnitus.

I heard Mott for the first time in 1972, by which time they had already released four albums, none of which troubled the charts.

Thanks to their reputation as a live band however they had developed a small but devoted following that included Mick Jones of The Clash, and after Bowie gave them ‘All The Young Dudes’ (which he also produced) the band enjoyed a handful of hit singles and three successful albums before imploding in 1974.

Ironically, just as they were breaking up, a book appeared, Diary of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star. Based on a journal Hunter had kept during a 1972 tour of the States, it’s still in print with the most recent edition published in 2018.

Even now it's widely regarded as one of the best memoirs of its kind. What comes across most is the band's wide-eyed naivety of all things American, and the boredom of travelling across the States while staying in one anonymous hotel after another.

In 2009, after a hiatus of 35 years, the original line-up (1969-1972) reformed for five nights at Hammersmith Apollo. To most people’s surprise the concerts were a huge success (and I was there, for one night).

Less critically acclaimed was a short (but profitable) tour of half a dozen UK venues in 2013 that ended with a gig at the O2, an inappropriately cavernous arena for a band better suited to smaller theatres.

In 2019 Mott the Hoople ‘74 hit the road. By now two members of the original band - the drummer and bass player - had died and the lead guitarist had suffered a stroke so this version – featuring Hunter, two members of the 73-74 line-up, and members of Hunter’s own band – was something of a Frankenstein monster.

I caught Mott ‘74 in Birmingham in April 2019 shortly after they played half a dozen gigs in America.

A further US tour was planned but after Hunter was struck down with tinnitus it was cancelled. He hasn’t toured since but has been busy writing and recording at home in Connecticut.

The reason I mention all of this is because, 20 years ago, I wrote to Hunter via his website. I knew he was a smoker and the New York smoking ban had just been introduced.

Joe Jackson had spoken out against the ban (and written an article in the New York Times) so I thought I’d reach out to another English musician domiciled in the States.

A little to my surprise he replied:

I am a smoker, but if I had to pick sides on this issue I could not encourage people to smoke. I don't think it's a clever thing to do and I feel somewhat stuck with it. I like Joe Jackson a lot, but I don't go with either him or you on this one. If I want a fag I'll always find a way to smoke one.

I don't like [the ban] any more than you do. Bars/restaurants in New York City are not the same and some of them are hurting. People are going to [New] Jersey to eat. However, if somebody sat next to me in a cafe and puffed away and I didn't smoke it would piss me off far more. Sorry.

Fair play, an honest response.

Since our very brief exchange Hunter has released a further four studio albums and I have them all – Shrunken Heads (2007), Man Overboard (2009), When I'm President (2012), and Fingers Crossed (2016).

Which brings me to Defiance Part 1 which was recorded during the pandemic and features a remarkable list of guest musicians who, bored and stuck at home, responded to invitations to contribute to one or more songs.

According to Rolling Stone they include 'the late Jeff Beck, Ringo Starr, the late Taylor Hawkins, and members of Metallica, Guns n’ Roses, ZZ Top, Wilco, Stone Temple Pilots, and Aerosmith.'

Hunter is 83 now and although his music is fairly generic these days, the first single from the album sounds pretty good (to my ears). It features Ringo on drums and Mike Campbell, who played on the last Fleetwood Mac tour and was previously with the late Tom Petty.

Defiance Part 1 is released next month, to be followed later this year or next by Defiance Part 2 which features more guest musicians including Brian May of Queen.

By then Hunter will be 84. As the Telegraph reviewer put it, following Mott’s sold out reunion gigs in London in 2009:

And the rockin’ went on, unrestrainable, deafening, totally life-affirming.

See also: Happy birthday, Ian Hunter (June 2019)
Mott the Hoople – live at last! (October 2009)

And, more recently:

Catching up with Ian Hunter (Culture Sonar, March 16, 2023)

PS. Six weeks before Pete Overend Watts, Mott’s bass player, died of cancer in January 2017, he sent the most wonderful email to bandmate Morgan Fisher.

Do read it, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever read - ‘RIP Olde Gruff Pete’.

_Above: Ian Hunter in 2018.