"…Standing In My Light…"
Looking at the playing times
below on this incredible haul through Ian Hunter’s stay at Chrysalis Records (with guests like Mick Ronson, Todd Rundgren and Roger Powell of Utopia, Mick Jones and Topper Headon of The Clash with Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg of Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band) there’s a lot to get through - so here are the big-rimmed glasses…
UK released 22 October 2012
- "From The Knees Of My Heart: The Chrysalis Years 1978-1981" by IAN HUNTER on EMI/Chrysalis 5099923270121 (Barcode (5099923270121) is a 4CD set of
remasters and breaks down as follows:
Disc 1 (77:06 minutes):
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
Tracks 1 to 9 are the album
"You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic" - released April 1979 in
the UK and USA on Chrysalis CHR 1214. Produced by MICK RONSON and IAN HUNTER –
it peaked at No. 49 in the UK and No. 35 in the USA on the LP charts.
BONUS TRACKS
("Schizophrenic" Outtakes):
10. Don't Let Go (Demo
Version)
11. The Other Side Of Life
(Outtake)
12. Ships (Early Version) -
was a download only track
13. When The Daylight Comes
(Early Version)
14. Just Another Night
(Version No. 3)
15. The Outsider (Early
Version)
16. Alibi
NOTES:
Tracks 10 and 11 first
appeared on the 2009 on the '30th Anniversary Special Edition' 2CD reissue of
"You're Never Alone..."
Track 12 is PREVIOUSLY
UNRELEASED on CD
Tracks 14, 15 and 16 are
PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Disc 2 (79:37 minutes):
1. FBI
2. Once Bitten Twice Shy
3. Angeline
4. Laugh At Me
5. All The Way From Memphis
6. I Wish I Was Your Mother
7. Irene Wilde
8. Just Another Night
9. Cleveland Rocks
10. Standin’ In My Light
11. Bastard
12. Walkin' With A
Mountain/Rock And Roll Queen
13. All The Young Dudes
14. Slaughter On 10th Avenue
Tracks 1 to 14 are the 2LP
live set "Ian Hunter Live/Welcome To The Club" - released April 1980
in the UK on Chrysalis CJT 6 and in the USA on Chrysalis CHR2 1269. Produced by
MICK RONSON and IAN HUNTER – it peaked at No. 61 in the UK and No. 69 in the
USA LP charts.
NOTES: see also Tracks 11,
13 and 14 on Disc 4 with regards to the "Welcome To The Club" live
double.
BONUS TRACKS:
15. One Of The Boys
16. The Golden Age Of Rock
'n' Roll
NOTES: Tracks 15 and 16 were
BONUS TRACKS on the 1994 CD reissue
Disc 3 (77:09 minutes):
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 [Side 2]
7. Gun Control
8. Theatre Of The Absurd
9. Leave Me Alone
10. Keep On Burning
Tracks 1 to 10 are the album
“Short Back N' Sides” - released August 1981 in the UK and USA on Chrysalis CHR
1326. Produced by MICK JONES (of The Clash) and IAN HUNTER – it peaked at No.
79 in the UK and No. 62 in the USA on the LP charts.
BONUS TRACKS:
11. Na Na Na
12. I Believe In You
13. Listen To The Eight
Track
14. You Stepped Into My
Dreams
15. Venus In The Bathtub
16. Detroit (Take 1)
17. China (Rough Mix with
Ronson Vocal)
NOTES: Tracks 11 to 15 were
BONUS TRACKS on the 1994 CD reissue
Tracks 16 and 17 are
PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Disc 4 (78:13 minutes):
1. Once Bitten Twice Shy
(Live)
2. Gun Control (Live)
3. Central Park 'N' West
(Live)
4. Medley: All The Way From
Memphis/Honky Tonk Women (Live)
5. I Need Your Love (Live)
6. Noises (Live)
7. Just Another Night (Live)
8. Cleveland Rocks (Live)
9. Irene Wilde (Live)
10. Medley: All The Young
Dudes (includes excerpts from Honaloochie Boogie, Roll Away The Stone and
Ships)
Tracks 1 to 10 are "Ian
Hunter Rocks" recorded live at Dr. Pepper Festival, New York in September
1981. It was originally released on Video in 1983 and is presented here for the
first time as PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED on CD
BONUS TRACKS:
11. Sons And Daughters
(Live)
12. We Gotta Get Out Of Here
(Alternate Version)
13. Silver Needles (Live)
14. Man O' War (Live)
NOTES: Tracks 11, 13 and 14
are from the original "Welcome To The Club" Live Set
Track 12 is a rare version
from the 1980 2LP retrospective "Shades Of Ian Hunter" (included on
the 1988 American CD reissue)
The 16-page booklet is info
packed with liner notes by CAMPBELL DEVINE - track-by-track comments from Ian
Hunter himself and recording details/musician credits for each set. There are
some live photos, 7” picture sleeves from varying areas, small shots of the
album covers. It’s hardly knicker-wetting – typical of these sets (what they
could get away with). But as ever the big news is with the sound.
The remasters have been carried
by long-time Abbey Road associate and engineer PETER MEW who has handled
hundreds of these reissues – and his touch here is typically superb. The tracks
rock with real power – but when they need to be subtle and sensitive (like the
beautiful piano Demo of "Don't Let Go") – he allows them to breathe
without over-trebling everything.
"Schizophrenic"
has to be a fan-favourite for many – "Ships", "Just Another
Night" and "Cleveland Rocks" were all lifted as singles – all of
them with a joyful old-time Rock 'n' Roll. "Life After Death" has
always weirded me out with its echoed eerie vocal and "Bastard" is a
blindingly good bit of riffage that turns up in his live set even now. But my
poison is the stunning yet ever so slightly bitter ballad "Standin' In My
Light" - an epic synth driven piece that impresses bit time. The
"You're Never Alone..." LP ends on the six-minute piano-ballad
"The Outsider" - a confessional about life, music and all points in
between - our Ian sounding world-weary and near breaking as he sings
"...looking for water...there's sweat everywhere...I ain't tasted coffee for
days..." And Mick Ronson tears up the guitar in the final minutes while
Roy Bittan of Springsteen’s E-Street Band plinks away on the old Joanna...
The two live sets feature a
fantastic mix of Mott and Solo stuff with the Mott Medley on the "Ian
Hunter Rocks" video only set rocking like a monster. Fantastic stuff…
Still rocking but relevant – Hunter joined forces with Mick Jones and Topper
Headon of The Clash (roping in Ellen Foley and Todd Rundgren and Roger Powell
of Utopia too) for the hugely enjoyable "Short Back N' Sides" LP. His
lament for Lennon (an old hero blown away) on "Old Records Never Die"
always moved me more than a hundred other tributes. "Noises" could be
Bowie and was a brilliant departure for him.
But away from the rockers
the track that sent me the most was the Side 2 opener “Rain” which is magical –
a warbling rhythm courtesy of The Clash anchors touching reminiscing lyrics
about his lost mates in Northampton back in the 60ts. I bought the album off
the shelves when I was visiting New York and I played it into the floor. Still
gets me after over 30 years. "Gun Control" may as well be a Clash
outtake (and in 2016 – 36 years after the event – is more bloodily relevant
than ever) and the sheer pop of “Leave Me Alone” is kind of cool and shocking
at one and the same time. But it ends on a typically huge Hunter ballad that
lingers and won’t leave – "Keep On Burning".
I’m kind of shocked at how
good the Bonus Tracks are – especially the new stuff. Mick Ronson and Weinberg fans
won’t believe their luck with 'Version 3' of "Just Another Night"
rocking like a proper monster - Ronson adding that magic guitar touch and Max
whacking those drums like only he can. Although it’s easy to see why the
all-over-the-place "Alibi" was left off everything. “Detroit” on Disc
3 is a bit of a mess too - but "China" with Ronson on Lead Vocals is
lovely and will thrill fans. And the beautiful piano outtake “Don’t Let Go” is
in my mind better than some of the tracks that were eventually picked for “You’re
Never Alone...” – mournful, real and uncluttered too.
I’ve reviewed 2 of the Robin
Trower sets, Ten Years After and Barclay James Harvest in these superb EMI
anthologies. This is right up there with the best of them. As Alan Freed would
say (sampled by Hunter on "Cleveland Rocks") - King of the Moondoggers!
