Glam-Rock Legend Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople Headed to Helsinki Hudson

Ian Hunter

Ian Hunter

(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Mott the Hoople lead singer and pianist Ian Hunter brings his current group, the Rant Band, to Club Helsinki Hudson on Saturday, August 29, at 9pm. As leader of 1970s British rock legends Mott the Hoople and a hugely influential solo artist, Hunter is widely revered as one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most compelling and influential performers, as well as one of its most articulate songwriters.

Hunter penned such immortal rock anthems as “All the Way From Memphis,” “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” and “Cleveland Rocks,” and had a huge yet with the David Bowie-penned “All The Young Dudes” after turning down the first song Bowie offered, “Suffragette City.”

Ian Hunter was already a veteran of the London music scene by the time he joined Mott the Hoople in 1969. With Mott, he recorded four iconoclastic albums — “Mott The Hoople,” “Mad Shadows,” “Wildlife” and “Brain Capers” — by the time they hit international stardom with the glam-rock anthem for a generation, Bowie’s “All The Young Dudes.”

The band’s artistic and commercial success continued with “Mott” and “The Hoople,” between them containing the hits, “All the Way from Memphis,” “Honaloochie Boogie,” “Roll Away the Stone” and “The Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” On Mott the Hoople’s final tour, they took out a then little-known band called Queen, who would have a hit single with a song about their experiences, “Now I’m Here.” It would be the only time Queen would open for anyone and the band members would stay long term friends with Hunter, contributing backing vocals to his “All American Alien Boy” album.

Mott the Hoople has also been credited by John Lydon (Sex Pistols) and Mick Jones (The Clash) as being one of the pioneers and inspirations behind the burgeoning punk / new wave movement. Later on, Hunter would go on to produce Generation X’s “Valley of The Dolls” album and members of the Clash would play on Hunter’s very Mick Jones-flavored “Short Back ‘n’ Sides” release. Not many, if any, other artists could claim to have influenced bands as diverse as Queen and the Sex Pistols – not to mention Barry Manilow, who had a Top 10 hit with Hunter’s song, “Ships.”

Mott the Hoople disbanded in 1974 and Hunter moved to New York, segueing into a celebrated solo career and quickly building a formidable body of solo work. The albums, “Ian Hunter,” “All American Alien Boy,” “Overnight Angels,” “You’re Never Alone With a Schizophrenic,” “Short Back ‘n’ Sides” and “All Of The Good Ones Are Taken,” featuring such diverse talents as the aforementioned Queen and the Clash, Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson, the then-unknown jazz sensation Jaco Pastorious, and a New Jersey bar outfit called the E Street Band.

For reservations in The Restaurant or in the club call 518.828.4800.

 

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