The Ballad of Mott the Hoople and Ian Hunter

Ian Hunter, born 3 June 1939, is a rock phenomenon, not only still touring after over fifty years in the business, but also still delivering strong new material, as evidenced in the new album Fingers Crossed from Ian Hunter and the Rant Band. His story begins with Mott the Hoople, the first successful band to which he belonged, whose first, eponymous album appeared in November 1969. It goes on through Mott’s Island years, its glam years on Columbia and association with David Bowie, then Ian’s solo career which began in collaboration with Spiders from Mars guitarist Mick Ronson and continued with a series of mostly strong albums right up to the present day.

The material presented here was initially prepared for an “album by album” thread on Steve Hoffman’s Music Forum. It will be kept up to date as a permanent reference and guide to this music. It goes without saying that I particularly value comments and corrections; please contact me or comment on the posts.

I would also like to note the excellent book by Campbell Devine, All the Young Dudes, which I have often used as a source (and made an effort to credit the author). There is much information in the book that is not available online.

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