Ian Hunter is a genuine British rock star, the real thing, still with great hair and the coolest shades, even after all these years. The former leader of 1970s sensation Mott the Hoople doesn't begin our phone conversation with the familiar 'Allo 'allo 'allo 'allo,' as he does at his shows, but there's no mistaking the best accent in rock and roll.
Hunter is rehearsing for a tour of the Northeast that kicks off on March 1 at B.B. King's in Times Square. His last major show in New York was in October 2001, when he tore apart Irving Plaza on his first American tour in a decade.
'It was good,' he said of those U.S. dates. 'I've toured since '95 in England more or less every year, and so the audience has kind of changed. In Europe, it's more like young ones, maybe medium ones, old ones, you know. Here, because I hadn't toured in so long, the audience was all old.
'I don't know what I expected, but it just seemed old. I guess the American audience just thinks I'm that old glam guy from Mott the Hoople.' That 'old glam guy' with the flowing curly blond hair was touring behind the critically well-received but publicly little-heard and hard-to-find Rant (Fuel 2000 Records), an outstanding collection of new songs that opens with 'Still Love Rock and Roll,' in which Hunter sings, 'It's the only way I know how to say what's on my mind.' One of the things on his mind these days is how to get his music out there.
He is currently looking for a U.S. distribution deal for Strings Attached, a live DVD recorded in Oslo with a symphony orchestra. The set list includes such MTH staples as 'All the Young Dudes' and 'I Wish I Was Your Mother' as well as such solo hits as 'All of the Good Ones Are Taken' and 'Once Bitten Twice Shy.' 'It was unbelievable, with the orchestra and everything. That was fabulous,' he said of the performance. 'At this stage in my career, to be able to do that… 'We tried [to get a U.S. deal]. But with radio too, it's impossible,' he continued, noting how hard it is to break into formatted playlists. 'It's a long story, but radio is just bored. It's as simple as that. It started off with record company greed and it wound up like it is now, which is basically you pay for adverts on the radio.' His daughter, Tracie Hunter, has her own band, which is playing Lakeside Lounge on the Lower East Side on Feb. 23. She is also finding it hard to get her music heard; her first album, Race, is available through her Web site, traciehunter.com.
'They're real good,' the proud father said of his daughter's group. 'We haven't had much luck as of yet - she came real near to it about two or three years ago. She was up for a deal, they sat her down, made a fuss over her, made a deal, and then they reneged on it at the last minute. This happens all the time in the music biz.
'She's good and her band's good, but you can't tell. In today's musical climate - if you could call it that - it's extremely difficult. There's no logic. It's not a question of who's good and who's bad; it's just a question of what happens. Quality can be a distinct disadvantage.' From 1969 to 1974, Mott the Hoople competed with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones for the adulation of a hungry British public, scoring with such hits as 'All the Way from Memphis,' 'One of the Boys,' and 'Roll Away the Stone.' Hunter's solo career has included such well-titled albums as You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic and All-American Alien Boy and has featured such well-known songs as 'Cleveland Rocks,' 'Just Another Night,' and 'Central Park N' West.' Hunter, 64, is one of many older British rock stars, including Robyn Hitchcock and Ian Anderson, who have also become part of a thriving online community. On ianhunter.com, in addition to information about upcoming tours and recordings, Hunter posts a monthly 'Horse's Mouth' column in which he answers questions from his fans.
'I don't think it's changed them; I think it's brought them together,' he said regarding the Internet's effect on the relationship between artist and fan. 'With me, I haven't been managed for a quarter of a century now, for various reasons - I just don't get on with managers, and managers don't get on with me - so it's extremely difficult to have any kind of uniform thing out there to tell people where you are, what you're going to do. It was a total mess for about 10, 15 years.
'And then the Web came around, and here was a chance for people all over the world to actually know where you were, know what you were doing, and also a chance for you to speak to them. And my lot have been extremely loyal to me, you know, under a variety of circumstances, and so I felt like, having been a fan myself initially before I managed to get into music, I just felt it would be a good area to have a little bit of give and take.' The brief Northeast tour, which also takes Hunter and the band - with James Mastro and Andy York on guitar, Tony Shanahan on bass, Andy Burton on keyboards, and Steve Holley on drums - to the Downtown in Farmingdale and the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, will consist of a mix of old classics and new songs.
'I think the American tour will be geared toward more recent material,' Hunter noted, 'whereas the English one will change in a couple of areas just because Mick Ralphs is there. There probably will be more Mott involved.' Ralphs was in the original incarnation of Mott the Hoople and later played guitar in Bad Company. Stan Tippins, also an original Mottster, is managing the European tour, which will have a different band.
'Yeah, we have to have him, because we get out of control if Stan's not there,' Hunter acknowledged. 'I find touring extremely boring. I mean, the actual gig itself is fine, but the rest of it is pretty boring. You need people like Stan.
'Stan is one of those guys who just makes it much more interesting and exciting. If something's not going wrong, he'll make something go wrong. It becomes more of an obstacle course than a tour.' Hunter, who was born in Oswestry, Shropshire, England, has lived in and around New York City for more than 25 years.
'I was just like Lennon; my whole existence seemed to be geared that I would wind up in America,' he said.
'I guess from listening to Little Richard, Jerry Lee, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry - none of whom came from New York - but when I got here, the nearest I could find to England was New York. New York seemed to be the nearest thing to London.
'I'm still very English,' he was quick to point out. 'When I got off at Kennedy, I kissed the ground. I did. But that was before I realized, of course, what was on the ground.'
He currently resides with his wife, Trudi, in 'Hunter Towers … this isolated castle that sits in a marsh. It's got a moat around it to keep all the people out, and that's where I live, in the country of Connecticut.' His 2001 Irving Plaza gig came shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center.
'It was very strange,' the former Waterside Plaza resident said. 'My wife woke me after the first one was hit, and I saw the second one hit. And my son's down there - he was working on 23rd. My first thought was for him. I couldn't figure it out. I thought maybe China had attacked or something. It was beyond belief. There you go. That's the times we live in.'
Hunter is also the author of Diary of a Rock'n'Roll Star, which includes sections about his time in New York City in December 1972 and the writing of 'Angel of Eighth Avenue.'
'I don't know,' he said when asked what that book would be like if he were to write it today. 'I'm in a different space now. Then I was running around; I don't run around now. Not that I ran around much then, but I really don't know.
'It's a lot easier now. I used to be all wrapped up in me - when am I going to make some money, all of that kind of thing - but now all of that's out of the way. I just enjoy playing with the band. I really enjoy it. It's like a busman's holiday. It's just good fun.'
Ian Hunter will be playing on March 1 at B.B. King Blues Club + Grill (237 W. 42nd St.)