Ian Hunter – joining Mott The Hoople, Bowie, Hamburg and being “enthused into craziness”.

Ian Hunter – an image so familiar you’d recognise his silhouette - now lives in Connecticut and he’s just released expanded versions of two of his best-selling solo albums, You’re Never Alone With A Schizophrenic and Short Back N' Sides. He’s 85, born before any of the Beatles. We talk to him here about life growing up in the ‘40s and ‘50s when your father’s a copper and “music wasn’t allowed in the house”, and touch upon … … the debt he owes Freddie ‘Fingers’ Lee. … café jukeboxes full of Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino. … beating 165 acts at a talent contest at Butlins. … the record that made the Beatles (which they didn’t write). … “a two-piece corduroy suit, open-toed sandals, overweight …”: the Mott the Hoople audition. … Bowie playing All The Young Dudes – “a monster” – cross-legged on the floor in Denmark Street after they’d turned down Suffragette City. … why Hendrix was thrown out of Regent Sound studios. … playing the Reeperbahn in 1963. … recording ‘Schizophrenic’ with three members of the E Street Band. … “Do you want a cuddle?” The Mick Ronson recording method. … the good thing about Covid. … watching punk bands with Mick Jones. … plus a ‘dyed-black’ Ford Anglia and the Greatest Record Ever Made. Order Ian’s re-released albums here:Buy link: https://ianhunter.lnk.to/sbnsFind out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

Mark Ellen and David Hepworth have been talking about and writing about music together and individually for a collective eighty years in magazines like Smash Hits, Mojo and The Word and on radio and TV programmes like "Rock On", "Whistle Test" and VH-1.Over thirteen years ago, when working on the late magazine The Word, they began producing podcasts. Some listeners have been kind enough to say these have been very special to them. When the magazine folded in 2012 they kept the spirit of those podcasts alive in regular Word In Your Ear evenings in which they spoke to musicians and authors in front of an audience. Over these years they've produced hundreds of hours of material. As of the Current Unpleasantness of 2020, they've produced yet hundreds of hours more with a little help from guests kind enough to digitally show them around their attics such as Danny Baker, Andy Partridge, Sir Tim Rice and Mark Lewisohn. For the full span of the Word In Your Ear world, visit wiyelondon.com. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.