Mott The Hoople and Ian Hunter

Ian Hunter unofficial CD: "Drunk On Wisdom And Wine"

Sleeve and track listing

Handmade For Fans #3. (3.5 stars!)

  1. Intro
  2. FBI
  3. Once Bitten Twice Shy
  4. Life After Death
  5. Laugh At Me
  6. Letter To Britannia From The Union Jack
  7. Just Another Night
  8. Angeline
  9. Standin' In My Light
  10. Bastard
  11. Cleveland Rocks
  12. England Rocks 1
  13. (I'm The) Teacher 2
  14. All American Alien Boy 3
  15. Traitor 4
  16. Great Expectations 5

1 UK single

2 Teachers soundtrack

3 UK single

4 B-side to All Of The Good Ones Are Taken

5 Up The Creek soundtrack

Review

For many years, the LP of the same name was the only unofficial Ian Hunter album in circulation. Its source is a 1979 FM radio show recorded at the Berkley Community Theatre early in the Schizophrenic tour. The performance is strong, and the playing is top-notch. The band work well together, and are clearly enjoying themselves. By the time this was recorded, the Schizophrenic album was selling strongly, beyond everyone's expectations, which of course helps enormously.

With the LP long since deleted, this CD is a welcome release. The original LP ran to just 45 minutes. Here the CD has been filled up with the intro and FBI from the original FM broadcast which were left off the LP. In addition, we get five tracks, all rare soundtracks, singles or b-sides.

Sound quality is very good (better than the LP), although still a bit muddy in places. This is probably the fault of the mix engineer - it sounds as though the show was recorded straight onto quarter-inch (two-track) for broadcast, with no re-mixing/cleaning up otherwise done.

The bonus tracks are all welcome, and again the sound quality is top-notch. England Rocks (Overnight Angels non-LP UK single from 1977) has better sound quality than either of its two previous (and official) "best-of" CD incarnations. The single version of Alien Boy is also welcome, featuring as it does a different mix from the album and indeed the intended single (the mix here was never intended for release, but crept out by mistake). Great Expectations closes the CD, and is a great closing track with a great hookline and chorus. If it wasn't a single, then it should have been.

The CD is volume 3 in the "handmade for fans" series, and as such is recorded onto CD-R. The sleeve is a reproduction of the original LP sleeve, and professionally made. With the LP long-since deleted, this is an essential purchase for the dedicated fan, and is highly recommended.