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Issue #78, Part 1 - Sep 2007
Just went to Andy Burton's wedding yesterday - married the gorgeous Debbie. All the Rant chaps were there - Andy York, Tony Shanahan, Graham Mabe, Paul Page, M.C. Bosch, Steve Holley, James Mastro and all the wives and some kids. Fabulous do. Nearly passed me fags around.
Ralph Cohen says, 'Some big geezer was havin' a go at the girl on the desk at the Glee Club - saying he was your kid brother and you had forgotten. He looked scary - they let him in - is he your brother?' Well, I do have a kid brother, Bob, I'd hardly call Bob scary though. He's exceedingly mild mannered as a rule. Surely if he was my real brother he would have cell phoned. Bob's got all the numbers, so on balance I would think not.
Chris: Enjoyed the Highline (Band rocks, back up vocals were great - yours too!). Question: When I'm home or in my studio playing guitar or piano - do I play covers of anyone else's music - if so what? Usually, if I'm picking up an instrument at home it's to write something or to try a new idea. I'm always looking for the next song so I'm not keen on playing stuff that's already written - I don't see the point. Obviously, I have to rev up stuff for tours and that can sometimes lead to something else - if this sounds abstract - it is.
Rein Lof: 'Just Another Night' is listed in the DVD section of Amazon - (USA) www.amazon.com for $17.99 and (UK) www.amazon.co.uk for GBP 14.99.
Keith Holcombe: 'Annapolis was awesome - blew me away.' Good.
Jimmy Ashurst: Ah, young James - life is a question of alternatives and we live with the consequences. Be well. Give up the fags.
Ward W: 'Finally caught you live at the Coach House - great - worth the wait. Great Father's day gift.'
Pete Camilleri: 'Blown away - this is a classic album in the true sense - been listening for 32 years and I just gets better - got 'em all. Hope you gig a lot next year in the States.' Thank you, Pete.
Scott Goodwin: 'Thanks for great music over the years and most of all, 'Shrunken Heads'. I think it's your best work to date. Saw you open for the Kinks in Philly. (Bloody hell!) Philly soon? Not sure because we've just changed agents. We do Milwaukee on October 12 and then the UK - that's all I know.
Craig Russell: Cleveland's always a must. Glad the surgery was successful! See you at the Beachland.
Phil Wood: 'Years ago a golf pro told me to listen to a tune in my head whilst playing to help concentrate - I've always used 'Still the Same' by Bob Seger. Got to a tournament recently with 'Shrunken Heads' playing on the CD. I've played that song in my head during games ever since, and have had a first, second and third finish in my last three meetings. Thank you! As a body of work it's the best solo album you've ever made.' So all you golfers out there………
Billy Innes: 'Debate rages over that 'MAGIC LANDSCAPE' cd that's attributed to your name. (I've never heard of it.) Numerous emails from folks who know Mott/Hunter inside out - who say it's a folk duo in England called Hunt + Turner - and it's nothing to do with you. (They are right - it is nothing to do with me!) Amazon insist it is you. (It isn't). Is there anything you can do to purge your name from this CD (Yup, I'll tell the wife.) While it's a nice enough CD - it's pretty misleading to the fans who've bought this thinking it's you.' It's not me - it's not me!!
Jim Frauel: 'OK, 'Heads' is awesome - but you didn't play anything off it at the AC show last year. Don't blame you for worrying about bootleggers. Please, please do another NY show. Come to Rochester.' We played the Highline Ballroom recently and a lot of 'Shrunken Heads' was included.
Phil Judge: ''Shrunken Heads' is the best since the first album. I present a weekly horse racing news bulletin on BBC Radio BBC WM which covers Birmingham and the West Midlands. I'm allowed a favourite track each week - last week I played 'Soul of America' and got really good feed back - so I gave the web site address on the air too. (good show!) Interview?' I'll forward this to our people. Dennis Dunaway is very well, as is Cindy - I see them every few weeks at my mate, Rick's house.
James Takahashi wants us to show a little love to the Pacific Northwest. We'll see what our new agent comes up with.
Richard Denham: 'Do 'Honaloochie Boogie' at Shepherds Bush. Any chance?' Nah.
Bonnie says SH is getting quite a bit of play on XM Radio (Deep Tracks) and the DJs are suitably in awe - calling it a masterpiece! I could go on here - but I won't! Thanks, Bonnie.
Carodus Lambert: 'Silly question - what does a rock star do in his down time - hobbies - pastimes.' I guess if I have a hobby it would be reading. I read a lot - which is pretty stupid because my memory is crap. I like keeping healthy. I like football (soccer, that is). I dunno, I'm not different to anybody else really.
Clyde Hartman thinks 'When the World Was Round' is one of the best songs I've written. Yes, the end was a bit of a challenge, but Andy York and Pete Moshe were very keen on it. It was a bit of an accident - you open your mouth and out it goes. I think that's how I blew a gasket.
Kevin Hahn: 'New CD is awesome!!' Love it all, but 'Soul of America' has to be my favourite cut of the moment. Good Stuff. Anyway, saw you at the Highline and am dying to see you again. NYC - anytime soon? Actually, we were thinking of doing a NYC show around Christmas. I believe management are talking to agency about it.
John McMillan: 'Ian - you guys do a great job with the play list, but would love to hear more from 'Dirty Laundry' 'Central Park 'n' West' and 'Rose''. There's probably 200-300 songs out there - you can't do 'em all.
Phil Monaghan: 'Designer T shirt on border TV?' 'Can't believe you wore it.' 'Nice - bright - white new smile' (very good) 'Can't believe you bought it' (Like I said. It's a question of alternatives …)
Phil Monaghan (again): ' 'Shrunken Heads' … do the press not do your head in by constantly linking you to Dylan musically - even some of your own fan base are at it. Can you see what they're getting at? As far as I can see, the only person who could rival this masterpiece is - well only maybe - Neil Young - certainly Dylan could not. I think you are now, and have been for some, the best writer in the world (life isn't bad either). Do you think you'll ever get the credit you deserve in your lifetime - 'cos I don't think so - but I know it will happen one day.' I don't know what to say to this. I don't know if I should even print it. I think the Dylan comparisons are well meaning - it's common knowledge I've always been a big Bob fan. I think it's people's way of saying I'm doing OK. I get plenty of credit from people I value. Mass appeal is a mixed bag and doesn't appeal to me; I'm all for a quiet life? Anyway, does it really matter? You lot think I'm it - that's enough for me! 'Brainwashed'? Pretty good.
Susan Palmer: East Hampton, eh? You naughty girl.
Dave Phillips: The agent is Frank Riley. Good luck with it.
Henri: 'Come to Finland!' Actually, we do pop over to Norway, Sweden and Denmark now and again; it seems a little churlish not to pop into Finland. We'll see - you are only 18 - plenty of time.
Jim McConnell: Must have been a misprint. Glad SH has staying power. See you in Glasgi.
Oystein: 'Thanks for great gigs in Oslo and Vastervik! Must have been 5,000 - 7,000 people in Vastervik. What do you think about the reception in Vastervik?' (It was great.) 'Do you like playing outdoors for such a large crowd?' P.A. was great as were the monitors. We had our own front soundman, David Mann, and we had a great time. They looked after us beautifully as they all do in Scandi. All in all a lot of fun.
Rich Whalen: 'Haven't written in a while, but always read THM. Like everybody else - love the new disc. Hard to pick a fave. 'Read 'em 'n' Weep' almost too sad to listen to (but we love it). Hope to see you on Long Island or vicinity soon.'
Richard Denham: 'I'm sure it makes your day everytime I write and ask you to play 'Honaloochie' (check) so how about 'Foxy, Foxy'?' Questionable taste dear boy.
Mark Davis: 'Key Club LA my 4 show of West Coast Tour - San Juan was my favourite - great venue for live CD?' (Yup) 'Shrunken Heads' truly fantastic - take it out of CD player to listen to other music, but it finds its way back in. Additional dates around Milwaukee in October?' I think Milwaukee is the only one - there were a couple more but we couldn't string them together financially.
Incidentally, I'd like to thank Mike Rand and all at Paradise for looking after me these last few years. Great agency - great people. Just want to try something a bit different.
Joe Breakdown: 'Belated congrats on new album. Coming to Oxford with Mum, Dad and the Lady. My band, 'The Breakdowns' were playing in Spain when you were there. Played Madrid the same night - hope you had a good time.' It was fine - just before the hot weather hit - shouldn't be a problem blagging the autograph - good luck and regards to the band.
John Bruton: 'Great show at Glee Club in Birmingham. T-shirt of the day (pink heads). Gives me some insight of what it's like to be Jordan - everybody stares!'
Kenneth Bull - We'll be back.
Gary Dedoussis: 'Amazing body of work on 'Shrunken Heads' - am a long time fan. Question: did you play on any of the 'Dirty Laundry' tracks that weren't yours? Off the cuff - I really can't remember - probably not.
Jerry Murphy loves the new one. 'Can't seem to turn 'How's Your House' up loud enough, great rocker. You're on a roll sir. We finally have a lottery here in sleepy Oklahoma. I've decided that when I hit the jackpot, I'm going to offer you and the other Hooples a ridiculous amount of money to play a gig - at least two hours. Do I get to write the set list?' (Depends on how big a lottery win you have.) 'Oh yeah, and the drinks are on me.' Better hurry up and win it while we can still drink.
Dan DeBoer: 'My wife and I really enjoyed the Cleveland show. It was her first except for the Ringo tour. I had not seen you since 1975 in St. Paul, Minn. Show great, audience great. Love 'Shrunken Heads'. Coming back?' Yup.
Kevin from Newcastle: 'Bought my first guitar at 50. Yeah - I know - a bit late!! Trouble is being a massive I.H./Hoople fan since 70/71 I wanna play some stuff, but I'm stuck with the chords A/Am/C/E/Em/G Etc. (the simple ones). At the moment, I can't find any of your stuff that's easy to play with these chords. Help!! Lotta my newer stuff is tuned down a semi-tone so they're awkward in concert pitch. What you can do is buy a capo at your nearest music shop and slide it up and down the frets until you find a key that you can play in. Say hello to your boy.
Scott Mallender loved the Detroit gig - says the bass went out briefly, but otherwise what he was hearing was fine. 'Does the crowd singing affect the performance?' (Yep, makes it better.) 'Was Mick Ronson considered when Mick Ralphs left?' Ronno was busy with Bowie at that time.
Graham Clark: 'New Zealand?' Actually, I was talking to a drummer from New Zealand at AB/Deb's wedding. He thought (climatically speaking) Aukland to be the most favourable place for me. Trudi is a big fan of New Zealand so you never know. Thanks for the offer!
Andrew Davies: 'Are you still in touch with the legendary Stan Tippins? I just got off the phone with him. He remembers you and says he'll be in touch soon.
Maryann: 'My husband purchased 'Shrunken Heads' from the CD store in the mall. He listened to it on the way home and all day long. Finally he let me take it and listen to it in the car on the way to work. All I can say is - wow. I love it when music/lyrics move me and this one did for sure. Telling my friends.' Nice one.
John O'Rourke: 'Seen you this year in LA, Anaheim, New Jersey and New York - all great - New York the best. Saw Jack the Mechanic with Rufus Wainwright last week in Dallas. Rufus led the crowd singing Happy Birthday to Jack. Jack's role is different in Rufus' band. What do you think of Rufus?' Jack gave me some of Rufus' stuff. He's very good; different neck of the woods to me but good.
Stay tuned for Part 2 ...
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