The Horse’s Mouth
October 10, 2016
Short ‘n’ Sweet – busy!
Whalespoon: Glad you enjoy ‘Flowers’ ‘Fingers Crossed’
Seth Purvin named his fantasy football team ‘Shrunken Heads’!
Bart: ‘Who in the Hollywood Vampires are you close to?’ They were all nice. Ross Halfin and Johnny Depp put it together.
Ian Mack: ‘Ever had to dump a song because it was too close to somebody elses?’ If it’s unintentional; I’m cool with it.
David Rich: Box set is limited to 2500. That’s it – forever.
Pete: ‘Why have all my favourite musicians turned out to be A.holes? You write great lyrics – you’re communist prick.’ Ain’t too keen on juggling the free world. By the way – I’m center – it’s pretty civilized, but sparse around here.
Carl wants the stuff he hasn’t got on ‘Stranded in Reality’ cheaper. I get it, but it was too far gone by the time this came up.
Karl Ballantine: Fine with me – just a question of where and when and how. Travelling a lot at the moment.
Peter Jordan: ‘How important are good reviews to you?’ Well, usually that’s about all I get out of it, so they must be important! It sometimes makes you feel worthwhile, especially if they’re well researched.
Tom McGarry: ‘Any chance of ‘Laugh At Me’ on the set list?’ There’s always a chance.
Sara: ‘Hope you’re hangin’ in there.’ It’s the bloody traffic.
Steve P: ‘Bucket list – shake Ian’s hand in Ann Arbor, Michigan.’ Fine with me.
Tina wants ‘No One’ next time round.
John Von Reine: ‘Ha Gerry Weems was with Bonaroo! I not only saw them live, but I saw them open for you.’
Charlie Lohr: Your biggest fans from North Carolina coming to Washington, Atlanta and Cats Cradle.’ Enjoy!
Neil Snowdon: ‘What’s the playlist for the UK tour?’ Dunno
Liz: Going through it – see you in LA.
Tamara Guo: ‘ ‘Irene Wilde’ in Nashville? I’ts my birthday.’
John Dalton: No – never did play with Les Paul. Did I ever play one in the studio? Yup. ‘Any interest in the ‘Iridium’ in NYC?’ Of course, but I’ve been hanging out with our friends at the Winery of late.
Stevie P. – ‘Forgot, would like ‘Teachers’ at Ann Arbor.’
Keith Nickless: ‘Who inspires you musically at the moment?’ No one – but then again – I don’t get out much.
Mark: ‘Any chance of ‘Diary’ being republished?’ Negotiating as we speak.
Peter Johnson: passion.
John Caswell: We opened for the J. Geils Band last year. They were lovely. (Narrows was fun.)
Michael Wolf: We prefer a Mercedes Sprinter. Buses are union – drivers can only drive so long and they are only parkable in specific places. Never met Roger McGuin; like some of his stuff.
Tom Boone’s a policeman! Says ‘Bow Street’ is a positive police song and says ‘Fingers Crossed’ is terrific. Thank You!
Buck Stanley: ‘Love the new stuff. Hoping you make Southern Cal.’
Peter Jordan – only thing that needs to be said of ‘Fingers Crossed’ thanks! More please – keep on keeping on?’ Dunno.
Andreas Schwender: Coming from Germany for two shows. Wants ‘Bastard’ and ‘Cleveland Rocks’. You never know.
Chris – on ‘happy accidents’. To tell you the truth, most songs come from accidents. One that immediately comes to mind is ‘Dead Man Walkin” from the Rant album. My fingers slipped on the piano and the bum note turned out to be fortuitous.
Cheryl: If you see me – just ask me to sign it and I’ll do it. Not big on meet ‘n’ greets.
Alistair Talbot: Yup. My eldest, Steve, was born in 13 Fife Street; the rent was 3 quid a week.
Kevin: ‘Fingers Crossed’ is simply brilliant. My worry is – how do you better it?’ You don’t try to better it – you just write some more songs until you’re happy with them, and that’s the next record. There is no better or worse – just different. Circumstances can have a lot to do with it.
Ian Mack: What venue have you never played that you would like to?’ Never really thought about it. ‘Of the many you have, what is your favourite?’ Hammersmith Odeon comes to mind. And the worst?’ I remember one gig in Allentown that was pretty bad. I don’t know if it was us or them. They were very enthusiastic, but the venue was horrible.
Steve Parsons: Really enjoying the new album.
Vic Pyle wants us in Canada.
Joe Natiello sent an email to WFUV’s Darren DeVivo saying Joe thought WFUV gave Ian Hunter incredibly short shrift – they never played a track from ‘President’. Darren DeVivo sent an email saying he was an IH fan, but unfortunately, people above him are not. This is symptomatic of the lazy attitude displayed by todays music biz in the U.S. They want a label to romance them. I don’t have a U.S. deal. I could have had a U.S. deal, but the offers were ridiculous. Indies are no different these days to the majors. They want to give you a pittance – way under what the album actually cost me to make – and then sit on the record until they amass a catalog – which they then sell at a handsome profit. I’ve been on these labels – no more. This record is special. I only want it with people who appreciate music. The offers I got did not involve actually listening to the record! They didn’t care if it was good, bad or indifferent. The U.S. music biz is composed of people who sit in offices with no real knowledge of music. They stink – and everybody knows it. If you can find me an American label half as good a Proper in the UK, I’ll do it – but they’re not out there. They’re killing it.
Iain Moss can’t take ‘Fingers Crossed’ off the turntable.
Gary Sawruk: ‘New album sooooo good.’ Band sound great.
David Spencer: You’re in the right area – ‘there’s no blue plaque on the wall.’ They’ve probably never heard of me – heavy soul/disco area.
Bill Lescohier: ‘ ‘All American Alien Boy’ on satellite.’ Yeah, Sirius have been good to me – they know what they’re doing.
Richie: ‘Come to Vienna.’ (I just did an interview for Wein.)
Jimmy Ringland wants ‘Overnight Angels’ and ‘Golden Opportunity’ in Atlanta. I’m afraid he is going to be disappointed.
Lou DePace: ‘Hoping for World Café’ Not this time round.
Keith Hollinshed: ‘What a great album.’ Thanks.
Edward Shirley: ‘Is your house really in the countryside?’ Yup.
Ricky B: ‘Rant Band or solo in Glasgow?’ Rant Band on all European gigs.
Constance: ‘Saw a billboard notice today announcing the launch of Google’s new messaging app. It’s called ‘allo – you should get a royalty percentage on the downloads.’
Ere tuldyfunxipn: Water on tour? Poland Spring and Moet.
Scott: We nicked it off Greig.
Bob: Friars was ahead of its time. Stopsy had good taste in booking bands at that time for that venue.
Williamhoughtailing: I don’t think it was Amazon’s fault. We were late getting them from the manufacturer to Amazon. They have them now. Sorry about this.
Hal Freiman: ‘Congratulations on a great new release.’
Alan Goldsmith: ‘Golden Age’ gets played sometimes. I don’t do meet and greets.
Dave Shaw loves ‘Bow Street Runners’.
Peter Jordan: ‘Is the echo of ‘Ballad of a Thin Man’ deliberate?’ Yup.
Owen Kelly: Thank you.
Phil Grant: ‘Your best and most complete album ever.’ Thank you.
Tom Green: ‘What did you make of Blackstar?’ Haven’t heard it yet.
David Rykena: ‘How cool would it be with the Cleveland Indians in the playoffs for you to throw a first pitch out at a game while ‘Cleveland Rocks’ blasts over the sound system?’ That actually came up a while back – I forget what happened.
Steve Kirsch: ‘Moon Upstairs’ gets played now and again. You never know.
Mark Mulcahy: The Rant Band consists of: Steve Holley (drums); James Mastro (colour guitar); Mark (MC) Bosch (lead guitar); Paul Page (bass) and Dennis DiBrizzi (keyboards).
Alan: ‘Any chance of ‘Saint’ in the set?’ Could be.
Phil Waller: ‘Great sounds on the new album. Met my wife on one of your gigs – married 35 years.’ Beat you by 10.
Matt: ”Fingers Crossed’ astonishes me.’ Goodho!
Col Spikings: ‘Love ‘Fingers Crossed’ – looking forward to Holmfirth. Same here and the band love going to England.
Karen Bennett: Don’t do meet ‘n’ greets, but if you see me – say hello – I don’t bite!!
Tall Paul: I wrote ‘Once Bitten’; ‘Death of a Nation’; and a few others in open G tuning. The set is down a half step – a lot of bands do it. Sound is ‘wider’ and is easier on the vocals.
Frank Carillo (he of ‘Central Park and West’ no less!!) ‘Bought ‘Fingers Crossed’. Great as usual – soulful – love it!’ Nice one, Frank.
Simon Brown: ‘Love the album – any plans for Paris?’ The French don’t seem to get me. Johnny Halliday has a lot to answer for!! (Good actor though – I hasten to add!)
Please forgive the ‘briskness’ of this particular HM.
Spread the word about ‘Fingers Crossed’ if you get a chance and we’ll keep plugging away.
Thanks for all your support.
A VERY busy
IH
THE HORSE’S MOUTH
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