Sometimes great stories about heckling arrive in old books. I am breezing through a book called Diary of a Rock ‘N’ Roll Star by Ian Hunter. Hunter was the lead singer for Mott the Hoople. I’ve covered him before. He went through Toronto just over a year ago with a whole new collection of fine tunes. I did a story on subduing some beer-laden fans.
This book is a simple log of his tour in America in the early 1970s. Stories of hotels, airports, other musical acts and even a visit to the Martin plant in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
The Mott had just launched into a version of Lou Reed’s Sweet Jane. Ian Hunter takes it from here ( Page 58, Independent Music Press)
” …I had to silence the hecklers … We must have been two-thirds of the way through when the music suddenly stopped. I was at the front without guitar, singing with a mike. What the fuck was happening?….Mick shouted something about a bottle hitting his guitar. I jumped off the stage. …Instinct led me to pointing fingers and a guy ran from his seat hurriedly collecting his coat. I screamed at him, ‘Who was it?’ and he pointed the guy out before running for cover. The bloke sat back in his seat. Search spots swooped over the now standing crowd and he looked squarely at me as I swore at him. I knew it was him so I let him have it – right between the eyes. The crowd erupted and Mick started the beat again.”
The trials and tribulations of being a rock star….Hunter even rips his pants climbing back on stage.
Here’s one from a 1973 tour – and a tune they milked…..All the Young Dudes, written by David Bowie.