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Ian Hunter led a rock and roll life - and his voice seems to capture all the highs and all the lows.

As a singer, Hunter paid his dues. He spent 13 years in England working in various local bands with strange names like "Hurricane Henry and the Shriekers" or "At Last The 1958 Rock and Roll Show." His band "Mott the Hoople" achieved some minor success among their fans, but after three years its recording career had gone nowhere. They famously broke up in 1972 - only to receive a song from David Bowie, a fan of the band. After years of struggle, Hunter finally tasted some success.

Hunter's experience gave him credibility, but also a charming humbleness. In "All The Way From Memphis," he sings that "You look like a star, but you're still on parole."
Originally Bowie had offered the band the song "Suffragette City," but they were more interested in Bowie's coming-of-age anthem, "All the Young Dudes." The songs ends with Hunter abandoning the pretense of singing an anthem, and speaking directly to someone he'd spotted in the audience. ("Hey you, there - with the glasses...") During the 1970s, when rock stars were rejected as self-absorbed egotists, Hunter was always welcomed as a kind of working class egalitarian.

Hunter's solo career followed the same pattern - lots of hard work and disappointments, highlighted with some great songs. His first solo record included "Once Bitten, Twice Shy," a rocking number which took on an added personal significance. Hunter joked that he'd earned so little in his career, he might earn more just in royalties from Great White's cover of the song. That was even more true for his 1979 song, "Cleveland Rocks," which became the theme song for "The Drew Carey Show," playing thousands of times as the show went into reruns. But Hunter's own album sales remained slow, even as he won respect throughout music industry. Barry Manilow recorded Hunter's song "Two Ships That Passed In The Night," and during a comeback tour the Monkees even recorded "Every Step of the Way." Ringo Starr eventually brought Hunter into his touring band of
all stars.

Hunter brought a personal touch to everything that he did - and what's most amazing is that Hunter never stopped. In the 70s he wrote out a five-week journal of his life on the road that's stark and personal. His 1976 song "Irene Wilde" remembers being a teenaged boy in the 50s, thanking the woman whose putdown inspired him to "try to be someone someday." Later songs like "Resurrection Mary" offered an eerie sincerity, while "My Revolution" takes a self-mocking look at the 60s. At the age of 62 he offered a remarkable contest to promote his album "Rant." He would bring his band to the winner's house and perform an acoustic set in their living room.

Hunter's playful, laid back voice could communicate sadness as well as excitement. But ultimately it is what it is: the voice of a man who lived his life lived on the stage.

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