Top 10 Ian Hunter Songs

Our Top 10 Ian Hunter Songs list celebrates one of classic rock’s greatest singers, songwriters, and enduring characters. If someone asked us to define the term “rock star,” Ian Hunter’s voice, dark glasses, uncompromising attitude, and extraordinary catalog would provide a convincing answer.

This list focuses entirely on Hunter’s solo career. It does not include the remarkable songs he wrote and recorded with Mott the Hoople. Those recordings deserve a separate celebration, while the music Hunter released under his own name offers more than enough material for a list of its own.

Many listeners first discovered Hunter through Mott the Hoople, but his solo career developed into a vast and adventurous body of work. Hunter continued writing and recording long after many artists of his generation had settled into nostalgia, repeatedly proving that rock and roll could remain urgent, intelligent, funny, angry, and emotionally direct.

Born in 1939 and raised in Shropshire, England, Hunter began performing during the 1950s. He learned his craft in dance halls, clubs, and pubs, playing with early groups that included the Apex Group and the Scenery. His time with the Scenery brought him into contact with guitarist Mick Ronson, who would become one of his closest friends and most important collaborators.

Hunter joined Mott the Hoople in 1969 and became the band’s lead singer and principal songwriter. During his years with the group, Mott recorded its biggest hit, “All the Young Dudes,” written by David Bowie. Hunter left Mott the Hoople in 1974.

His self-titled solo debut arrived in 1975 with Mick Ronson on guitar. The album included “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” which became Hunter’s first major solo hit. All American Alien Boy followed in 1976, bringing jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius and an extraordinary group of guest musicians into Hunter’s rock-and-roll world.

Hunter continued with Overnight Angels in 1977 and You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic in 1979. The latter became one of the defining albums of his career, supported by Mick Ronson and members of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. The live album Welcome to the Club followed in 1980, with Short Back ‘n’ Sides arriving in 1981 and All of the Good Ones Are Taken in 1983.

Hunter and Ronson reunited for YUI Orta in 1989. Ronson died from liver cancer in 1993, a devastating loss for Hunter and for rock music. Hunter returned with Dirty Laundry in 1995, recorded in part at Abbey Road Studios, and followed it with The Artful Dodger in 1996.

The politically charged Rant arrived in 2001, beginning another major creative period. Shrunken Heads followed in 2007, Man Overboard in 2009, When I’m President in 2012, and Fingers Crossed in 2016.

Hunter returned in his eighties with two of the most ambitious albums of his solo career. Defiance Part 1 arrived in 2023 with an extraordinary cast of guests, followed by Defiance Part 2: Fiction in 2024. The second collection featured contributions from musicians including Brian May, Joe Elliott, members of Stone Temple Pilots, Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, and the late Taylor Hawkins.

Ian Hunter has never treated songwriting as a former occupation. For him, music has remained something active and necessary rather than a monument to the past. That continuing commitment is central to his appeal. This is rock and roll, and this is Ian Hunter.

Top 10 Ian Hunter Songs

# 10 – Noises

We open our Top 10 Ian Hunter Songs list with “Noises” from the 1981 album Short Back ‘n’ Sides. The record followed the successful You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic and found Hunter experimenting with different production techniques, rhythms, and sonic textures.

Hunter wrote “Noises” with guitarist Tommy Morrongiello, making it the only song on the album not credited solely to Hunter. Morrongiello was an important member of Hunter’s early-1980s band and brought an adventurous guitar sensibility to the recording.

The song is one of the most unusual pieces in Hunter’s catalog. Samples, abrupt shifts, spoken fragments, and layered sounds create an arrangement that reveals something different with each listen.

# 9 – All of the Good Ones Are Taken

“All of the Good Ones Are Taken” was released as the title track from Hunter’s 1983 album. The song moves with an effortless rock-and-roll groove while its lyric balances resignation, humor, and romantic frustration.

The recording features saxophone from Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band legend Clarence Clemons. His playing gives the chorus an additional surge without overwhelming Hunter’s vocal.

The accompanying video became memorable because Hunter appeared without his trademark dark glasses. That detail may seem minor, but fans had grown so accustomed to the shades that seeing him remove them felt like a genuine event.

# 8 – All American Alien Boy

The title track from Hunter’s second solo album plays with the title of Rick Derringer’s All American Boy, but “All American Alien Boy” quickly establishes a character and perspective of its own.

The song reflects the experience of an English musician living in the United States while refusing to fit neatly into the country’s political or cultural divisions. Hunter sounds amused, alienated, and defiant, using the outsider’s position as a source of independence rather than insecurity.

Jaco Pastorius’ fretless bass gives the recording an unmistakable character, while David Sanborn’s saxophone and Aynsley Dunbar’s drumming help push Hunter’s writing into territory far beyond conventional mid-1970s rock.

# 7 – Ships

“Ships” appeared on the 1979 album You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic. Hunter wrote the song about his father, turning the emotional distance between two people into one of the most moving ballads of his career.

Barry Manilow later recorded “Ships” for his album One Voice. His version became a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, introducing Hunter’s songwriting to an audience far beyond his established rock following.

The two arrangements are dramatically different. Manilow’s version builds toward a polished pop climax, while Hunter’s original feels more private, restrained, and fragile. Both demonstrate the strength of the composition.

# 6 – Still Love Rock and Roll

By the time Ian Hunter released Rant in 2001, he had already spent more than four decades playing music. Rather than producing a nostalgic record, he delivered an album filled with political anger, sharp observation, humor, and renewed energy.

“Still Love Rock and Roll” states the central truth behind Hunter’s career. Decades of industry frustration, changing fashions, personal loss, and commercial uncertainty never destroyed his belief in the music itself.

Few artists have sustained that commitment for as long as Hunter. Paul McCartney belongs in the same rare company, continuing to create new work rather than simply repeating earlier triumphs.

# 5 – Central Park n’ West

“Central Park n’ West” opened Hunter’s 1981 album Short Back ‘n’ Sides. The song carries a particular groove found throughout his best work, combining piano-driven rock, street-level observation, and a chorus that sounds equally at home on record or in concert.

Mick Jones of the Clash and Mick Ronson worked on the album’s production, helping give the recording its mixture of rock-and-roll directness and early-1980s experimentation.

The album included guest appearances from Todd Rundgren, Roger Powell, and Ellen Foley. “Central Park n’ West” remains one of its clearest and most immediate statements.

# 4 – You Nearly Did Me In

“You Nearly Did Me In” appeared on All American Alien Boy, an album filled with remarkable musicians. Jaco Pastorius played bass, David Sanborn contributed saxophone, Lewis Soloff played trumpet, Don Alias handled percussion, and Aynsley Dunbar played drums.

The song becomes even more extraordinary through its backing vocals. Freddie Mercury of Queen appears alongside Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen.

Their voices expand the chorus without turning the performance into a novelty. Hunter remains at the center, delivering one of his most vulnerable and beautifully arranged songs.

# 3 – Just Another Night

“Just Another Night” opened our favorite Ian Hunter album, You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic, in 1979. Hunter and Mick Ronson wrote the song, and Ronson’s production gives the recording both polish and raw energy.

Ian Hunter used several members of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band during the sessions. Roy Bittan played piano, Garry Tallent handled bass, and Max Weinberg supplied the drums.

The rhythm section gives “Just Another Night” tremendous momentum, while Ellen Foley contributes forceful backing vocals. The result is a perfect album opener and one of Hunter’s strongest straight-ahead rock songs.

# 2 – Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Hunter released “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” on his self-titled debut album in 1975. The song reached number fourteen on the UK Singles Chart and became the first major hit of his solo career.

The original recording combines Mick Ronson’s guitar with Hunter’s conversational vocal and a rhythm that gradually builds toward the chorus. The song’s humor and detail make it feel like a story overheard in a bar rather than a carefully manufactured single.

Fourteen years later, Great White recorded a harder and more polished version that reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100. Their interpretation fit the sound of late-1980s hard rock, but Hunter’s original remains the more soulful performance.

The song’s UK chart run began in 1975 and helped establish that Hunter’s creative life would continue well beyond Mott the Hoople.

# 1 – Cleveland Rocks

Returning to You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic, we have chosen “Cleveland Rocks” as our number-one Ian Hunter song. Writing a successful single is difficult; writing an anthem that becomes part of a city’s identity is something else entirely.

Hunter first developed the song as “England Rocks” before reshaping it around Cleveland, a city whose rock audience had supported him and Mott the Hoople. The recording combines pounding piano, hard guitar, handclaps, and a chorus designed to be shouted by thousands of people.

Only a small number of musicians have created rock anthems that reached beyond their original albums. Queen did it with “We Will Rock You.” Metallica did it with “Enter Sandman.” Ian Hunter did it with “Cleveland Rocks.”

The song later reached another generation as the theme associated with The Drew Carey Show, but Hunter’s own recording remains the definitive version. It captures his wit, energy, affection for American rock culture, and complete belief in the transforming power of loud music.

Ian Hunter Studio Albums

Ian Hunter (1975)

All American Alien Boy (1976)

Overnight Angels (1977)

You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic (1979)

Short Back ‘n’ Sides (1981)

All of the Good Ones Are Taken (1983)

YUI Orta (1989)

Dirty Laundry (1995)

The Artful Dodger (1996)

Rant (2001)

Shrunken Heads (2007)

Man Overboard (2009)

When I’m President (2012)

Fingers Crossed (2016)

Defiance Part 1 (2023)

Defiance Part 2: Fiction (2024)

Updated August 6, 2026.

Top 10 Ian Hunter Songs article published on ClassicRockHistory.com © 2026