Personnel includes: Ian Hunter (vocals), Cornell Dupree, Gerry Weems (guitars), Dominic Cortese (accordion), David Sanborn (saxophone), Arnie Lawrence (trumpet), Dave Bargeron (trombone), Lew Soloff (trumpet), Chris Stainton (keyboards, bass), Jaco Pastorius (bass, guitar), Aynsley Dunbar (drums), Don Alias (percussion), Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Ann E. Suton, Erin Dickens, Gail Kantor, Bob Segarini (background vocals).
Two years removed from Mott the Hoople, and hot on the heels of a popular solo debut and the rousing British hit single "Once Bitten, Twice Shy," Ian Hunter abruptly switched gears for the lighter, more jazzified ALL AMERICAN ALIEN BOY. The move was surely partially in reaction to the sudden departure of his frequent collaborator, guitarist Mick Ronson; however, the music within gives away an artist confidently exploring new and fertile fields. The standout track, and unsurprisingly still a live showstopper decades later, is "Irene Wilde," a soaring anthem about childhood dreams of limitlessness: it's a well-trodden path, Hunter nonetheless imbues the song with such earnest majesty it feels new.
