Gary James' Interview With
Mick Ronson



He first gained international fame and acclaim as David Bowie's guitarist. He then went on to build a solo career for himself, playing in bands with Bob Dylan and Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople) along the way. The team of Mick Ronson and Ian Hunter is back with a new collaboration titled "Y U I Orta" (Polygram Records). Mick took time from his current tour of the States to talk with us about his past, present, and future.

Q - Mick, here you are. A new album. A new tour. Do you ever get tired or bored with what you're doing?

A - Well, you know what I have done, then I haven't done it. For a long time I never bothered going out on the road. That's mainly why Ian and me have worked together off and on. Another reason is that I've traveled around, living in different places. I do tend to get bored with the same thing. I do tend to get up and move. It's just a natural thing for me to do. But right now being on the road with this, 1 feel really good about it. For the first time in years I feel very strongly about my own playing and I'm playing better now, I think, than I have in a very long time. I think Ian's singing better now too. It just feels right to be out there playing again in front of audiences. There was a while ago when I never thought I would do this again.

Q - Why is that?

A - Because I was involved in a lot of production and I seemed to be quite happy doing that. I was getting tired of guitar playing. This was 1980. 1981. I felt like I wasn't offering anything when I was out there playing. I wasn't playing particularly that well, and that was because I was kind of getting bored with it. I seemed to be repeating myself all the time. That's how come I got tired of it. I said, well, I can't do this any longer. I have to do something else. I left and went to live in Canada for a couple of years. And then went to live back in England, and spent some time in Italy with friends, and lived in Nashville for awhile.

Q - So you keep the spirit and energy alive by doing...

A - Number one doing the things you want to do. Having the layoff just makes everything feel fresh again. While I was in Nashville, it just happened one day. I got this real urge that I was gonna go out and play guitar again. I was speaking to Ian and not necessarily directing what I was saying to Ian, but I was saying I'm gonna start playing the guitar again, and I'm going to leave Nashville and get back to New York, and I'm gonna play the guitar. And then that's how we started again.

Q - You've played some large venues in your career, with David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and Mott The Hoople. Tonight you're playing in a club. Is that a come down for you, or is it all the same, whether it's a club or a 20,000 seat arena?

A - For me it's all the same. I mean even if there's ten people there, if ten people really enjoy it, and you enjoy playing to them, that's fine. There is no difference for me from a club to a bigger arena. Sometimes a big arena is a bit of a drag, because it's a bit like a cattle market. It's very impersonal playing in an arena, whereas in a club, it's very much like a one-on-one. I kind of like that feeling. If we did play the arenas I'd like to have more of this intimate feeling inside of it, than just sort of running wildly on the stage and having fireworks and bombs go off, and God knows what else. That's just a spectacle. It's got nothing to do with playing music. Bob Dylan can play a big place and he can make it look like a club. But, I bet Tom Waits could do the same thing.

Q - Is it true you played acoustic guitar on John Cougar Mellencamp's song "Jack and Diane"?

A - Yeah.

Q - Why did he choose you?

A - Well, I've known Johnny for years. It was on my album, and then he was recording the album in Miami and he just called me up and asked me. I helped him on two or three tracks. That was one I helped him to arrange.

Q - When you help out people like Roger McGuinn, David Johnsen (a.k.a. Buster Poindexter) and Ellen Foley with production matters, what exactly is it that you're doing?

A - I think what it is when you do production is that some people need help with the arrangement of songs. Basically, just making sure that what they're doing is sounding right, because when it's your material, sometimes you just don't have that objective point of view about things. As far as production goes, production can be on many different levels. There's a lot of producers that walk into a studio, that don't do a thing. I mean they sort of say. Yes, sir. Yes sir. And they call themselves producers. And then you get other people that are more musical, have a more musical quality, and can help out with the music. I call that more of a producer then those guys that just sort of sit there and don't know anything. When I go in with a band or a solo artist like Ellen Foley, we brought the musicians in. We set up on the floor and then we put the arrangements together. This is how the song should be. This is how one should sing the song. This is the key it should be in. This is what you do. Ellen couldn't play anything. She only sings.

Q - What singer and or musician really knocks you out?

A - I like Neil Young. I buy his records. I think he's really good. I like Jason And The Scorches new album. They got a great new album. I like REM. I like The Replacements. I think they have a good attitude with their music. I like Tom Waits. He's excellent. There's so many people you know. I like a lot of different types of music. I like a lot of European music.

Q - After Bowie temporarily retired, you launched a solo career that was unsuccessful. Why didn't things work out?

A - I never was a singer. I never sort of considered myself a singer. I recorded those albums and sung songs on those albums, and when I was out on the road I was thinking to myself, "Why am I doing this? I don't even know what I'm singing about." I was pretty young at the time and the management said to me, "You know you could be the next David Cassidy." And I fell for it. So that's what they thought. Everything felt pretty exciting to me. But then I found out I really wasn't cut out to be that. I wasn't really cut out to be that front man, singer. I'm more of a musician. Guitar player. Producer. I felt more comfortable in that sort of role. And also, being out there by yourself, it can be pretty tough, too. You gotta answer all your own questions. It appears to be that people who are successful have always got this other person with them. There's always this team work. It seems to be the best way. Right now it's me and Ian. We work together very well. And two heads are better than one, basically.

Q - What were you doing before you teamed up with David Bowie?

A - I was in a Blues band. It was called The Rats. That's basically all I was doing. I guess what I wanted to become was one of The Rolling Stones. Before that I played Classical music. I played Classical violin, Classical recorder and piano. This is from when I was very young.

Q - Hull, England, where you were born, was that as musical of a town as Liverpool or London?

A - No, it wasn't as musical as Liverpool or London. It was on the East Coast, and a lot of things didn't get to Hull. Liverpool I think was much more of a musical town. Liverpool, Manchester.

Q - One of the criticisms leveled against the music business today is that there are no bands. There's a pool of talent to choose from, and from that pool of talent comes "Bad English" and "The Traveling Wilburys" to name a few. Is this positive or negative when superstars came together in a group situation?

A - I don't see any reason why it can't be a positive thing. It depends on the reason for getting together. If you want to put something together for the sake of going out and try to rake in the cash to shove in your pockets, to almost sort of clean up. I don't think that's how it works. But then again, I don't see something wrong with the Traveling Wilburys. To me their album was a fabulous album. That was great. A great bunch of people. It's not like they're doing it all the time. They've all got their own separate projects going on. It's just that they came together and did this one project, right? I mean there might not be another one. Humble Pie was a similar type of thing. There was a lot of that going on in the late '60s. And some of it worked, and some of it didn't. I think for the most part it didn't. Bad English? I don't know how long they'll last really. I've heard it. They kind of look bored. That's a bit sad. They're only just started. How can you be bored already? That's going no where fast. I got together with Ian not just to come in and clean up. Whether we got the record deal or not, it didn't matter. I was going out to play, and I wanted to play in front of people.

© Gary James. All rights reserved.

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