Search - Mick Ronson :: Indian Summer

Unreleased soundtrack sees the light of day

Gareth Davies-Morris | San Diego, CA USA | 11/16/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"What a pleasure this review is to write. Mick Ronson should need no introduction: producer, top-flight musician, and consummate sideman to David Bowie and Ian Hunter. Sadly, in his short life, he only made two solo albums, plus a third that was completed after his death. Since then he's become a cottage industry, with various posthumous albums, live and studio, collecting up rare and unknown material. This record is one such project, a soundtrack that never saw the light of day once the film got scotched. While that script may never have been made, Mick did record some fine music that's been released at last. Here's the score on the score!



Mostly instrumental for starters, with lots of guitar, so we're all happy. Three tunes were released in different versions elsewhere (China, Midnight Love, & I'd Give Anything To See You), but otherwise you get seven completely new Mick numbers. The instrumentals have a somewhat Tarantino-esque Tex-Mex flavor and are only better for it, with plenty of the squalling slide that was Mick's trademark. The two takes on Satellite rock hard in completely different arrangements, while this version of Midnight Love makes the whole album worthwhile.



The vocal tracks, especially the superb I'd Give Anything..., wouldn't be out of place on his official solo records, being vaguely Bowie-esque ballads that could have used some developing but still hit the mark. A rare gem is "Get On With It," a solo rave-up that sounds like an acoustic take on Route 66 or Johnny B Goode.



Interestingly, the second disc has the same music, interspersed with dialogue from the film (fairly well-produced screen tests, evidently), with what sounds like Bebe Neuwerth in the female lead. The result is a low-budget Psychoderelict, a song cycle with spoken interludes, and while it's not as good as Pete Townshend's album, it still works. The only flaw in that there's not enough of those spoken parts; in the middle, four songs in a row lack such dialogue (not ever recorded perhaps?), so the attempt to recreate the story falls flat. But the music is still great, and the plot's not so hard to fill in anyway.



The package has some informative but still brief liner notes plus artwork that was evidently mocked up for the film. Sadly, no new Mick photos to speak of, so who cares? In short, a mostly instrumental album that, theme-heavy & with sudden fades, sounds like - well, a sound track. Some very good music, with some strong songs, if everything feels understandably unfinished. If you like the original versions of those already released tunes, plus the mood of vintage Mick Ronson tracks like Slaughter On 10th Avenue, Love Me Tender, & Girl Can't Help It, you'll like this record.

"