Hunter (aka Dragon) - Dreams of Ordinary Men (1987) + Bonus Tracks

(New Zealand 1973 - 1979, 1982 - 1998)

Marc Hunter was a singer and songwriter from New Zealand, who had several international rock hits as the lead singer of the rock band Dragon.  His on-stage persona could have given Jim Morrison and Freddie Mercury each a run for their money.  His hard-partying lifestyle reached both the excesses of rock stardom, only to morph into one of the most respected performers in Oceania.

In the early 1970’s, Dragon was a progressive rock band, emulating the sound of groups like Jethro Tull and Blodwyn Pig. They recorded two albums, Universal Radio and Scented Gardens for the Blind, which were hits among the Kiwi hippie and art-rock crowds.  Eventually songs like “Vermillion Cellars” (yes, it’s a pun on “for million sellers”) rocketed to the top of the New Zealand pop charts.

Next stop – Australia.  After two years of touring and performing in smoky bars and clubs, sometimes receiving only plates of mincemeat for the night’s pay, Dragon signed their first major label contract with CBS Records.

Marc Hunter

Immediately the band developed a litany of Oz Rock hits – “This Time,” “Get That Jive,” “Sunshine” – and two chart-toppers, “April Sun in Cuba” and “Are You Old Enough.”  The band appeared on the nation’s top music program Count Down, and nationwide tours were sold out at every stop.

By November 1978, Dragon was on tour in the United States, as the supporting act throughout the Southwest for Johnny Winter.   The pairing couldn’t have been worse if Judas Priest opened for Amy Grant. Try as they might, Dragon couldn’t win over the blues-loving crowd, and the audience’s heckling got to Marc. “The Johnny Winter tour was the most incongruous thing ever,” said Todd Hunter in a 1996 interview I wrote for Goldmine. “That was a trial by fire. And Marc was incredibly controversial on stage. People would be throwing buckets of ice and boots, everything, at the stage. He’d be waving across at the fallback monitors, saying ‘More, more noise,’ putting his finger up in the air, saying ‘I want more fallback,’ and the people on the side of the stage, down the front, would think he was flipping them the bird.”

When the tour rolled into Austin, things went from bad to worse. Dragon took the stage, performed three of their biggest Australian hits to a largely hostile audience, then Marc went straight into attack mode with the crowd.  He essentially questioned the audience’s parentage and family trees – and within seconds, beer bottles and ice buckets sailed from the crowd to the stage, and the band ran for their lives. But not Marc. “Marc waded out to the front tables,” said Todd, “assumed a crucifixion pose, and crap rained in across the footlights. It was like the Sex Pistols tour. Johnny Winter’s roadies would take bets about who was going to shoot him first. And after we finished our support spot in the concert, they’d come in with buckets and mops to clean the whole stage off. That was the tenor of our American tour.”

Marc and Dragon parted ways in 1979, but Marc would later embark on a successful solo career.  He also left his days of alcohol and drugs behind, finding new faith in a clear mind.  By 1982, Marc Hunter returned to his old band, and a new crop of hits dominated the radio stations – “Rain,” “Magic,” “Dreams of Ordinary Men,” “Western Girls,” “Young Years,” etc.

Eventually Dragon went back on another worldwide tour, this time opening for Tina Turner at a string of well-received European concerts.  At one time or another, Dragon’s roster of musicians included Keith Urban – Terry Chambers of XTC, Doane Perry of Jethro Tull, and country music guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel, and even changed their name to 'Hunter' [extract from chuckthewriter.blog]

Hunter (aka Dragon)

Hunter was the moniker adopted by Dragon when in the second half of the '80s their record company bet on the band's international success. In 1985, Polydor flew the band to New York to work with Todd Rundgren as producer for their new album "Dreams Of Ordinary Men". With a big budget at hand, the result was a glossy recording which enhanced the already melodic, light AOR essence of most the songs. The album was released in Australia in 1986 as Dragon on the cover.

But Dragon's label & management decided to launch the band as the new 'Aussie phenomenon', and not only switched the name to Hunter (last name of founder Todd Hunter and his bro, iconic vocalist Marc), but also ordered the remix of the whole thing to turning it more appealing worldwide.

This entire move in Dragon's direction resulted in two interesting sides: some of the songs ended with a wonderful, elegant light AOR sound, some others with an insipid pop taste.

Now the LP "Dreams Of Ordinary Men", the Hunter version, is a mixed bag, containing both good and weaker  tracks - although the good tracks are really good.

Opener and title track "Dreams Of Ordinary Men" is one of these, driven by a pumping bass line, catchy guitars - at charge of talented Tommy Emmanuel, and truly great vocals by Marc Hunter, with the characteristic tone that made him famous. 

"Speak No Evil" has a 'Movie Soundtrack' feel, with heavily processed drums and synth stabs. I absolutely love this one. "Nothing To Lose" is a fine pop ballad, as it is the acoustically filled "Smoke".   Another favorite is the TOTO-ish gem "Western Girls", plenty of terrific melodies, an in crescendo pre-chorus and a bright, wonderful main chorus. It's a very '80s AOR tune, and a very good one indeed.

But what makes this 'Hunter' release really kick arse is the last track on Side1 - "Rain".  "Rain" was originally released on Dragon's 1984 album 'Body And The Heat', however the slightly longer remix presented here is in my opinion far superior.  

The remaining tracks (mostly the second half of the album) are just average pop songs in my opinion, although the choruses in "Temptation" and the riffs present in "Midnight Sun" are quite catchy.

"Dreams Of Ordinary Men" as 'Hunter' appeared one year later in 1987 and was released in USA / Europe with different covers (as shown below L-R ) [extracts from hardrockaorheaven.blogspot.com]

Note that the 1986 album release (as Dragon) had a different track running order and "Love Don't Stop" was included instead of "Rain".   The CD release of Hunter's 1987 release included this track along with 2 other bonus tracks "Start It Up" (the B-side to the single "Dreams Of Ordinary Men") and "When I'm Gone" (the B-side to "Western Girls").  For your enjoyment, I am including all 3 of these tracks here.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my near 'mint' vinyl (recently purchased in New Zealand at a record store in Auckland) and includes full artwork for vinyl and CD formats.

As a special bonus, I am also including a 12" Extended Version release of the album title track and B-Side "Start It Up", also in FLAC format (with thanks to Ozzie Musicman).

Track List

01 - Dreams Of Ordinary Men

02 - Speak No Evil

03 - Nothing To Lose

04 - Western Girls

05 - Rain

06 - Temptation

07 - Midnight Sun

08 - Intensive Care

09 - Forever And Ever

10 - Smoke

11 - Start It Up (bonus track)

12 - When I'm Gone (bonus track)

13 - Love Don't Stop (bonus track)

Hunter were:

Vocals – Marc Hunter

Guitars – Tommy Emmanuel

Bass, Vocals – Todd Hunter

Drums – Doane Perry

Keyboards, Producer – Alan Mansfield

Guitar, Backing Vocals, Producer – Todd Rundgren

Additional Musicians:

Todd Rundgren : Guitars & Backing vocals

Lenny Pickett : Sax

Gary Window : Sax

Robert Taylor : Guitars*

Kerry Jacobson : Drums*

Paul Hewson : Keyboards*

*On "Rain" Only

Hunter Link (415Mb)