Marc Hunter

Marc Alexander Hunter (7 September 195317 July 1998) was a New Zealand rock and pop singer, songwriter and record producer. He was the lead vocalist of Dragon (1973–11/1979, 8/1982–1989, 1995–11/1997), a band formed by his older brother, Todd Hunter, in Auckland in January 1972. They relocated to Sydney in May 1975. He was also a member of the Party Boys in 1985. For his solo career he issued five studio albums, Fiji Bitter (November 1979), Big City Talk (August 1981), Communication (September 1985), Night and Day (August 1990) and Talk to Strangers (late 1994). During the 1970s Hunter developed heroin and alcohol addictions and was incarcerated at Mt Eden Prison in Auckland in 1978. He was recklessly outspoken and volatile on-stage. In November 1978, during the band's American tour, supporting Johnny Winter, they performed in Dallas, Texas, where "he made some general stage observations about redneck buddies, illegal oral sex and utility trucks" and called the audience members "faggots". Upon his return to Australia, in February 1979, he was fired from the group by his brother, Todd.

In August 1982, Hunter returned to the line-up of Dragon and continued with the group while also maintaining his solo career. The band included Craig Laird on lead guitar (currently of 1927) and Steve Boyd on drums (ex-Adam Brand). They disbanded in November 1997 when he was diagnosed with throat cancer, and he died on 17 July 1998. Benefit concerts were held to provide for his widow, Wendy Hunter, and children. On 1 July 2008, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) inducted Dragon into their Hall of Fame. His biography, Chasing the Dragon: the Life and Death of Marc Hunter, was published by Jeff Apter in October 2011.

Early life Marc Alexander Hunter was born in Taumarunui on 7 September 1953. In the late 1950s his family performed publicly, where his father, Stuart, played saxophone; his mother, Voi, played piano; and his older brother, Todd Hunter (born 1951), played guitar, with Marc providing drums. He also grew up with two younger brothers, Ross and Brett. He described his home town, "[it] was a great place to grow up in, and a great place to run away from, because you always knew you could go back to it and nothing much would have changed. It was the place where our parents always told us to 'Do what you want to do, just try and be happy doing it.'" Hunter also provided drums and vocals as a member of a band, Quintessence, which performed at a restaurant in Auckland.

Music career 1970–79: Dragon

In 1973, Hunter issued a solo single, "X-Ray Creature" (1973), on the Family Records label. About a year later the group "played in the next room to [Marc] one night, and he came through and did some songs ... I think we were playing for a really tough crowd of dock-workers, it was really tough and he just swanned in and was excruciatingly funny and completely irreverent. We just thought this guy's great – he's even madder than us, we must get him!" The band recorded two progressive rock albums for Vertigo Records, their guitarist, Robert Taylor later recalled "[our gigs] weren't totally original, they were doing things like Santana and Doors songs... At that stage Marc Hunter was playing congas and I think a little bit of sax." They moved to Sydney in May 1975. They supported Status Quo on their Australian tour in October 1975. Their related top 10 albums, were Running Free (No. 6, 1977) and O Zambezi (No. 3, 1978). Todd later explained, "He was demonic... Things like Dallas happened all the time. The 'Miss Mercy' mock rape thing lasted until these feminists started getting up and punching him in the face. Most of the time I wasn't drinking or anything and, from my perspective, this Fall of the Roman Empire thing was pretty wild. I hated a lot of it. People came along because they wanted to see Dragon decombust. They were enjoying it but Marc was just killing himself. We had to fire him or he'd have destroyed himself." Back in Australia he signed a recording deal with CBS, which issued his debut solo album, Fiji Bitter, in November 1979. The album's lead single, "Island Nights" (July), peaked at No. 20. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described them as "an ad hoc aggregation of musicians who were drawn together by a love of playing raucous R&B". Hunter resumed his solo career with his second album, Big City Talk, which appeared in August 1981 on PolyGram/Mercury labels. He had used session musicians: Kevin Borich, Dave Mason (of the Reels) and Mark Punch (ex-Renée Geyer Band).

On working as a solo artist, he declared, "I am happier now on my own. I was in a wretched state of mind when I was in the band... I miss the camaraderie involved but then I prefer to make my own decisions." The line-up of Hunter, Kevin Borich on guitar, Paul Christie on bass guitar (ex-Mondo Rock), Richard Harvey on drums (ex-Divinyls) and Joe Walsh on guitar and lead vocals (of the Eagles), recorded that group's fourth live album, You Need Professional Help (1985), during the tour. He had felt unwell, "One doctor told Marc he probably had tonsillitis and sent him home. Unsatisfied with this diagnosis, Marc visited a throat specialist. 'The doctor felt around my throat, and said, "You have a large cancer." I sort of didn't hear anything for a minute. I was stunned. I just sat there.'" At the induction ceremony they were joined on-stage by James Reyne and Ian Moss to perform "April Sun in Cuba" and "Rain":

Personal life Annie Burton, a rock music writer for Rock Australia Magazine, had a nine-year domestic relationship with Marc Hunter from mid-1975. By the mid-1980s, they had separated and shared custody of their child. In 1985, he shared a house with Renée Geyer.

In the late 1980s, Hunter married Wendy Heather, a fashion designer, and the couple had two children, Isabella and Jackson. Live performances by various artists were also released as a DVD of the same name. She was a contestant on season four of the Australian version of The X Factor, in August 2012 but she was eliminated before the finals.

In October 2011 Hunter's biography, Chasing the Dragon: the Life and Death of Marc Hunter, was published by Jeff Apter. However, she felt that Apter's presentation was "a utilitarian read that feels like it's been knocked out pretty quickly... Hunter is never likeable, or even knowable. He got lost early on, from the minute Dragon hit Sydney and heroin in 1975 and Apter does not find him." Apter portrayed Hunter as someone who "could be a horrendous human being, some sort of supernatural charisma the only explanation for the almost universal love for the larger-than-life antipodean superstar. Heroin, booze and women feature in equally gargantuan proportions"; however, the biography, "lacks the real passion that underpins some of the great rock books."

Solo discography Albums +List of Albums, with release date and label shown Title Album details Peak chartpositions AUS Fiji Bitter Released: November 1979 Label: CBS Format: LP, Cassette 54 Big City Talk Released: August 1981 Label: Mercury Format: LP, Cassette 54 Communication Released: September 1985 Label: Polygram Format: LP, Cassette - Night and Day Released: July 1990 Label: ABC Music Format: LP, CD 54 Talk to Strangers Released: 1994 Label: Roadshow Music Format: LP, CD 116 Forever Young: The Solo Recordings 1979-1995 Released: 2000 Label: Raven Records Format: CD Compilation -

Charting singles + List of promotional singles, with selected chart positions

ARIA Music Awards The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Dragon were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008. 1991 Night & Day Best Adult Contemporary Album 2008 Marc Hunter (as part of Dragon) ARIA Hall of Fame