IN: 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, on piano and his older brother, Todd Hunter (born 1951), on guitar with Marc providing drums. He also grew up with two younger brothers, Ross and Brett. Hunter remembered, "We got guitars for Christmas one year, I broke mine but Todd played his.

Marc Hunter travelled overseas to recuperate, he visited Morocco and London. Back in Australia he signed a recording deal with CBS, which issued his debut solo album, Fiji Bitter, in November 1979. For the sessions he used Todd on bass guitar, John Annas on drums (ex-Kevin Borich Express), Harvey James on guitar (from Sherbet), and Terry Wilson on guitar (ex-Original Batter-sea Heroes, Wasted Daze). Fiji Bitter was recorded at Studio 301, Sydney with Richard Lush producing and engineering - Hunter wrote or co-wrote most of its tracks. The album's lead single, "Island Nights" (July), peaked at No. 20. He formed Marc Hunter and the Romantics, with Annas and James, to promote the album. Two more singles, "Don't Take Me" (November) and "When You Walk in the Room" (January 1980), appeared - neither reached the top 50. In 1980 Hunter, on lead vocals, formed an R&B group in Sydney, the Headhunters, with Todd on bass guitar (by then ex-Dragon), Kevin Borich on guitar, Mick Cocks on guitar (ex-Rose Tattoo), John Watson on drums (ex-Kevin Borich Express). 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. It was co-produced by Hunter and Todd. Debbie Muir of The Canberra Times, felt it "covered a wide range of material that bore some resemblance to his last album, Fiji Bitter, but was totally different to his old, Dragon days." He had used session musicians: Borich, Dave Mason (of The Reels) and Mark Punch (ex-Renee Geyer Band). Muir's fellow journalist at The Canberra Times, Garry Raffaele, opined that it "is flat, directionless, unexciting, effete rock and roll. It is devoid of feeling." 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 title track, "Big City Talk", was released as a single in July and reached No. 25. Follow up singles, "(Rock'n'Roll is) a Loser's Game" (September), "Side Show" (November) and "Nothing but a Lie" (May 1982) did not chart. In 1981 he formed the Marc Hunter Band and in October they toured Australia with Renee Geyer; the set included a duet by Hunter and Geyer. During 1982 Hunter was working with US-born keyboardist and record producer, Alan Mansfield. In March of that year he was arrested for "$4500 in unpaid parking fines", he described his jail cell as "unbelievably filthy."

Did critics make any comments about Fiji Bitter?

OUT:

IN: "Cross Road Blues" (also known as "Crossroads") is a blues song written and recorded by American blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936. Johnson performed it as a solo piece with his vocal and acoustic slide guitar in the Delta blues-style. The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical talents, although the lyrics do not contain any specific references. Bluesman Elmore James revived the song with recordings in 1954 and 1960-1961.

A crossroads or an intersection of rural roads is one of the few landmarks in the Mississippi Delta, a flat featureless plain between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is part of the local iconography and various businesses use the name, such as gas stations, banks, and retail shops. A crossroads is also where cars are more likely to slow down or stop, thus presenting the best opportunity for a hitchiker. In the simplest reading, Johnson describes his grief at being unable to catch a ride at an intersection before the sun sets. However, many see different levels of meaning and some have attached a supernatural significance to the song. Both versions of the song open with the protagonist kneeling at a crossroads to ask God's mercy, while the second sections tells of his failed attempts to hitch a ride. In the third and fourth sections, he expresses apprehension at being stranded as darkness approaches and asks that his friend Willie Brown be advised that "I'm sinkin' down". The first take of the song, which was used for the single, includes a fifth verse that is not included in the second take. In it he laments not having a "sweet woman" in his distress. The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability. The lyrics do not contain any references to Satan or a Faustian bargain, but they have been interpreted as a description of the singer's fear of losing his soul to the Devil (presumably in exchange for his talent). Music historian Elijah Wald believes that Johnson's verses do not support the idea. Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson promoted himself as having made a deal with the Devil and Southern folklore identifies a crossroads or graveyard as the site of such a pact, which Wald identifies as likely sources of the myth. However, musicologist Robert Palmer points out that Johnson was "fascinated with and probably obsessed by supernatural imagery." His song "Hellhound on My Trail" tells of trying to stay ahead of the demon hound which is pursuing him and in "Me and the Devil Blues" he sings, "Early this mornin' when you knocked upon my door, and I said 'Hello Satan I believe it's time to go'". These songs contribute to the Faustian myth; how much Johnson promoted the idea is debated, although many agree "the 'devil angle' made for good marketing". Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman".

What happens after he asks?

OUT:
The song has been used to perpetuate the myth of Johnson selling his soul to the Devil for his musical ability.