Ringo Starr - Live in Texas - 6. Cleveland Rocks (Ian Hunter) video free download

Billy Bob's Texas, Fort Worth, August 18th 2001.

"Cleveland Rocks" is a rock song by Ian Hunter from his 1979 album You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic. The song is seen as a de facto anthem in Cleveland, Ohio. The song was played every Friday at 6:00 PM on Cleveland radio station WMMS beginning in 1979 and is sometimes used as a victory song for the city's sports teams. In recognition of "Cleveland Rocks", Hunter was given the key to the city by Cleveland mayor Dennis Kucinich on June 19, 1979.

The song was inspired in part by the songwriter's desire to counteract the poor reputation of a city for which he had some affection. Hunter states on his web site, "the inspiration for 'Cleveland Rocks' goes back to the old days when people used to make fun of Cleveland. Cleveland was 'uncool' and LA and NYC were 'cool'. I didn't see it that way. Lotta heart in Cleveland."

The song was first released in 1977 under the title "England Rocks" on a single in the United Kingdom, predating the release of the "Cleveland" version by two years. Hunter has maintained, however, that Cleveland was the original subject of the song, stating on his web site, "I originally wrote 'Cleveland Rocks' for Cleveland. I changed it later to 'England Rocks' because I thought it should be a single somewhere and Columbia wouldn't release it as a single in the U.S. (too regional). 'Cleveland Rocks' is Cleveland's song and that the truth."

A live version of "Cleveland Rocks" appears on Hunter's 1980 album Welcome to the Club and on the soundtrack to the 1987 film Light of Day, a movie with Joan Jett and Michael J. Fox that is based in Cleveland.

The "England Rocks" version appears on the compilation albums Shades of Ian Hunter: The Ballad of Ian Hunter and Mott the Hoople and The Very Best of Ian Hunter, as well on the CD re-issue of Hunter's 1977 album Overnight Angels.