Mick Ronson, one of the great North Eastern guitars heroes was from Hull and although we love him for his thick growling tone and his exquisite lead solos he was also an in demand arranger, producer and accomplished piano player. See the post here where Lou Reed talks about Ronson and vice versa.

http://indeepmusicarchive.net/2013/10/lou-reed-talks-mick-ronson-mick-ronson-talks-lou-reed/

In this clip we see Ronson as songwriter (along with Scott Richardson) singer and front man. This song from his debut album Slaughter On Tenth Avenue has him sounding like a cross between Bowie and Eno crashing a party at Gary Numan’s house with John Foxx. That is possibly why when Human League heard this song they figured it might translate well into an electronic format. (Their first album Reproduction failed to chart but their second album Travelogue featuring this track went to No.16. in the UK.

It’s an unusual song, a simple rhythm but the melody careers off into strange directions. It’s as if the song was meant to be written five years later but Ronson grabbed it from the air on it’s way to the future. Sadly, he died way too young of liver cancer in 1993, he was just 46 years old.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Ronson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughter_on_10th_Avenue_(Mick_Ronson_album)