Saturday December 18, 2021 “All the Young Dudes” Mott the Hoople
I guess Mott the Hoople would easily have fit into the week of strange band names but here they are as the closing piece to our week in search of eternal youth with a song written by yesterday’s David Bowie.
Mott the Hoople was one of the great also-rans in the history of rock & roll. Even with a number of album rock hits in the early '70s, the band never quite broke through into the mainstream but their heavy metal, glam rock provided the groundwork for punk bands like The Clash to follow.
At the center of Mott the Hoople was multi-instrumentalist and lead vocalist Ian Hunter accompanied by guitarist Mick Ralphs, who when he left Mott would form the band Bad Company. Mott the Hoople’s debut album contained tunes as varied as Sonny Bono’s ( the Sonny half of Sonny & Cher) almost hit “Laugh at Me” and a raucous instrumental version of the Kinks “You Really Got Me”.
Just as the band was about to break up because of its lack of success David Bowie intervened and offered them “Suffragette City”, which the band refused, but asked for “All the Young Dudes” which would be a ‘hit’ for Mott the Hoople on album oriented rock stations.
Oh yeah the band name …it’s taken from a 1967 book, Mott the Hoople by Willard Manus…you can buy it on Amazon should you have any interest. It received four plus stars from 67% of those who read it but you’ll need to spend $143 to buy it.
Stay safe and well…all you young dudes.