Mott the Hoople signed to Island Records in 1969 but met with little commercial success and were ready to give it up and go their separate ways. They had an enthusiastic supporter in David Bowie who urged them to give it one more go. He offered them a new song he had written, “Suffragette City” but the band turned it down. Determined to push them to success, Bowie wrote a new song the band, “All the Young Dudes” and produced the song and their next album.
“All the Young Dues” became a hit and their signature song. That’s Mick Ralphs on the glam guitar, he went on to co-found Bad Company. Ian Hunter, one of the most underrated singers of the rock era, took the lead vocals.
A bit of trivia: the band name comes from Guy Stevens, their A and R guy at Island Records. He spent some time in prison for a drug offense which gave him plenty of opportunity to read. One the books he liked: Willard Manus’s novel Mott the Hoople, about an eccentric who works in a circus freak show.
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