One of the best live bands who did have Queen as support .They weren't a one hit wonder .The singer Ian Hunter is still around and until recently was still touring .
When Bowie heard they were going to break up the band, Bowie gave them this song , which was supposed to be on the Ziggy Stardust LP, and offered to produce them. A great album, with a super cover of Sweet Jane.✌️❤️🎶
Great reaction.. thank you for sharing this ‘not so well known’ tune. Did you know that Mott the Hoople had a very knew band called Queen open for them during a UK tour in the 70s? I believe Queen may have also opened for them at some of their mid-70s US tour as well. Surviving members of this group played at Freddie’s celebration concert in 1992; they played with Bowie.
Yes they opened the american tour in 74. Also…if you look up ian hunter’s song “you nearly did me in” you can hear queen clearly singing backing vocals…
As a kid, I thought this song was done by The Beatles because it reminded me of the end of Hey Jude. It wasn't until later my uncle told me it was Mott The Hoople. Then learned David Bowie had wrote and produced this song. Such a catchy hooky chorus. Great song. Well chosen Cosmo. 👍👍👍
Love Mott The Hoople. Great guess on Dylan or Bowie. Bowie gave Mott this song when they broke up and gave them life for 3 more Fantastic Albums before they broke up for good. Bowie Also produced this album for Mott Then when Bowie was touring on the Ziggy Stardust album , He brought Mott out as the Opening Band. And yes Mott lead singer Ian Hunter was a big Dylan Fan. PS. Mott’s next 2 Albums , Mott The Hoople had Aerosmith & Queen as Opening Acts on Mott the Hoople Headlining Tours.Great Reaction as Always
The first time I saw Queen was as Mott’s support band, Memphis, Tennessee April 20, 1974. Later Queen guitarist Brian May wrote ‘Now I’m Here’ about that tour, which introduced Queen, live, to America, with a line in homage to Mott- ‘down in the city just Hoople and me.’ Pronounced Who-ple, btw. Mott was and still is underrated- they have some great songs including ‘All the Way From Memphis’, ‘Honaloochie Boogie’, ‘Sucker,’ ‘Ready For Love/After Lights’ and more. Brian (now Sir Brian May) and Queen drummer Roger Taylor are still friends with Mott’s lead vocalist Ian Hunter, and there’s a fabulous live performance on YT with Brian joining Mott onstage for ‘Dudes’. Bowie also did his own version(s) which he often sang at his concerts. Thank you for doing this song- a whole lot of reactors don’t know what they’re missing!
It's HOO (WHO) PLE not Hupple. I wouldn't call Mott a one hit wonder. They were pretty popular in their day. Lead singer Ian Hunter went on to release some pretty good albums himself.
All The Way From Memphis and Roll Away The Stone off the top of my head were both bangers too. The Golden Age Of Rock & Roll is another that at least flirted with the charts.
@@sharonsnail2954 The American market is the only one that matters in this regard. Virtually every talented and ambitious rock band from England during the '60s and '70s defined their own success as "making it big in America".
The band was originally named Silence but when Guy Stevens at Island Records signed them, he made 2 changes: replacing the original vocalist with Ian Hunter (the original guy became their road manager - LOL) and giving them their new name, Mott The Hoople, from the title of the novel about a freak show circus that Stevens read while in prison on a drug offense. You can't make this stuff up.
"All the Way From Memphis" is another _great_ Mott the Hoople song that not only succeeded on AOR radio but was used by Martin Scorsese over the opening credits of his 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore."
Another song that's engraved in my memory. Mott was Mott and they seemed part of the time in music history. Including Bowie. I hadn't known about the writing and gift to Mott the Hoople. Thanks so much, HarriB. Yay for the history. Does sound Bowie-ish, I must say.
Nice one Cosmo, this is one of the songs that I always associate with standing on the terraces at the City Ground at the time it was released (those were the days when we invaded the pitch every match to protest against the Committee and when the "mist rolling in from the Trent" used to stop play because no-one could see anything when it came in over the Trent End). Mott were a great band and this was the stage when they transitioned from being an unsuccessful underground group to one of the most successful glam bands. It's interesting that you mentioned the organ Harri, I think the tone must have led you to think of Dylan because if I'm not mistaken this was played with a single finger because as Ian Hunter said at the time, he wore shades on stage when he played so that no one could see him studying the keyboard to see where he had marked the keys. Other members like Mick Ralphs could also play keyboard but I always associate him more with the guitar. Having said that, "All the Way to Memphis" had a much more complicated piano part but live videos show Hunter with a guitar on that. I know Blue Weaver played keyboards with them for a while and then, of course, there was Morgan Fisher. Hunter had a wonderful rock voice and the band themselves were very talented. Great times.
This was on the Ronco compilation "Good Vibrations" in 1972 or 1973, when I was first discovering AM radio. The second album I owned. There were a handful of incredible songs on the record, but this was the best.
I saw Mott The Hoople perform this tune twice in the early 70s. I think Ian's vocals fit the tune to perfectly and I can certainly see your comparison to Dylan in the voicing during the verses. I also saw Bowie perform this song and as as much as I loved (LOVE) Bowie, especially live, even he did not measure up to Ian Hunter on this one. AT one of the shows, I spoke with Ian outside the stage door and his accent was so thick I could hardly understand him. Their album "MOTT" still gets a lot of play on my list.
The Hoople have a bunch of great songs and Ian Hunter the lead singer has a ton of great songs as a solo artist. His first solo lp really sounds Dylanesque. Especially on the song "Laugh At Me" which was written by and originally done by Sonny Bono of Sonny And Cher. For a bangin' tune by Ian is "All American Alien Boy", features the late great Jaco on bass and it thumps. May be considered a bit long but it's a great tune. More Hoople songs to check out are "(Do You Remember) Saturday Gigs", "The Golden Age Of Rock "N Roll", and of course "All The Way From Memphis".
Love this song. I love Bowie's recording too, but I prefer this version. It might because this is what I listened to many, many times in the 23 years before Bowie released his own recording of it.
Cosmo, Oh did this one from Mott The Hoople bring back memories in an instant. This was a brilliant collaboration with David Bowie. A first-rate submission and review by Harri. Today's selections have gotten 2023 off to a great start.
Wonderful reaction!. In interviews, all members the band, Queen, pay homage to Mott the Hoople. They opened for Hoople during tours in the UK and were blown away when the band asked Queen to open for them on their US tour which was the first time Queen went to the US in the early 1970s. All Queen members said they learned so much from the more experienced Mott the Hoople. As one of your commentators said below, the Queen song, "Now I'm Here" has a line, "down in the city just Hoople and me" which shows Queen's total respect for this fantastic band and I believe it relates to that first tour which included New York City. The song was played at almost all of the Queen concerts and was the opening song for Queen's Magic Tour throughout Europe in 1986. The admiration among all of the members of these two bands runs deep. Thanks for sharing this one, HarriBest.
Yeah Mott the Hoople, great little band, hailed from Hereford, where I've been living for the last 30 years. They were struggling and on the point of breaking up when Bowie gifted them this song. It was a smash hit and they stayed together and had a few more. - All the way from Memphis, - Roll away the stone. Honaloochie Boogie. - Ballad of Mott, and Saturday Gigs are also pretty good, but I don't think they troubled the charts. There is a reference in 1st verse about Wendy stealing clothes from Marks and Sparks. That instantly gives it away as UK. It's a nickname for Marks and Spencer, a well known high St department store. Part of the soundtrack to 1972, which was a great year for music. Love it!
Yes, this was written by Bowie. I think he also produced Mott, but not sure. Bowie performs part of this himself in a medley (The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud/All The Young Dudes/Oh! You Pretty things) on the movie The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (link here: th-cam.com/video/ZPxLbMXGGBY/w-d-xo.html ). Something to pay attention to at the end is Ian's exchange with the (real or not) audience to bring a fan up to the stage and kiss them. Kinda hard to make out, but once you notice it, it just makes the song that much funner!
Ian Hunter was worried about the ending as he😮 thought it was a bit boring whilst recognising that the song was a certain hit. As a result he added that rap. Mick Ralphs, later of Bad Company, created the guitar intro. All that said Bowie was a genius and very generous to give this song away. I just think Hunter could deliver it better than him.
Always loved this song. This was gifted by David Bowie to Mott when they were considering whether to break up the band. You should check out All the way from Memphis as well as Ian Hunter's post Mott work. Thanks for the review!
Bowie was a huge fan of MTH. They were a hard driving touring band all over the UK 69 early 70s. They needed a breakthrough number to hit the charts and Bowie wrote this for them. At the time Bowie laid down a demo vocal track for them that was only released later on a MTH box set. I think the first time Bowie released a version was in 74 on his "David Live" album. But Bowie did cover the song in concerts in the early 70s.
This is my genre. Ian Hunter,Mick Ronson,Bowie they were all friends. You should give a listen to TREX and Humble Pie and and and the list goes on and on. 1st time checking you out and I love it ànd you. Thank you.
Yeah Mott where really great. listen to Roll away the stone, Through the looking glass. Or, Alice by them. Ian Hunter was a great song writer. But All the young dudes he and David Bowie wrote together. And once again thank you for listening to Mott the hopple. the sure need to be recogniced. There are other song than All the young dudes. Like Alice. Listen to Rose, Crash street kid´s too, One of the boys, I wish i was your mother. The track i s endless.
Actually Mott the Hoople had six Top 40 hits between 1972 and 1974, so not a one hit wonder. Anything that made the top 40 in the 70's was a HIT as the competition was so great. Mott were a British band and Ian Hunter, the lead singer continued after the band split, linking up with Mick Ronson from Bowie's "Spiders from Mars". David Bowie wrote the song with the intention of putting it on his Aladdin Sane album but gave it to Mott the Hoople instead because he loved the band and wanted to help them "make it" in the business. Great Great song. Mott the Hoople went on to influence many later bands with their raw style of playing yet with great song arrangements. Check out the song Sea Diver both the original and the cover by Down'n'Outz (Joe Elliott of Def Leopard's side project which basically plays Mott the Hoople - pronounced "Hoop al" covers. 🙂 Nice to see they are still being appreciated 50 years on.
No One-Hit Wonders, Mott had a number of hits after this - "All the Way From Memphis", "Honaloochie Boogie", "Roll Away the Stone" and "The Golden Age of Rock & Roll'. Singer Ian Hunter went on to have a great career. Check out his "Shrunken Heads" from 2006. And yes, written by Bowie, but Hunter's very influenced by Dylan.
One hit wonder? All The Young Dudes, Sweet Jane, All The Way To Memphis…. Bowie wrote it. sings background on it,,,, And Cosmo Kramer is the character on Seinfeld 😉
In the spring of 1974 Mott the Hoople became the first rock band to sell out a week of Broadway concerts in New York and ‘Led Zep’ attended Mott’s opening night. Luther Grosvenor was wonderfully philosophical reflecting that, “Led Zeppelin had simply come to Broadway to see THE greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world at that time - MOTT THE HOOPLE!” ‘Ian Hunter ... even his name reeks of rock royalty. The swagger! The shades!
If you get to check out Mott the Hoople again I recommend one of Mott’s other high charting Single called “All the Way From Memphis “. Classic Rock Staple. Piano Guitars Sax and Ian Hunter’s Vocals are on Point
Success in America was the ultimate stick by which bands were measured back then (and even still today). So if they only scored one hit here, they were One-Hit Wonders. It's pretty simple.
@@Cosmo-Kramer Same applies in the UK,for a few years Mott were huge in the UK & had a number of hits,so there was no way I could think of them as one hit wonders,there were bands from the US which are big names over there but hardly known or even totally forgotten in the UK.
David Bowie also did this song in the 70s. I like this version the best, but they are very close , and sound so much alike except for a couple of very small sparts in Bowie's version, I didn't care for. It was a recurring Saxaphone part that just sounded off key, and awkward. This is a really good song, and this is the best version. Thanks, Harri Great stuff
Guvnor, if I had a nickel for every time you said a band sounds like The Beatles, I'd be a rich man. lol But, "All The Young Dudes", tops just about every list you'll find of songs people thought were The Beatles, but were not....and yet you never even mentioned the Fab 4. So, you did not get my first question right, which was basically who did I and many other people think this song was by, particularly when hearing the chorus. I mean, jeepers, I went through the whole decade of the '70s before I found out it was not The Beatles. Imadrummin told me that he, too, was sure it was The Beatles and didn't find out he was wrong 'til many years after its release. Well, congrats, though...you did get the second question correct, the writer was David Bowie, so well done on that. :D Glad you dug the song, and Happy New Year!
I feel like I lost the lottery. Lol Being a huge Beatle fan, I did hear Beatles influence in the chorus but went with Bowie and Dylan. Snooze you lose. Great choice and intro, as usual Cosmo. 👍✌️🎶🎶😊🇨🇦
@@marybaillie8907 Well, fortunately Mary, there was no real money at stake. Lol But yeah, I'm so surprised the Guvnor missed it. I mean, _that_ was the easy question, I thought! Kudos to him for getting the tougher one by IDing Bowie as the writer.
You have a really good ear to figure out this was a song written by David Bowie. I think Bowie didn't think the song had potential and that's why he gave it away. The ironic thing is if you had heard this song in '72 and someone asked you to name the writer you would have been stumped because Bowie didn't really break out until 1972 with the album Ziggy Stardust and even at that time was definitely not a household name. BTW Mott the Hoople turned down Bowie's offer to give them Suffragette City which of course went on to be one of his biggest hits.
Good call! Bowie basically saved Mott’s career by giving them this song when they were about to break up. Later mick ronson joined mott for a short time, then ian humter and ronson broke off and had a long, fruitful partnership. Great stuff…an anthem if ever there was one.
I wouldn't want the characterization of them as a "one hit wonder" to stand unchallenged. You could technically say that about their career in the United States, but it comes off as dismissive. This band was huge in England for a couple of years, Top Ten hits and everything. Before that, they had a rabid cult following in the U.K. and parts of Europe, when they were known largely as a barnburning live act that didn't translate well to records, kinda like Humble Pie, or early KISS. In the United States, they had a similar cult following that was just starting to break big after this song hit, and they broke up when I think they were poised for bigger things. They were also the first real rock band to play a residency on Broadway. This was certainly something that was planned and promoted for the publicity value, but it's a landmark achievement for popular music none the less...I'd say they still maintain a certain level of recognition among the kind of people who would be outraged that they are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...Like me, for example, heh...Oh, nice catch on the Dylan thing...He was a major influence, and their sound was sometimes described as a cross between Dylan and the Stones...
Like it or not, the fact is that the US market prevails over all others _combined._ The primary goal of virtually every rock band coming out of England in the '60s and '70s was to make it big in America. Most of them coveted chart success to go along with radio play, record sales and box office revenue in the states. But some bands, like Led Zeppelin, only cared about the latter three of those measuring sticks. Either way, nearly all English bands with enough talent and ambition to conquer their own country didn't feel like they'd really made it unless they made it in America, as well. And no, a Broadway show doesn't amount to that.
It's funny how you associated that specific organ sound with Dylan. I think you're refering to The Band's Garth Hudson, back in the days when The Band was Dylan's back up band.
The "One hit wonders" moniker is not a UK perspective - Mott had a few other UK hits ("Roll away the stone", "Honaloochie Boogie" etc) as well as this one.
David Bowie wrote this and I always associated it with delivering the papers as a kid. It's a homage to the kids on the blocks that earned a buck or a pound in England delivering messages.
Harri, you'll appreciate this fun fact: The lyrics, "Lucy's stealing clothes from unlocked cars" were written as, "Lucy's stealing clothes from Marks and Sparks," Marks and Sparks being the nickname for the British store Marks & Spencer. Mott ran into the same problem The Kinks had with "Lola": The BCC refused to play songs if they thought it contained lyrics advertising a product. The Kinks had to turn "Just like Coca-Cola" to "Just like cherry cola" at the last minute, and Mott had to get rid of Marks and Sparks. At the insistence of their record company, Ian Hunter flew from New York to London to re-sing the line as "unlocked cars" before heading right back to America. (from Songfacts)
Mott the Hoopla were certainly not one hit wonders by any means. They are to this day a vastly under rated and under appreciated band who influenced many other bands.
I don't see Mott the Hoople as a "1 Hit Wonder." Mott the Hoople were criminally underrated band. They were highly influential. They produced some incredible hard rock as far back as 1969. Listen to "Rock and Roll Queen" and "Walking with a Mountain." There would be no Clash without Mott the Hoople. Mick Jones as a young man followed the band around everywhere listening to proto-punk tunes like "The Moon Upstairs" and "Death May Be Your Santa Claus." Their first three albums are highly experimental, they are establishing their direction. The last 4 are masterpieces. Ian Hunter has had a very long solo career and coincidentally just released a fantastic new album at 83 called "Defiance Part 1." You are absolutely right in your guesses about Bob Dylan and David Bowie. David wrote the song for Mott because he loved the band and heard they were about to break up. Ian Hunter was highly influenced by Dylan and Sonny Bono. Some consider him the British Bob Dylan.
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I saw Mott in Boston back in 1973 I believe...what a great concert! It was at the Orpheum theater and I was 5 rows back in the middle.
One of the best live bands who did have Queen as support .They weren't a one hit wonder .The singer Ian Hunter is still around and until recently was still touring .
"All the Way From Memphis" was a great hit, too!
When Bowie heard they were going to break up the band, Bowie gave them this song , which was supposed to be on the Ziggy Stardust LP, and offered to produce them. A great album, with a super cover of Sweet Jane.✌️❤️🎶
Bowie offered up suffragette city to them but they held off for this.
Ian Hunter would never have had a career with MTH. Bowie to the rescue .
Don't think it was intended for Ziggy album?
Yep, great song.
Beautiful recorded.
The genius of David Bowie.
Thanks Cosmo, great memories on this one.
Harri 👍👊😁
Genius, indeed, Peter. It was a pleasure sponsoring it.
I always thought this was David Bowie. Thank you for this!
Ultra classic. Iconic. I love all his vocal delivery during the choruses while the backing vocals just keep repeating that one line.
The chorus is infectious! ❤️Bowie
Great reaction.. thank you for sharing this ‘not so well known’ tune. Did you know that Mott the Hoople had a very knew band called Queen open for them during a UK tour in the 70s? I believe Queen may have also opened for them at some of their mid-70s US tour as well. Surviving members of this group played at Freddie’s celebration concert in 1992; they played with Bowie.
That’s ‘new band’.. geez!
Aerosmith opened for them as well on certain dates on that US tour.
I saw Queen open for Mott in Pittsburgh, Pa. back in those days. What a show!
Yes they opened the american tour in 74. Also…if you look up ian hunter’s song “you nearly did me in” you can hear queen clearly singing backing vocals…
Queen opened for Mott on the autumn/winter UK tour in 1973, then spring/summer in the USA in 1974.
ONE OF THE BEST CUTS BY THIS GROUP ...
I was def a DUDE during the early-mid 70s - what a time it was!
David Bowie not only produced the album but played backing sax on several tracks. Excellent album. Thanks Harri ✌
As a kid, I thought this song was done by The Beatles because it reminded me of the end of Hey Jude. It wasn't until later my uncle told me it was Mott The Hoople. Then learned David Bowie had wrote and produced this song. Such a catchy hooky chorus. Great song. Well chosen Cosmo. 👍👍👍
Same here, brother! Same here!
Love Mott The Hoople. Great guess on Dylan or Bowie. Bowie gave Mott this song when they broke up and gave them life for 3 more Fantastic Albums before they broke up for good. Bowie Also produced this album for Mott Then when Bowie was touring on the Ziggy Stardust album , He brought Mott out as the Opening Band. And yes Mott lead singer Ian Hunter was a big Dylan Fan. PS. Mott’s next 2 Albums , Mott The Hoople had Aerosmith & Queen as Opening Acts on Mott the Hoople Headlining Tours.Great Reaction as Always
Fantastic song by a fantastic group! Good ear guessing Bowie, I'm impressed!
The first time I saw Queen was as Mott’s support band, Memphis, Tennessee April 20, 1974. Later Queen guitarist Brian May wrote ‘Now I’m Here’ about that tour, which introduced Queen, live, to America, with a line in homage to Mott- ‘down in the city just Hoople and me.’ Pronounced Who-ple, btw. Mott was and still is underrated- they have some great songs including ‘All the Way From Memphis’, ‘Honaloochie Boogie’, ‘Sucker,’ ‘Ready For Love/After Lights’ and more. Brian (now Sir Brian May) and Queen drummer Roger Taylor are still friends with Mott’s lead vocalist Ian Hunter, and there’s a fabulous live performance on YT with Brian joining Mott onstage for ‘Dudes’. Bowie also did his own version(s) which he often sang at his concerts. Thank you for doing this song- a whole lot of reactors don’t know what they’re missing!
It's HOO (WHO) PLE not Hupple. I wouldn't call Mott a one hit wonder. They were pretty popular in their day. Lead singer Ian Hunter went on to release some pretty good albums himself.
All The Way From Memphis and Roll Away The Stone off the top of my head were both bangers too. The Golden Age Of Rock & Roll is another that at least flirted with the charts.
This was their only hit. Hence, "One-Hit Wonder".
@@Cosmo-Kramer All of the tracks mentioned by Brian reached the UK top 20. You'll have to define what you mean by a "one hit wonder"
@@sharonsnail2954 The American market is the only one that matters in this regard. Virtually every talented and ambitious rock band from England during the '60s and '70s defined their own success as "making it big in America".
Tru dat
The band was originally named Silence but when Guy Stevens at Island Records signed them, he made 2 changes: replacing the original vocalist with Ian Hunter (the original guy became their road manager - LOL) and giving them their new name, Mott The Hoople, from the title of the novel about a freak show circus that Stevens read while in prison on a drug offense. You can't make this stuff up.
THE true anthem of Glam Rock. Mott the Hoople was fantastic! Hunter's work with Ronson (Spiders from Mars) though, perfection!
Cosmo always makes good recommendations.
"All the Way From Memphis" is another _great_ Mott the Hoople song that not only succeeded on AOR radio but was used by Martin Scorsese over the opening credits of his 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore."
Another song that's engraved in my memory.
Mott was Mott and they seemed part of the time in music history. Including Bowie.
I hadn't known about the writing and gift to Mott the Hoople.
Thanks so much, HarriB.
Yay for the history. Does sound Bowie-ish, I must say.
This band is too often overlooked thanks for featuring them...this a awesome song.
Another great one Cosmo, my uncle used to listen to this when I was a kid and it stuck
Listening now I love it even more
Thank you, Blondie! I'm stoked you dug hearing it again. Happy New Year to you. :D
@@Cosmo-Kramer thank you and a Happy New Year to you
Nice one Cosmo, this is one of the songs that I always associate with standing on the terraces at the City Ground at the time it was released (those were the days when we invaded the pitch every match to protest against the Committee and when the "mist rolling in from the Trent" used to stop play because no-one could see anything when it came in over the Trent End).
Mott were a great band and this was the stage when they transitioned from being an unsuccessful underground group to one of the most successful glam bands.
It's interesting that you mentioned the organ Harri, I think the tone must have led you to think of Dylan because if I'm not mistaken this was played with a single finger because as Ian Hunter said at the time, he wore shades on stage when he played so that no one could see him studying the keyboard to see where he had marked the keys. Other members like Mick Ralphs could also play keyboard but I always associate him more with the guitar.
Having said that, "All the Way to Memphis" had a much more complicated piano part but live videos show Hunter with a guitar on that. I know Blue Weaver played keyboards with them for a while and then, of course, there was Morgan Fisher.
Hunter had a wonderful rock voice and the band themselves were very talented. Great times.
You bet, Paul, thanks for commenting and Happy New Year!
I am 64. Until 2 years ago, I always thought this was David Bowie. It's on my favorites Spotify list.
Great song, I remember it.... thanks Harri
This was on the Ronco compilation "Good Vibrations" in 1972 or 1973, when I was first discovering AM radio. The second album I owned. There were a handful of incredible songs on the record, but this was the best.
This is one of those songs I remember exactly where I was and it was magical. Thank you
Bowie was a musical genius.
I saw Mott on tour in the early 70's - brilliant ! They had a new band called Queen as support act !
I saw Mott The Hoople perform this tune twice in the early 70s. I think Ian's vocals fit the tune to perfectly and I can certainly see your comparison to Dylan in the voicing during the verses. I also saw Bowie perform this song and as as much as I loved (LOVE) Bowie, especially live, even he did not measure up to Ian Hunter on this one. AT one of the shows, I spoke with Ian outside the stage door and his accent was so thick I could hardly understand him. Their album "MOTT" still gets a lot of play on my list.
The Hoople have a bunch of great songs and Ian Hunter the lead singer has a ton of great songs as a solo artist. His first solo lp really sounds Dylanesque. Especially on the song "Laugh At Me" which was written by and originally done by Sonny Bono of Sonny And Cher. For a bangin' tune by Ian is "All American Alien Boy", features the late great Jaco on bass and it thumps. May be considered a bit long but it's a great tune. More Hoople songs to check out are "(Do You Remember) Saturday Gigs", "The Golden Age Of Rock "N Roll", and of course "All The Way From Memphis".
All the Way From Memphis was featured in the opening scene in the movie, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.
Love this song. I love Bowie's recording too, but I prefer this version. It might because this is what I listened to many, many times in the 23 years before Bowie released his own recording of it.
Bowie does it on David Live, and it's really good. So, in reality, only 2 years later.
Cosmo, Oh did this one from Mott The Hoople bring back memories in an instant. This was a brilliant collaboration with David Bowie. A first-rate submission and review by Harri. Today's selections have gotten 2023 off to a great start.
Thanks, Dave!
David Bowie wrote this song
Wonderful reaction!. In interviews, all members the band, Queen, pay homage to Mott the Hoople. They opened for Hoople during tours in the UK and were blown away when the band asked Queen to open for them on their US tour which was the first time Queen went to the US in the early 1970s. All Queen members said they learned so much from the more experienced Mott the Hoople. As one of your commentators said below, the Queen song, "Now I'm Here" has a line, "down in the city just Hoople and me" which shows Queen's total respect for this fantastic band and I believe it relates to that first tour which included New York City. The song was played at almost all of the Queen concerts and was the opening song for Queen's Magic Tour throughout Europe in 1986. The admiration among all of the members of these two bands runs deep. Thanks for sharing this one, HarriBest.
Yeah Mott the Hoople, great little band, hailed from Hereford, where I've been living for the last 30 years. They were struggling and on the point of breaking up when Bowie gifted them this song. It was a smash hit and they stayed together and had a few more. - All the way from Memphis, - Roll away the stone. Honaloochie Boogie. - Ballad of Mott, and Saturday Gigs are also pretty good, but I don't think they troubled the charts.
There is a reference in 1st verse about Wendy stealing clothes from Marks and Sparks. That instantly gives it away as UK. It's a nickname for Marks and Spencer, a well known high St department store.
Part of the soundtrack to 1972, which was a great year for music. Love it!
Very rare chord progression used on the verse (I-V-vi-IV-I-V-IV). Super cool, and it just...works. Bowie was genius.
Love this song thanks Cosmo and Harri.
Appreciate the kudos, Diane. Happy New Year!
Yes, this was written by Bowie. I think he also produced Mott, but not sure. Bowie performs part of this himself in a medley (The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud/All The Young Dudes/Oh! You Pretty things) on the movie The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (link here: th-cam.com/video/ZPxLbMXGGBY/w-d-xo.html ). Something to pay attention to at the end is Ian's exchange with the (real or not) audience to bring a fan up to the stage and kiss them. Kinda hard to make out, but once you notice it, it just makes the song that much funner!
Ian Hunter was worried about the ending as he😮 thought it was a bit boring whilst recognising that the song was a certain hit.
As a result he added that rap. Mick Ralphs, later of Bad Company, created the guitar intro.
All that said Bowie was a genius and very generous to give this song away.
I just think Hunter could deliver it better than him.
Thanks, Harri!
Always loved this song. This was gifted by David Bowie to Mott when they were considering whether to break up the band. You should check out All the way from Memphis as well as Ian Hunter's post Mott work. Thanks for the review!
Sounds so familiar ❤ Very David Bowie 😊❤️ Love the song, Thanks Harri and Kramer for the time you use to make it interresting ❤
Love this, as did my mum and dad.
Bowie was a huge fan of MTH. They were a hard driving touring band all over the UK 69 early 70s. They needed a breakthrough number to hit the charts and Bowie wrote this for them. At the time Bowie laid down a demo vocal track for them that was only released later on a MTH box set. I think the first time Bowie released a version was in 74 on his "David Live" album. But Bowie did cover the song in concerts in the early 70s.
Ian Hunter, the singer went on to create Once Bitten, Twice Shy (covered by Whitesnake), Just Another Night, and We Gotta Get Out Of Here.
Thanks Harri and Cosmo supposedly Bowie did background vocals
My pleasure, debbie! HNY!!
This song saved the band from extinction. Written by David Bowie
This is my genre. Ian Hunter,Mick Ronson,Bowie they were all friends. You should give a listen to TREX and Humble Pie and and and the list goes on and on. 1st time checking you out and I love it ànd you. Thank you.
Good call! Great track.
Yeah Mott where really great. listen to Roll away the stone, Through the looking glass. Or, Alice by them. Ian Hunter was a great song writer. But All the young dudes he and David Bowie wrote together. And once again thank you for listening to Mott the hopple. the sure need to be recogniced. There are other song than All the young dudes. Like Alice. Listen to Rose, Crash street kid´s too, One of the boys, I wish i was your mother. The track i s endless.
Ian Hunter was brought into the band to sound like a cross between Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. The keyboards were played by Verden Allen.
Actually Mott the Hoople had six Top 40 hits between 1972 and 1974, so not a one hit wonder. Anything that made the top 40 in the 70's was a HIT as the competition was so great. Mott were a British band and Ian Hunter, the lead singer continued after the band split, linking up with Mick Ronson from Bowie's "Spiders from Mars". David Bowie wrote the song with the intention of putting it on his Aladdin Sane album but gave it to Mott the Hoople instead because he loved the band and wanted to help them "make it" in the business. Great Great song. Mott the Hoople went on to influence many later bands with their raw style of playing yet with great song arrangements. Check out the song Sea Diver both the original and the cover by Down'n'Outz (Joe Elliott of Def Leopard's side project which basically plays Mott the Hoople - pronounced "Hoop al" covers. 🙂 Nice to see they are still being appreciated 50 years on.
Nope, this was their only Top 40 hit. Hence, they were a One-Hit-Wonder.
No One-Hit Wonders, Mott had a number of hits after this - "All the Way From Memphis", "Honaloochie Boogie", "Roll Away the Stone" and "The Golden Age of Rock & Roll'. Singer Ian Hunter went on to have a great career. Check out his "Shrunken Heads" from 2006. And yes, written by Bowie, but Hunter's very influenced by Dylan.
One hit wonder? All The Young Dudes, Sweet Jane, All The Way To Memphis…. Bowie wrote it. sings background on it,,,, And Cosmo Kramer is the character on Seinfeld 😉
In the spring of 1974 Mott the Hoople became the first rock band to sell out a week of Broadway concerts in New York and ‘Led Zep’ attended Mott’s opening night. Luther Grosvenor was wonderfully philosophical reflecting that, “Led Zeppelin had simply come to Broadway to see THE greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world at that time - MOTT THE HOOPLE!” ‘Ian Hunter ... even his name reeks of rock royalty. The swagger! The shades!
For the longest time I thought it was David Bowie
This is now classed as a rock Anthem
If you get to check out Mott the Hoople again I recommend one of Mott’s other high charting Single called “All the Way From Memphis “. Classic Rock Staple. Piano Guitars Sax and Ian Hunter’s Vocals are on Point
The song came out 1972 year I graduated high school
Very cool! You nailed it!
Next try Mott The Hoople’s song “Crash Street Kids”. Great song…a real rocker
Happy New Year
You're correct, Harri. This song was a gift from Bowie to MTH. And they've only hit.
For another Ian Hunter/Mott the Hoople treat try "All the Way To Memphis" for more of their great music and humor.
One hit wonders,somebody is having a laugh!!!!
Success in America was the ultimate stick by which bands were measured back then (and even still today). So if they only scored one hit here, they were One-Hit Wonders. It's pretty simple.
@@Cosmo-Kramer Same applies in the UK,for a few years Mott were huge in the UK & had a number of hits,so there was no way I could think of them as one hit wonders,there were bands from the US which are big names over there but hardly known or even totally forgotten in the UK.
@@peterfields4801 Yeah, but those US bands big in America could not care less that they were unknown in the UK.
Can you listen to Bowie’s Lady Grinning Soul? Beautiful vocal.
David Bowie also did this song in the 70s. I like this version the best, but they are very close , and sound so much alike except for a couple of very small sparts in Bowie's version, I didn't care for. It was a recurring Saxaphone part that just sounded off key, and awkward. This is a really good song, and this is the best version.
Thanks, Harri Great stuff
After this I always feel like listening to Make Me Smile by Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel
The people's of the British isles are in my opinion, are the best songwriters ever. The 60's and 70's we're a shining example
Yes sir, Pete Townshend is my alltime hero 👊😁👍
Guvnor, if I had a nickel for every time you said a band sounds like The Beatles, I'd be a rich man. lol But, "All The Young Dudes", tops just about every list you'll find of songs people thought were The Beatles, but were not....and yet you never even mentioned the Fab 4. So, you did not get my first question right, which was basically who did I and many other people think this song was by, particularly when hearing the chorus. I mean, jeepers, I went through the whole decade of the '70s before I found out it was not The Beatles. Imadrummin told me that he, too, was sure it was The Beatles and didn't find out he was wrong 'til many years after its release. Well, congrats, though...you did get the second question correct, the writer was David Bowie, so well done on that. :D Glad you dug the song, and Happy New Year!
Yes sir, I thought it was the Beatles for years until my uncle educated me. 👍👍👍
I feel like I lost the lottery. Lol Being a huge Beatle fan, I did hear Beatles influence in the chorus but went with Bowie and Dylan. Snooze you lose.
Great choice and intro, as usual Cosmo.
👍✌️🎶🎶😊🇨🇦
@@marybaillie8907 Well, fortunately Mary, there was no real money at stake. Lol But yeah, I'm so surprised the Guvnor missed it. I mean, _that_ was the easy question, I thought! Kudos to him for getting the tougher one by IDing Bowie as the writer.
You have a really good ear to figure out this was a song written by David Bowie. I think Bowie didn't think the song had potential and that's why he gave it away. The ironic thing is if you had heard this song in '72 and someone asked you to name the writer you would have been stumped because Bowie didn't really break out until 1972 with the album Ziggy Stardust and even at that time was definitely not a household name. BTW Mott the Hoople turned down Bowie's offer to give them Suffragette City which of course went on to be one of his biggest hits.
Another great British band is Savoy Brown,they sound more like Southern Rock than most of the English Invasion Bands
Thank you. SB were down and dirty and Kim Simmons the greatest unknown guitar god of all time
RIP KIM SIMMONDS
I love when you do Cosmo’s request. We’re like this 👀🔄👀
Not sure what those emojis mean, but in case you're not being facetious, and are rather saying you really like my requests, then I say, Thanks. :)
Good call! Bowie basically saved Mott’s career by giving them this song when they were about to break up. Later mick ronson joined mott for a short time, then ian humter and ronson broke off and had a long, fruitful partnership. Great stuff…an anthem if ever there was one.
I wouldn't want the characterization of them as a "one hit wonder" to stand unchallenged. You could technically say that about their career in the United States, but it comes off as dismissive. This band was huge in England for a couple of years, Top Ten hits and everything. Before that, they had a rabid cult following in the U.K. and parts of Europe, when they were known largely as a barnburning live act that didn't translate well to records, kinda like Humble Pie, or early KISS. In the United States, they had a similar cult following that was just starting to break big after this song hit, and they broke up when I think they were poised for bigger things. They were also the first real rock band to play a residency on Broadway. This was certainly something that was planned and promoted for the publicity value, but it's a landmark achievement for popular music none the less...I'd say they still maintain a certain level of recognition among the kind of people who would be outraged that they are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...Like me, for example, heh...Oh, nice catch on the Dylan thing...He was a major influence, and their sound was sometimes described as a cross between Dylan and the Stones...
Like it or not, the fact is that the US market prevails over all others _combined._ The primary goal of virtually every rock band coming out of England in the '60s and '70s was to make it big in America. Most of them coveted chart success to go along with radio play, record sales and box office revenue in the states. But some bands, like Led Zeppelin, only cared about the latter three of those measuring sticks. Either way, nearly all English bands with enough talent and ambition to conquer their own country didn't feel like they'd really made it unless they made it in America, as well. And no, a Broadway show doesn't amount to that.
@@Cosmo-Kramer Oh, well they certainly always felt like they hadn't made it in America, despite what audience they did have...
@@jonathanlocke6404 Hey, we're still talking about them in 2023, so that's something. (Even though it's thanks to Mr. Bowie.)
My dear friend Kenny V.’s anthem……Hey dude ! Where are ya ? RIP,Kenny.😔
How many songs did David Bowie write like this one that reference Marc Bolan? Countless. Why? Because he didn't need TV when he had T. Rex.
It's funny how you associated that specific organ sound with Dylan. I think you're refering to The Band's Garth Hudson, back in the days when The Band was Dylan's back up band.
Next should be the upbeat "All the Way From Memphis"
While I love the version by Mott the Hoople, I have it by David Bowie live and he just makes it comes so alive. Awesome genius of David Bowie.
The "One hit wonders" moniker is not a UK perspective - Mott had a few other UK hits ("Roll away the stone", "Honaloochie Boogie" etc) as well as this one.
Thunderbuck Ram should be your next Mott The Hoople reaction.
Try Mott the Hoople doing "All the Way From Memphis"...
I always thought that this was the Beatles.
Me too!
David Bowie wrote this and I always associated it with delivering the papers as a kid. It's a homage to the kids on the blocks that earned a buck or a pound in England delivering messages.
You really should check out the live at the hammersmith album, great.
You would swear that is Bowie singing. Crazy. Love this version but I prefer his.
Bowie is singing background vocals.
Harri, you'll appreciate this fun fact: The lyrics, "Lucy's stealing clothes from unlocked cars" were written as, "Lucy's stealing clothes from Marks and Sparks," Marks and Sparks being the nickname for the British store Marks & Spencer. Mott ran into the same problem The Kinks had with "Lola": The BCC refused to play songs if they thought it contained lyrics advertising a product. The Kinks had to turn "Just like Coca-Cola" to "Just like cherry cola" at the last minute, and Mott had to get rid of Marks and Sparks. At the insistence of their record company, Ian Hunter flew from New York to London to re-sing the line as "unlocked cars" before heading right back to America. (from Songfacts)
Have a listen to Mick Ronson he was a member of both mott the hoople and ziggy stardust .
I think Bowie wrote this song. And it's pronounced HOOP-ul.
Mott the Hoopla were certainly not one hit wonders by any means. They are to this day a vastly under rated and under appreciated band who influenced many other bands.
They absolutely were One-Hit Wonders, in the primary market that British Invasion bands judged their own success by.
epic BOWIE and MTH had quite a long career, listen to CRASH STREET KIDS
Ian Hunter from the band went on to have a solo career UK
H
You are wrong ! That song is not on his first solo album. It's only only the double live album called "Welcome to the Club".
Hey you there... with the glasses, I want you, I want you at the front.😀🥸😎🤓
David Bowie wrote Mott this song when he heard the band was ready to break up.
I don't see Mott the Hoople as a "1 Hit Wonder." Mott the Hoople were criminally underrated band. They were highly influential. They produced some incredible hard rock as far back as 1969. Listen to "Rock and Roll Queen" and "Walking with a Mountain." There would be no Clash without Mott the Hoople. Mick Jones as a young man followed the band around everywhere listening to proto-punk tunes like "The Moon Upstairs" and "Death May Be Your Santa Claus." Their first three albums are highly experimental, they are establishing their direction. The last 4 are masterpieces. Ian Hunter has had a very long solo career and coincidentally just released a fantastic new album at 83 called "Defiance Part 1." You are absolutely right in your guesses about Bob Dylan and David Bowie. David wrote the song for Mott because he loved the band and heard they were about to break up. Ian Hunter was highly influenced by Dylan and Sonny Bono. Some consider him the British Bob Dylan.
Check out Freedom by Jon Batiste
Mott were not one-hit wonders, Cosmo. They were quite popular in the 70s and even performed on Broadway in 1974 (great show, I was there).