Mott The Hoople Reuniting
Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty
Mott the Hoople, the British glam-rock band that had a huge hit in 1972 with “All the Young Dudes,” are reuniting to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band’s 1969 birth. Mott has scheduled two shows, October 2nd and 3rd, at London’s famed HMV Apollo (formerly the Hammersmith Apollo). The concerts mark the first time the original lineup — singer Ian Hunter, guitarist Mick Ralphs, organist Verden Allen, drummer Dale Griffin and bassist Overend Watts — has performed together in 35 years. “Why are we doing it? I can’t speak for the others, but I’m doing it just to see what it’s like,” Hunter writes on his Website. “Short of war, death, famine etc. …it’s ON.”
“All The Young Dudes” was written and produced by the band’s fan David Bowie. In fact, the song was originally authored during the Thin White Duke’s Ziggy Stardust sessions and shares some thematic similarities to Bowie’s iconic album. He originally offered the band “Suffragette City,” but they turned it down so he whipped up “Young Dudes,” and the rest is glam rock history. “Young Dudes” went on to become a hit single, Number 253 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock & Roll. Additionally, the All the Young Dudes album ranked 491 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums list.
The band would never repeat the success of “Young Dudes,” and the original lineup ultimately split in 1974 (Even though the “band” with new members would release two more albums following Ralphs and Hunter’s departure.) Ralphs went on to form Bad Company with Free’s Paul Rodgers (now with Queen) and Hunter enjoyed a decent solo career, penning the song “Cleveland Rocks” and authoring the rock memoir Diary of a Rock n’ Roll Star. No word whether Mott’s reunion will be limited to the two Apollo shows or if a tour is in the works.
