Song:All The Young Dudes
Album:All The Young Dudes
In 1972, Mott The Hoople was ready to split up due to a lack of commercial success when David Bowie wrote and produced All The Young Dudes. It turned out to be their biggest hit and most memorable song. Mott The Hoople came from a merger of two 60s bands in Herefordshire, England. The Soulents had Pete Watts on guitar and Dale "Buffin" Griffin on drums. The Buddies had Mick Ralphs on guitar and Stan Tippins on vocals. In 1966 the four were called The Doc Thomas Band and took up residency at a club in Italy. In England they were known as The Shakedown Sound and later Silence. One of their demos got the attention of Island Records producer Guy Stevens. But he didn't like Tippins as lead singer. So after holding auditions, Ian Hunter was hired to sing and play keyboards. He had been around the music scene for a decade with bands like The Apex Group and The Scenery. Tippins became road manager. Stevens also didn't like the group name and changed it to the Willard Manus novel Mott The Hoople. Their first few albums didn't sell. So the band was ready to split up and Watts spoke to David Bowie who was a fan. At first he offered them Suffragette City but the band chose All The Young Dudes. Bowie produced the album with arrangements by Mick Ronson. The album and single were big hits in England and also charted in the US. This expended edition of the album is available as a budget release. The success probably led to the band breakup as clashing egos resulted in personnel changes and the eventual split in 1976. And the truth is that Mott The Hoople was never all that successful except for All The Young Dudes. Mott The Hoople has reunited occasionally, most recently in 2009. Here's the video for All The Young Dudes by Mott The Hoople.
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