Hard to believe that it’s 50 years since Mott The Hoople, tired of slogging around the circuit for no reward, decided to split up. Of course, it’s also 50 years since David Bowie stepped in at literally the last minute and offered the band a new song, All The Young Dudes (after they’d famously turned down Suffragette City), changing the band’s fortunes for ever.
Dudes is one of the great rock anthems, the glam rock Like A Rolling Stone, and the perfect song for Mott, who may have been a bit old for the sentiments (Mott were more like the brother back at home with his Beatles and his Stones than the glittered-up kids in the song), but brought to it a grungey soul (and a world-beating talk-over finale by Hunter) that Bowie’s version lacked.
