For most people, the story of Mott The Hoople begins in 1972, when their swaying, glam-pop anthem All The Young Dudes came out. But they’d already released four albums of varying quality by then, the increasingly muted response to which prompted them to split up – until the intervention of Mott diehard David Bowie. It was on the floor of Mainman management offices in London where Bowie played them his song All The Young Dudes on acoustic guitar. The great man was gifting them a track in the hope of getting them on an upward trajectory.
No one could have sold All The Young Dudes quite as effectively as Ian Hunter. Even Bowie himself recognised that his anthem needed an infusion of strutting, pugnacious, football terrace braggadocio way beyond Ziggy’s grasp. The former Mott The Hoople frontman was the only credible contender to carry the news back in ’72.
