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Biography
Use British English|date=April 2011Use dmy dates|date=April 2011Infobox musical artist | name = Mott the Hoople| background = group_or_band| image = Mott the Hoople.jpg| caption = Mott the Hoople reunion, 2009| image_size = 250| landscape = Yes| years_active = 19691974 (As Mott The Hoople) 19741976 (As Mott) 19761978 (As British Lions) 2009 (Reunion)| origin = Herefordshire , England| genre = Glam rock , hard rock | label = Island Records|Island (UK), Atlantic Records|Atlantic (U.S.), CBS Records|CBS , Columbia Records|Columbia | associated_acts = Queen (band)|Queen , Bad Company , Widowmaker (band)|Widowmaker , David Bowie | past_members = Peter Watts (musician)|Pete Overend Watts Dale Griffin Ian Hunter (singer)|Ian Hunter Mick Ralphs Verden Allen Morgan Fisher Mick Bolton Luther Grosvenor|Ariel Bender Mick Ronson Mott the Hoople were a British rock band with strong Rhythm and blues|R& B roots, popular in the glam rock era of the early to mid 1970s. They are popularly known for the song " All the Young Dudes (song)|All the Young Dudes ", written for them by David Bowie and appearing on their 1972 All the Young Dudes|album of the same name .
History
The early years
Mott the Hoople can be traced to two beat bands from Herefordshire in the early 1960s. The Soulents were from Ross-On-Wye , and boasted Peter Watts (musician)|Pete Overend Watts on guitar, and Dale Griffin|Dale "Buffin" Griffin on drums. The Buddies were from Hereford , and featured Mick Ralphs on guitar and Stan Tippins on human voice|vocals . By 1966, Ralphs, Tippins, and Watts (the latter now on bass) had come together in a band called The Doc Thomas Group, and soon secured a residency at a nightclub|club in a resort town in Italy. The group were offered a recording contract with the Italian record label|label Dischi Interrecord, and released an eponymous album in January 1967. By 1968, drummer Dale Griffin and electric organ|organist Verden Allen had joined the band.
Although the group concert tour|toured and sound recording and reproduction|recorded in Italy as The Doc Thomas Group, their concert|gigs in the UK were played under the names of The Shakedown Sound, and later as Silence. Silence recorded demo (music)|demos at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth , Wales, which were shopped to EMI Records|EMI , Polydor Records|Polydor , Immediate Records|Immediate and Apple Records|Apple with no success. The group came to the attention of Guy Stevens at Island Records|Island , who liked the group but not with Tippins as lead singer. Advertisements were placed ("Singer wanted, must be image-minded and hungry"), and Ian Hunter (singer)|Ian Hunter was selected as lead singer and piano player. Tippins assumed the role of road manager .
Stevens read the Willard Manus novel Mott the Hoople (novel)|Mott the Hoople about an Eccentricity (behavior)|eccentric who works in a circus freak show while in prison, and determined to use it as a band name.Cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 1998 | title= Guinness Rockopedia | edition= 1st | publisher=Guinness Publishing Ltd. | location= London | page= 282 | isbn= 0-85112-072-5 Silence reluctantly agreed to a name change following their early 1969 audition for Stevens.
The band's debut album, Mott the Hoople (1969), which was sound recording and reproduction|recorded in a week, was a cult success, and their repertoire included cover version s of "Laugh at Me" ( Sonny Bono ) and "At the Crossroads" ( Doug Sahm 's Sir Douglas Quintet ), and an instrumental cover of " You Really Got Me " ( The Kinks ).Cite book | first= Martin C. | last= Strong | year= 2000 | title= The Great Rock Discography | edition= 5th | publisher=Mojo Books | location= Edinburgh | pages= 6712 | isbn= 1-84195-017-3
The second album, Mad Shadows (1970) sold poorly and received generally negative reviews. Wildlife (1971) fared even worse, and flirted with an overtly country-hippie stance and accordingly (usually) acoustic instrumentation. On 10 October 1970, Mott the Hoople and Bridget St John were showcased on BBC Two 's, Disco 2 .Cite book | first= John | last= Tobler | year= 1992 | title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years | edition= 1st | publisher=Reed International Books Ltd | location= London | page= 217 | id= CN 5585 Even though the group was building a decent following, Brain Capers (1971) failed to sell well. The group decided to split following a depressing concert in a disused gas holder in Switzerland. When combined with an aborted UK tour with The Lothringers, the band was close to breaking up.
The glam years
David Bowie had long been a fan of the band, and heard from Watts that they were about to split. He persuaded them to stay together and offered them " Suffragette City " from his then yet-to-be-released The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars|Ziggy Stardust album. They turned it down. Bowie also penned " All the Young Dudes (song)|All the Young Dudes " for them, and it became their biggest hit. Released as a single in July 1972,Cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher=Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 381 it was a success in the UK, with the band using Tippins - who by this time was their tour manager - to sing backing vocalist|backing vocals during concert. Bowie record producer|produced an album, also called All the Young Dudes , which included a Mick Ronson strings and brass arrangement for "Sea Diver", sold well but stalled at #21 in the UK Albums Chart . Late in 1972 they were going to record another Bowie song, " Drive-In Saturday "Citation needed|date=November 2007, but their intended arrangement did not satisfy him and their professional relationship effectively ended. Another casualty in the wake of All the Young Dudes was Verden Allen, who departed before the release of their next album, Mott (album)|Mott .
Mott climbed into the Top 40|Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart , and became the band's best seller to date in the US. It yielded two UK hits, " Honaloochie Boogie " and " All the Way from Memphis ", both featuring Andy Mackay of Roxy Music on saxophone . "All the Way From Memphis" is also featured in the movie, '' Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore .
Mott the Hoople's new found popularity ultimately helped lead to the band's break-up, perhaps helped along by an exposι (journalism)|exposι in New Musical Express of Tippins' role in singing the chorus of "All the Young Dudes", from a hidden microphone backstage.Citation needed|date=November 2007In May 1973 following Verden Allen's departure the band was augmented by two keyboard players. Former Love Affair (band)|Love Affair and Morgan (band)|Morgan member Morgan Fisher joined as keyboardist and Mick Bolton joined on Hammond Organ . Bolton left at the end of 1973 and was replaced on tour by Blue Weaver , while Fisher stayed on to become their permanent piano player. Ralphs left in August 1973 to form Bad Company and was replaced by former Spooky Tooth guitarist Luther Grosvenor . For contractual reasons, he changed his name to Ariel Bender at the suggestion of singer-songwriter Lynsey De Paul for his stint with the band.
In the afterglow of The Hoople (1974), a live album Live was quickly released, after which Mick Ronson replaced Bender. The end was nigh when both Ronson and Hunter left the group to form a duet (music)|duo . Ray Major and Nigel Benjamin were added to continue the group, which abbreviated its name to 'Mott'.
In 1974, for their tour of America, Mott the Hoople, with Ariel Bender, were supported by the band Queen (band)|Queen . This tour later provided the inspiration for Queen's 1975 single " Now I'm Here ", which contains the lyrics " Down in the city, just Hoople and me. " The song became a live favourite of Queen fans and reached #11 in the UK Singles Chart .Cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher=Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 444 The tour resulted in a lifelong friendship between the two bands, with Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson and David Bowie performing "All the Young Dudes" at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992. Morgan Fisher went on to play piano on Queen's 'Hot Space' tour in 1982, and Brian May , Freddie Mercury and Roger Meddows-Taylor|Roger Taylor performed backing vocals on the Ian Hunter solo song, "You Nearly Did Me In". May would later cover Mott's "All the Way from Memphis" on his solo album, Another World (Brian May album)|Another World , with Hunter making a guest appearance.
Mott the Hoople are name-checked on two other hit singles. Reunion (band)|Reunion 's 1974 single, " Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me) " begins with the lyrics , 'B Bumble and the Stingers, Mott the Hoople, Ray Charles Singers...'.Cite web|url= http://www.lyrics007.com/Reunion%20Lyrics/Life%20Is%20A%20Rock%20Lyrics.html |title=Lyrics for "Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)" @ |publisher=Lyrics007.com |date=3 June 2010 |accessdate=7 April 2011 Whereas, R.E.M. 's, " Man on the Moon (song)|Man on the Moon " begins with 'Mott the Hoople and the Game of Life, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...'
Hunter wrote the book '' Diary of a Rock'n'Roll Star '' about the day-to-day life on the band's 1972 winter tour of the US, covering the ups and downs of life on the road. It was published 18 months later in June 1974 was out-of-print for many years but is currently available.
The post Hunter years
The new line-up consisted of guitarist Ray Major (formerly of Opal Butterfly, Hackensack, and a brief stint with Andy Fraser and Frankie Miller). This line-up released two more albums, Drive On (1975) and Shouting and Pointing (1976), both of which sold poorly. After Nigel Benjamin quit in 1976, Mott added John Fiddler (formerly of Medicine Head ) and became British Lions, recording two albums, British Lions (album)|British Lions (1978) and Trouble With Women (posthumously released on Cherry Red Records 1980) before finally splitting up without any record chart|chart success. Hunter and Ronson worked and toured together sporadically until Ronson's death in 1993. Hunter has continued his solo career.
Ray Major now records and tours with his wife, avant- garde singer-songwriter Sandy Dillon, who also had worked with Mick Ronson in 1984 and 1985 in both New York and London when she was managed by Tony DeFries Mainman company.
In 1990, after a brief reunion in 1989, the former members of The Silence reunited in the studio to record a mix of new songs and staples from their days performing together. The resultant album, Shotgun Eyes, was released in 1998 as 'The Italian Job' combined with the re-release of the Doc Thomas Group's self-titled album.Cite web|last = Perkins|first = Adrian|year = 2005|title = Doc Thomas Group LP/CD: "The Italian Job"|publisher=Mott The Hoople and Ian Hunter - The unofficial site for Mott The Hoople and Ian Hunter|url = http://www.hunter-mott.com/discography/the_italian_job.html|accessdate = 4 November 2010
In 1996 K-tel released a CD called The Best of Mott the Hoople purporting to be re-recordings of the band's hit record|hits and new songs by Hunter and Ronson. In actuality, the recording was by a Danny McCulloch and Gerry Chapman (usually going under the band name of The Trybe), consisted of Hard rock|heavy rock versions of Mott's hits and original songs, and had nothing at all to do with the original Mott the Hoople. K-tel were subsequently fined for supplying goods with a false description, but the tracks and album continued to circulate under the name Mott the Hoople, often appearing on compilation album s. In 2002, the tracks were released again as ''I Can't Believe It's Not Mott the Hoople! , though this time it was credited to The Trybe.
On 16 and 17 April 1999, the first and only 'Mott The Hoople Convention' was held at the Robin Hood Pub in Bilston , Wolverhampton , England. Hunter and his band performed both evenings of the convention. During the encore of the Ian Hunter Band's 17 April performance, Hunter was joined onstage by Bender and Allen for a version of "Walkin' With A Mountain"; Allen performed on the original studio version of the song, whilst Bender performed an extended solo during performances of the song on Mott The Hoople's 1973-74 tours.
In 2002 and 2004, Ralphs toured with Hunter, as part of the latter's backing band.
No Mott the Hoople reunion occurred prior to 2009, although negotiations for one were attempted in 1985; all parties have shown some interest at various times in the idea over the last 30 years. In 2005 it was reported in the publication Classic Rock , that Hunter had received the offer of a seven-figure number to re-form the band. In October 2007 at Hunter's concert at the Shepherds Bush Empire , he was joined by Ralphs and Allen for the encore.
2009 reunion
On 16 January 2009, it was announced that the band would be re-uniting for two concerts at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, in October 2009. http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/42112 Mott The Hoople to play two anniversary shows - NME.com According to Hunter's web site, all five of the original members would participate in the reunion. Hunter wrote, "Why are we doing it? I can't speak for the others, but I'm doing it just to see what it's like. Short of war, death, famine etc. ...it's ON."Cite web|url= http://ianhunter.com/ |title=Ian Hunter's official website |publisher=Ianhunter.com |date=21 July 2009 |accessdate=7 April 2011 Tickets for the two original dates sold out, and a third date at the same venue was added for 3 October 2009. After that one sold out as well another two dates were added on 5 and 6 October. The special limited 3 CD-set recorded during the first show at Hammersmith Apollo was sold directly after the concerts.
Mott The Hoople also held a warmup gig prior to their five-night stand at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo in October. The show was held at the Blake Theatre in Monmouth , Wales on 26 September 2009. Prior to this it was announced that because of the poor health of Dale Griffin|Buffin , his place for the concerts would be taken by Martin Chambers , drummer of The Pretenders .Cite web|url= http://www.mottthehoople.com/news.shtml |title=Mott The Hoople news |publisher=Mottthehoople.com |date= |accessdate=7 April 2011
The reunion was favourably reviewed by major British broadsheet newspapers, with The Guardian ,Cite news|author=Alexis Petridis |url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/oct/02/mott-the-hoople-review |title=Mott the HoopleHammersmith Apollo, London |work=Guardian |location=UK |date= 2 October 2009|accessdate=7 April 2011 The Times http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article6859430.ece# Mott the Hoople at Hammersmith Apollodead link|date=April 2011 and The Independent awarding 4/5 starsCite news|url= http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/first-night-mott-the-hoople-the-apollo-hammersmith-1796457.html |title=First Night: Mott the Hoople, The Apollo, Hammersmith |work=The Independent |location=UK |date=2 October 2009 |accessdate=7 April 2011 and The Daily Telegraph awarding 5/5.Cite news|last=Perry |first=Andrew |url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopreviews/6254212/Mott-the-Hoople-Hammersmith-Apollo-review.html |title=Mott the Hoople: Hammersmith Apollo, review |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |date=2 October 2009 |accessdate=7 April 2011 On 27 November 2009 Mott the Hoople played The Tartan Clefs charity night in Glasgow .Cite web|url= http://www.clashmusic.com/news/mott-the-hoople-storm-tartan-clefs |title=Mott the Hoople storm Tartan Clefs |publisher=Clashmusic.com |date=30 November 2009 |accessdate=7 April 2011
Mick Ronson - guitar, backing vocals (1974; died 1993)
;Touring members
Martin Chambers - drums, backing vocals, percussion (2009)
Cite web|url= http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608002816/Mott-the-Hoople.html |title=Mott the Hoople Biography |publisher=Musicianguide.com |date= |accessdate=7 April 2011
Discography
main|Mott the Hoople discography
Albums
Mott the Hoople (album)|Mott the Hoople (1969) UK Albums Chart|UK #66 / Billboard 200|US #185
Mad Shadows (album)|Mad Shadows (1970) UK #48
Wildlife (Mott the Hoople album)|Wildlife (1971) UK #44 / US #207 (bubbled under)
Brain Capers (1971) - US #208 (bubbled under)
All the Young Dudes (1972) UK #21 / US #89
Mott (album)|Mott (1973) UK #7 / US #35
The Hoople (1974) UK #11 / US #28
Live (Mott the Hoople album)|Live (1974) UK #32 / US #23
Mott albums
Drive On (September 1975) - UK #45 / US #160 (Sony/Rewind 487237 2) #By Tonight (3:46) #Monte Carlo (4:42) #She Does It (3:29) #I'll Tell You Something (4:26) #Stiff Upper Lip (4:39) #Love Now (2:50) #Apologies (0:50) #The Great White Wail (5:11) #Here We Are (5:30) #It Takes One To Know One (4:32) #I Can Show You How It Is (2:52)
Shouting and Pointing (June 1976) (Sony/Rewind 489492 2) #Shouting And Pointing (4:34) #Collision Course (3:25) #Storm (5:31) #Career (No Such Thing As Rock 'n' Roll) (5:26) #Hold On, You're Crazy (4:31) #See You Again (4:22) #Too Short Arms (I Don't Care) (4:00) #Broadside Outcasts (3:18) #Good Times (3:57)
British Lions albums
British Lions (album)|British Lions (February 1978) US #83
Trouble with Women (recorded 1978, released May 1980)
Posthumous compilations and live albums
Two Miles from Heaven (1980)
Original Mixed Up Kids - The BBC Recordings (1996)
All the Young Dudes: The Anthology (1998 triple album|triple CD box set )
''Rock 'n' Roll Circus Live 1972 (2000)
A Tale of Two Cities (2000)
Two Miles From Live Heaven (2001)
Mott the Hoople Live - 30th Anniversary Edition (2004)
Family Anthology (2005)
Live Fillmore West (2006)
Fairfield Halls, Live 1970 (2007)
In Performance 1970-1974 (2008) (4CD box set of Live concerts, published by Angel Air Records)
Old Records Never Die: The Mott the Hoople/Ian Hunter Anthology (2008)
Hammersmith Apollo - 1 October 2009 (January 2010) ( triple album|triple CD box set ; Indie Europe/Zoom)
Live At Hammersmith Apollo 2009 (May 2010) ( double album|double CD box set ; Concert Live)
Singles
"Rock and Roll Queen" / "Road to Birmingham" (October 1969)
"Rock and Roll Queen" / "Backsliding Fearlessly" (January 1970)
"Midnight Lady" / "It Must Be Love" (October 1971)
"Downtown" / "Home Is Where I Want to Be" (December 1971)
" All the Young Dudes (song)|All the Young Dudes " / "One of the Boys" (July 1972) UK Singles Chart|UK #3 / US #37
" One of the Boys (song)|One of the Boys " / "Sucker" (January 1973) US #96
" Sweet Jane (Mott the Hoople version)|Sweet Jane " / "Jerkin' Crocus" (March 1973) (not released in the UK)
"All the Young Dudes" (live) / "Rose" (December 1974)
See also
List of glam rock artists
List of former Island Records artists
List of performers on Top of the Pops
List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States
References
Reflist
Mott the Hoople (a novel by Willard Manus) ISBN 0-7351-0377-1
External links
http://home.no.net/mott/covers_mthfake.html Information on the fake Mott the Hoople recordings
Harris, John. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/sep/03/mott-the-hoople-reunion Mott the Hoople: The dudes abide, The Guardian , 3 September 2009.
http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/concertmott.htm Review of Mott The Hoople at Hammersmith, October 2009, Classic Rock Revisited
Mott the Hoople DEFAULTSORT:Mott The Hoople Category:English rock music groups Category:Glam rock groups Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2009
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