Rhinofy-Mott The Hoople

I saw them at the Fillmore. Opening for Traffic on its reunion tour. Their debut with the Escher cover with the reptiles crawling had been released to a good amount of press and very little airplay, but what ever commotion there was about it had to do with the instrumental cover of "You Really Got Me," recorded when David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen were still wet behind the ears. They played it. Ian Hunter wore his sunglasses. There was a lot of energy, but I didn't buy the album, unlike with the middle act, Fairport Convention, who were out supporting "Full House." And I didn't buy any of the follow-ups either, despite their fourth, "Brain Capers," getting good reviews. It appeared Mott The Hoople's time had come and gone.

And then came "All The Young Dudes."

Instead of breaking up, David Bowie gave them an unreleased song and produced their debut for Columbia and suddenly, Mott The Hoople had a radio hit, they were on everybody's mind. And not long thereafter Mick Ralphs left the band for Bad Company, who knew he was a guitar hero?, Ariel Bender did a bad job of replacing him and Ian Hunter eventually went solo and after missing three times on Columbia, using up all his good will, he moved to Chrysalis and put out a near-masterpiece, "You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic." The best track is the long forgotten "When The Daylight Comes," but "Wild East" is infectious, "Just Another Night" is a great opener, "Bastard" is heavy and penetrates and Barry Manilow covered "Ships" and Ian finally had a true radio hit and some income, never mind "Cleveland Rocks," which ultimately got its due when the Presidents of the United States covered it as the theme of Drew Carey's eponymous TV show. So all's well that ends well, both Mick Ralphs and Ian Hunter had their success, and Pete "Overend" Watts and Dale "Buffin" Griffin ultimately had some credits as producers.

Now there was one more album after Bowie's involvement before Ralphs left, "Mott" had the rocking opening cut "All The Way From Memphis," which is a semi-classic and was featured at the beginning of Martin Scorsese's "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," but it was already downhill at that point. "All The Young Dudes" was the apotheosis, and it's still my favorite, it's as fresh to me as it was when it came out, back in '72. The killer is "One Of The Boys."

"One Of The Boys"

It starts with the dialing of a telephone, and then quiet introductory licks that almost sound like a band warming up, and then the drum kicks, the organ enters and the guitar starts to crunch.

"One of the boys
One of the boys
I don't say much but I make a big noise
And it's growing"

And that's just what this track does. It keeps building in intensity. You nod your head, throw your fist in the air and totally meld with the sound, and what more can you ask for from rock and roll?

And then it gets quieter, and eventually seems to almost end before it's resuscitated and all I can say is "One Of The Boys" is one of those vaunted album tracks everybody reminisces and testifies about. Rarely heard on the radio (except for XM's Deep Tracks!), if you owned the album, you knew it by heart.


"Jerkin' Crocus"

And since we're rocking... It's like Mick Ralphs is dancing on the fretboard, you can't help but move your body.

"I know what she want
Just a lick of your ice cream cone"

Listen and decipher the sexual references yourself. But this is one of those tracks the Stones specialized in, little rockers with swinging, thin guitars. But in this case the axe is played by Mick Ralphs and it's a little fuller and unlike Jagger, Ian Hunter is not banging you over the head, he's just telling you his story. It all gels. "Jerkin' Crocus" is perfect in its own little way. Back when bands lived for the alcohol and sexual shenanigans on the road, when the Fortune 500 didn't come calling and the bands were not interested, couldn't even name them.


"Momma's Little Jewel"

And while we're still rocking...
It starts off slow, but it's still rock and roll. The combo of the piano and the guitar, the simplicity, hooks you. This is the sound the Faces made famous. And Mott The Hoople was every bit as good. Billy Joel wasn't the only one to sing about Catholic girls...


"Sweet Jane"

Still my favorite cover. Lou Reed wouldn't ease into public consciousness for a few more months, with his David Bowie produced hit "Walk On The Wild Side." This was before the Velvet Underground was legendary, this was before all the shoegazers testified they were inspired to start up a band by listening to the Velvets. 1970's "Loaded" had been almost completely ignored. Yes, the legendary album with the original version of this song and "Rock & Roll." "Loaded" was seen as their commercial sell-out album. It was on Cotillion, a division of Atlantic, as opposed to Polydor or Verve. "Rock & Roll" was resuscitated later by Lou on his "Rock N Roll Animal" album, but one must give Mott The Hoople credit for resuscitating "Sweet Jane," with a wink to producer David Bowie.

Mott's cover is simple and direct. Just like the original. And there's nothing wrong with that!


"Ready For Love/After Lights"

And most people have no clue this initial version exists, a Mick Ralphs original that's even heavier than the ultimately famous recut on Bad Company's debut. It's not a dirge, but a statement. With emphasis. Sometimes the best voice doesn't do justice to the material. Paul Rodgers is one of the best singers of all time, but to hear Mick Ralphs sing his composition is to believe every word. No one sings a song quite like the composer...they believe it, and so do you!

But the best part of the track is when it breaks down and gets quiet four and a half minutes in, when you get the ethereal vocals and the firework guitar licks, as if someone's setting off bottle rockets in the front yard. This is the opposite of club music. It's made just for you, lying on your bedroom floor, listening on headphones, going on your own aural adventure.

Some tracks never make the hit parade, but they move you even more than the hits. "Ready For Love/After Lights" is one of them.


And Verden Allen got his moment with "Soft Ground," and then promptly left the band, sick of having his material ignored.

And "Sea Diver" is classic emotive Hunter. And "Sucker" fits right in with the mood of the album, albeit not at quite as high a quality as some other cuts, but then we've got the elephant in the room, the title track, "All The Young Dudes."

"All The Young Dudes"

It's the guitar intro and the way Ian jumps right into the lyrics and the anthemic chorus and really it's the song more than the production, as Bowie's subsequent renditions make clear, still this was a perfect single from a band that could only seem to make album cuts.

And the lyrics are classic Bowie fantasy, these young dudes didn't really exist, but if you were just a bit left of center, you identified. Scratch a rock fan and underneath you'll find a loser. The one who knows all the credits, all the licks, all the players...they filled their world with hope from this music since in reality their social lives were nearly a complete vacuum.

And yes, it was a time of change, from the Beatles and the Stones to a second generation, Bowie was just breaking through, and punk's burgeoning was around the corner. And give Bowie credit for seeing the future, he was always good at that, but forgetting all the prescience and meaning "All The Young Dudes" just sounds right!

And maybe you know this album and are grinning from ear to ear.

Maybe you've never heard it before and it will become one of your new favorites.

Or maybe you think it's an antique best avoided.

But if you want a glimpse of the rock world from an English perspective in 1972, listen to this album, it nails it.

P.S. The album on Spotify is the extended one, with the demo versions and live takes, worth checking out even if you know this album by heart.

Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8

Previous Rhinofy playlists: http://www.rhinofy.com/lefsetz


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