Product Description

In 1973, the members of Mott the Hoople were tired. Island Records had dropped the band after three albums, as sales were low and audience interest was almost non-existent. But the band had a famous fan in David Bowie, who offered to writethem one single to give them a leg up. That single was the chart-topping "All the Young Dudes", a glitter-era wink-winkcelebration of male bonding that name-checked chart-toppersT. Rex and repositioned the once-laddish band as glammy, androgynous scenesters. Obviously, an album was called for.
Produced by Bowie and opening with a smoking cover of "Sweet Jane" that played a major role in raising public awarenessof the Velvet Underground, ALL THE YOUNG DUDES is a brassy,loud, obnoxious--in the best possible sense--rock & roll album. "Sucker" and "One of the Boys" recall the hit, while "Jerkin' Crocus" and "Sea Diver" are as odd as the band's earlier material. An amazing mid-career transformation.

Track Listing

1. Sweet Jane
2. Momma's Little Jewel
3. All The Young Dudes
4. Sucker
5. Jerkin' Crocus
6. One Of The Boys
7. Soft Ground
8. Ready For Love/Afterlights
9. Sea Diver

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #137507 in Music
• Released on: 1998-08-17
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Buy it now, before it's too late!
All The Young Dudes represented a major turning point for Mott The Hoople, following a string of respected but poor selling albums, none of which are generally available any more. Mott had already decided to call it a day when David Bowie tried to persuade them to give it one last try, and offered to write a song for them. "Suffragette city" was turned down, but "All The Young Dudes" was to be the band's saviour, and pave the way for a string of hit singles and successful albums.

"Dudes" stands apart from the later albums, carrying many of the hallmarks of their earlier material, spiced up with some quirky production from Bowie and some experimental effects. Aside from the title track, highlights include a spendid version of Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane", the instantly catchy "Jerkin' Crocus", "One of the Boys" which typified the material that earned the band their 'fathers of punk' reputation, Mick Ralph's tasteful "Ready for Love" (which he tried again some years later with Bad Company - with much less success), rounded off by the delicate ballad 'Sea Divers', representing some of the despair which Ian Hunter felt at the time of the band's apparent demise.

That so much of the early Mott material is now unavailable is truly a tragedy. Anyone who enjoyed their later material should buy this album before it's too late, and get an idea of how much you have already missed.