“A million times better”: David Bowie, Mott the Hoople, and the strange tale of a 1972 hit
Even though the thought of having to break up a band because you’ve not experienced the level of success you were hoping to might seem daunting, in a case like glam rock outfit Mott the Hoople‘s, it can certainly be worth holding out for a moment of magic.
Having formed in 1966 under the guise of The Doc Thomas Group, Mott the Hoople came to be known as such in 1969 when they were brought under the wing of Island Records, giving the Hereford-based group the impression that a major breakthrough would be on the horizon for them. Island was, at the time, one of the most fashionable labels to be signed to, and with the likes of varied acts like King Crimson, Spencer Davis Group and Free on their roster, there didn’t appear to be a more happening place to find a home.
However, after a couple of albums and some financially crippling tours, the band were all but ready to pack it in, citing how they had been unable to break into the charts despite their best efforts as the main reason for quitting their pursuits. Despite this lack of commercial success, they’d still managed to garner a number of fans amongst their peers, most notably fellow glam rock superstar David Bowie.
Bowie was on an upward trajectory by the start of 1972, with his Hunky Dory album from the previous year having showcased his best work to date, and with Ziggy Stardust well and truly in the works. Conversely, Mott the Hoople were at breaking point, attempting to piece together a third album and feeling an overwhelming bleakness from within their camp at the state of affairs they were in.
Rather generously, Bowie decided to send a demo of his own song, ‘Suffragette City’, through to the band, hoping that they would record it for their next album. After they declined it, responding that they were no longer operating, Bowie would, of course, use it for himself, but being as eager as he was to offer his songwriting chops to others at the time, he immediately called the band back to offer up another song titled ‘All the Young Dudes’ that he had written in the interim.
The band were instantly floored by the track, finding it incredulous that Bowie would so generously donate a song that good, and after opting not to break up, they recorded it and released it as a single, which saw them not only chart in the UK for the first time, but also peak at number three.
It wasn’t as though the band themselves, particularly principal songwriter and frontman Ian Hunter, were inferior songwriters, as they went on to release plenty of self-penned masterpieces after the success of Bowie’s benefaction, reaching the top ten on two further occasions with ‘Roll Away the Stone’ and ‘All the Way from Memphis’. However, ‘All the Young Dudes’ became the song that the band were best remembered for, and retains its popularity to this day.
One noted admirer of the track, Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott, summed up the entire saga perfectly in a 2023 interview with Classic Rock when discussing the songs that changed his life: “Bowie had rescued Mott from the doldrums by giving them ‘All the Young Dudes’, which is like giving away the crown jewels, but in fairness Mott’s version is a million times better than any version Bowie did.”
The likelihood of ‘All the Young Dudes’ becoming a hit for Bowie had he never given it away would still have been high, and it would probably rank among the greatest songs in his catalogue, but for Mott the Hoople, it was a life-changing endowment that allowed the band to have the moment in the spotlight that they thoroughly deserved.
