WCSX Classic Cuts : Suffragette City
WCSX Classic Cuts
David Bowie: “Suffragette City”
The Hook: Bowie initially offered this classic cut to Mott the Hoople, who felt they needed an even stronger song as a breakthrough single and eventually ended up getting “All the Young Dudes” from Bowie instead.
Album: Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
Year: 1972
Writer: David Bowie
Stats: Never released as a single, it was the B-side of “Starman,” the only single off from Ziggy Stardust…, which peaked at number-65 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Background: Former Mott the Hoople frontman Ian Hunter recalls that “All the Young Dudes” wasn’t the first song David Bowie offered his band for the make-or-break album he was going to produce for them in 1972. He says Bowie gave a demo to Mott bassist Pete Overend Watts of a different song, one that would go on become a key track from his own Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album.
Ian Hunter on how David Bowie initially offered bassist Pete Overend Watts “Suffragette City” for Mott the Hoople, but Hunter insisted that they hold out for an even better song. OC:…record right? :18
“He approached him with ‘Suffragette City,’ so Pete brought it to me and I said, ‘No, it’s not strong enough,’ ‘cause we’d had three stiff singles in a row on Island Records. And it was like The Kinks, we were going to have to have a ‘You Really Got Me’ to break though. I mean, nobody wanted to know us. Meanwhile, we’re selling out everywhere and that was only going to last so long without a recod, right?”
