Mott The Hoople “All The Young Dudes” The Bowie Factor

Yes, this is the story of Mott The Hoople "All The Young Dudes" but I chose David Bowie as my lead image.  Bowie was the force behind "All The Young Dudes."  The song began as a part of the story of Ziggy Stardust, but Bowie asked Mott The Hoople if they'd like to do the song instead. "I'm thinking, 'He wants to give us that?' He must be crazy!" Those are words from drummer Dale Griffin from the Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs of which "All The Young Dudes" ranks at #74.

No, and that's straight from David Bowie's mouth.  Bowie told Rolling Stone, "It’s no hymn to the youth, as people thought. It is completely the opposite."  In the storyline of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars concept album, at the point when there is no electricity, Ziggy Stardust uses songs to carry the news.

Lucy looks sweet 'cause he dresses like a queen
But he can kick like a mule, it's a real mean team

These lyrics may well have been Bowie's way of tipping his hat to the '70s glam rockers in the UK... Bowie being one of the biggest influencers of that genre. Our American surge for this style was in the '80s but glam rock broke in the UK a decade before.  A lot of our favorite hair band songs were covers of those '70s glam bands. Mott The Hoople leaned into their glam rock look after the release of this song.

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Ian Hunter (Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns)

David Bowie was a big fan of Mott The Hoople.  The band had some success in the UK but they weren't selling enough albums and they were ready to call it quits.  David Bowie offered them "Suffragette City" first, but the band passed.  When he offered them "All The Young Dudes" they decided to accept the offer.  David Bowie not only wrote "All The Young Dudes," he produced the track (and album).  Bowie also played guitar and sang backup.  Bowie was even a part of the clapping in the song.

In a 2002 interview with Mojo magazine, Bowie said, "I literally wrote that within an hour or so of reading an article in one of the music rags that their breakup was imminent."  

Bowie felt that the song had some lag toward the end of the original song. Mott The Hoople's lead singer, Ian Hunter came up with the idea for a one-way conversation. "I remembered an encounter I'd had with a heckler during a recent gig at the Rainbow [in London]. He was annoying me, and I ended up pouring beer all over him," Hunter recounted.

Mott The Hoople made four albums before All The Young Dudes.  Once the album was released in 1972, Mott scored another four Top 40 hits in the UK before breaking up in 1974 when guitarist, Mick Ralphs left to join the super-group, Bad Company, with Paul Rodgers.

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Mott The Hopple pose for a group portrait (L-R) Verden Allen, Ian Hunter, Dale "Buffin" Griffin (1948-2016), Pete Overend Watts and Mick Ralphs at The Jack Tar Hotel circa August 1970 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Robert Altman/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Mick Rock, one of rock's most iconic photographers, has died. He was 72.

Rock's death was confirmed in a statement shared via his Twitter which read in part, "It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share our beloved psychedelic renegade Mick Rock has made the Jungian journey to the other side. Those who had the pleasure of existing in his orbit, know that Mick was always so much more than 'The Man Who Shot The '70s.' He was a photographic poet -- a true force of nature who spent his days doing exactly what he loved, always in his own delightfully outrageous way."

Rock is known for capturing some of the most well-known photos in rock history, with some of his most notable subjects including David Bowie, Queen, Iggy Pop, Blondie, Syd Barrett and many more. (He's released many books chronicling his incredible work.)

Some of the images Rock captured turned into classic album covers as well. Scroll through the gallery below to see just 14 album covers created by the late Rock.

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