Shortly before the band split up, David Bowie intervened and offered them one of his songs, which ultimately became a hit.
The band Mott the Hoople once explained in more detail how the collaboration with David Bowie came about – at a time when the band actually wanted to break up and was just looking for a job with the glam rocker. But he ultimately gave them the piece that would stick in everyone’s ears and ensure the survival of the group.
Not an engagement with Bowie, but a song by him
In 1972, British band Mott the Hoople was on the verge of breaking up and their label, Island Records, was slowly losing patience with them. “We were booked to play at the Gaskessel in Bern. “We got so fed up we decided to break up and then had a great time on the drive home because all the tension was gone and we were done,” singer Ian Hunter told The Guardian.
Peter Overend Watts, the band’s bassist, then asked David Bowie for a job. But Watts didn’t get the answer he expected and finally called Hunter and said, “Bowie doesn’t want us to break up. He has a song for us.” Instead of splitting up, Bowie offered the band the opportunity to produce a piece he had written with him as producer.
“I knew it was great and that I could sing it”
First he offered the rock band the hit “Suffragette City”, which they initially rejected. The group then accepted the offer to first record the single “All the Young Dudes” and then record a full album based on it. When Ian Hunter heard the track he was thrilled: “It sent shivers down my spine. I knew it was great and that I could sing it,” said the lead singer. Another plus point: Bowie’s management even wanted to cover the costs of the recordings. The five young men were signed to CBS/Columbia by David Bowie’s manager Tony Defries and produced the song within a few days.
Verden Allen, who was responsible for organ and guitar, described via The Guardian how Bowie asked him to play the organ in sync with the guitar: “I thought that would be quite difficult, so I suggested holding down the chords , so Mick Ralphs could concentrate on the guitar part.” It ultimately worked and after a few attempts at mixing and a more commercial sound, the CBS exec said, “Guys, you’ve got your hit single.”
The hit that paved the way for the next ones
Verden Allen also explained to The Guardian the moment when Bowie really encouraged him: “One evening I went out for pizza with Bowie, who was wearing his blue Ziggy Stardust jumpsuit. He was suffering from malnutrition at the time and his teeth were bleeding from not eating. His hit ‘Starman’ was playing on the jukebox and he said, ‘Yours will be here soon.'” Allen replied to the singer that he wished “we had written our first hit ourselves,” but “All the Young Dudes” paved the way the way for all the hits that came from the band. He is now happy that the Mott the Hooples managed to thank him for it.