Mott the Hoople

A party-ready beacon of English glam rock, Mott the Hoople evolved from The Doc Thomas Group, who formed in Hereford in 1966 and took its shaggy new name from a little-known novel. After recruiting Ian Hunter as lead singer and pianist, the band cast around for a hit until David Bowie gifted his song “All the Young Dudes” in 1972. A sing-along glam anthem that bottled the scene’s androgyny and excess, it became the title track of the band’s Bowie-produced fifth album. Follow-up hits like 1974’s “Roll Away the Stone” similarly captured Hunter’s night-owl charisma, until mounting line-up shifts triggered his 1974 departure for a solo career. The band continued on as simply Mott for two more albums, followed by periodic live reunions with Hunter in the new millennium. By then, acts like Oasis and Suede were proudly carrying on Mott the Hoople’s untroubled swagger for new generations.