David Bowie - All The Young Dudes
All The Young Dudes - Mott the Hoople
Though I probably like the Mott the Hoople version better - Bowie puts his own twist on his own tune that makes it so engaging. Most of you know that Bowie wrote this song and gave it to Mott the Hoople as they were struggling and thinking about calling it quits. Did you know that they had turned down "Suffragette City' prior to that??
Regarded as an anthem of
glam rock, the song has received acclaim and was a commercial success. In 2021,
Rolling Stone ranked "All the Young Dudes" number 166 in its list of the
500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It is also one of the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
Background and recording[edit]
By 1972,
Mott the Hoople were on the verge of splitting up. Having been together for three years, the band had released four well-received albums and developed a small loyal following but had failed to garner commercial success. An appearance on the BBC television programme
Top of the Pops in late 1971 was not enough to push their recent single "Midnight Lady" onto the charts.
[1][2] The band had also finished a tour which left them financially unstable.
[3]
On 4 February 1972,
[2] David Bowie sent the band a demo of "
Suffragette City" in hopes they would record it. The band played it and believed it did not fit their style. Bassist
Pete Watts contacted Bowie in late March 1972 and politely rejected it, stating the band broke up. Upon learning this, Bowie contacted Watts back two hours later and said, "I've written a song for you since we spoke, which could be great."
[1][2] Bowie had just finished recording two albums consecutively and had another single, "
John, I'm Only Dancing", prepared for release, so he was eager to write for other artists.
[3] While Bowie's manager
Tony Defries worked on signing the band with
CBS Records,
[3] Bowie met with Watts a few days later and played "All the Young Dudes" on acoustic guitar. Watts recalled: "He hadn't got all the words but the song just blew me away, especially when he hit the chorus."
[1] Watts then introduced Bowie to the rest of the band at an office located at
Regent Street in London, where Bowie sat cross-legged on the floor and played the band the song.
[2][4]
The band were ecstatic.
Ian Hunter recalled: "He just played it on an acoustic guitar. I knew straight away it was a hit. There were chills going down my spine. It's only happened to me a few times in my life, when you know that this is a biggie".
[5] Drummer
Dale Griffin said: "We couldn't believe it. In the office at Regent Street he's strumming it on his guitar and I'm thinking, he wants to give us that? He must be crazy! We broke our necks to say yes! You couldn't fail to see it was a great song."
[6] After playing it, Bowie told them he would produce the track for release as a single while his manager,
Tony Defries, informed them he would become their manager. Knowing the track would be a hit, the band agreed to not break up.
[2]
Release and aftermath[edit]
"All the Young Dudes" was released by
CBS Records in the UK on 28 July 1972, with the catalogue number CBS 8271.
[3] It was a commercial success, peaking at No. 3 on the
UK Singles Chart,
[18] No. 37 on the US
Billboard Hot 100 (in November),
[19] and No. 31 in Canada (also in November). Mott the Hoople titled their
fifth album after the song, which was produced by Bowie and recorded at
Trident Studios in London during the summer of 1972.
[11] Throughout autumn 1972, the band joined Bowie and
the Spiders from Mars on tour in the US. On 29 November, Bowie boosted their profile by introducing them on stage, including at the
Tower near
Philadelphia and performed the song with Hunter; this performance was released on the 1998 compilation album
All the Way from Stockholm to Philadelphia.
[11]
The original Mott the Hoople release had to be changed lyrically in order that it might be played on UK radio and television. The line in the second verse: "Wendy's stealing clothes from Marks and Sparks" was a reference to UK retailer
Marks & Spencer, also known by that colloquialism. As such, air play of the song in its original form would have breached broadcasting regulations relating to advertising in force at the time. The line was replaced with: "Wendy's stealing clothes from unlocked cars".
[11]
Bowie took to performing "All the Young Dudes" on his
Ziggy Stardust Tour, and a medley version appears on the album
Ziggy Stardust – The Motion Picture, the live recording of the last Ziggy show that was finally released officially in 1983. Bowie's first released version of the song was in 1974 on
David Live. Bowie had also offered "
Drive-In Saturday" to Mott the Hoople following "All the Young Dudes", but they turned down this offer, at least partially owing to the then-current success of their own "
Honaloochie Boogie".
[11] According to an anecdote by Bowie on the
VH1 Storytellers (2009) album (track 7), his annoyance at the rejection prompted Bowie to shave his eyebrows while in Florida.