Couldn't let Buffin pass away without SOMETHING

I know I'm in the midst of Jose's Beatles masterpiece, and I know I've posted a TON of Mott shit over
the years, however, while "lookin around", I found a Mott boot that I did not previously have, and out of respect for Dale Griffin (Mott's drummer who passed this week), I cannot think of a better time to post this, it's a new one to me, perhaps it is for you as well......the Beatles stuff will resume Thursday,  I've been putting in some serious time on this stuff, but IT IS WORTH IT, you music lovers deserve it......Mott the Hoople was one of my probably 10 or so favorite bands of them all, and when thier drummer passes AND I find a boot I haven't previously heard OR posted, I sort of feel an obligation.....this is from 1970, Fairfield Halls.....I have NOT listened to this one yet, some of thier good, pre-"Dudes" stuff here, and, at least according to the track list, two versions of "Thunderbuck Ram", one of their greatest numbers, not sure if that's a misprint or it's really here twice, also could be a paste together of musltiple shows.

Anyway, I didn't have this one......check it out, any member of Mott the Hoople deserves SOMETHING of a rememberance......

"Cross over shade, like the wise dove,
Who cares not for fame, just for shy love,
Rejoice cause the king ain't lost his throne....

He's still here, you are not alone

You are not alone"

-Mott the Hoople "Hymn For the Dudes"

01 Ohio/02 No Wheels to Ride/03 Rock N Roll Queen/04 Thunderbuck Ram/05 When My Minds's Gone/06 Keep A Knockin/07 You Really Got Me/08 Long Red/09 The Original Mixed Up Kid/10 Walking With a Mountain/11 Laugh at Me/12 Thunderbuck Ram

A small dab of research reveals taht indeed, tracks 9-12 are indeed from another show, 1971, Sweden.

Ian Hunter

One would have assumed that Mott the Hoople sans Ian Hunter would be a disaster, and one would be right, "Drive on" and "Pointin' and Shoutin'" are positively ghastly epics, reminiscent of the time the Yule brothers tried to make a Velvet Underground album without Lou Reed, just a horirble idea..... however, Hunter still had a lot of material in him, rounded up backing band led by guitarist Mick Ronson, and cranked out a few albums of at the very least 3-star quality..... I think any fan of Mott will enjoy these, it is MUCH more the logical extension of  Mott the Hoople than the two instant cutouts mentioned before.

The solo debut, "Ian Hunter", is spectacular, Hunter sounds liberated and blasts out great tunes (the ferocious "Once Bitten Twice Shy" was covered by some hair-brained hair band who at the very least should have been publicly flogged), "I Get So Excited" is pure sleazy Hunter rock n roll, "Lounge Lizard" had been a fairly regular Mott concert staple for a while......"Who Do You Love", is also an excellent rocker, "Shades Off!" and "Boy" are the kind of lyrical insight Hunter always did so well (think "Hymn for the Dudes")......all this without even mentioning what may have been Hunter's best song ever, the psychotic "The Truth, The Whole Truth, Nothing But the Truth" features some positively brain bending slide guitar and some "no one but Ian Hunter" lyrics ("God's little baby got nothin' to shoot"), GREAT song, fabulous album too, pure 4-star effort.

The follow up "All American Alien Boy" is not quite a good, but is still loaded with some fine stuff,
the ballad "Irene Wilde", the insightful "Letter to Britannia From the Union Jack",actually all of side two is really solid as well ("Rape", "You Nearly Did Me In", "Apathy 83 (sample lyric: "There ain't no rock n roll no more just music of the rich"), and the album's highlight, the Dylanesque "God Take 1", a conversation between Ian and God, which gets pretty deep ("Oh, God said to me:'Gonna kick your ass'")......not quite as rocking or quite as good as the debut, but easilly a three star effort.

He had one more great one in him.....the soundtrack of my senior year (1979) included tons of stuff from "You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic", leading off with the great "Just Another Night" and of course including "Cleveland Rocks", made more "famous" later on as the theme from "The Drew Cary Show".....there are some good, quieter tracks here,"When the Daylight Comes, "Standin' In My Light", and the unfortunate "Ships", which was actually covered by Barry Manilow (!) ad became a huge hit, from which Hunter earned more money than he did in both his solo career an his career with Mott the Hoople in total......sometimes I have VERY little faith in the rest of our species.......

Anyway, he cranked out several more, don't have them and haven't heard a lot of them, I DO have one of them here "Overnight Angels", I'll include it here because I have one, can't say too much to recommend it.

"Welcome To the Club" was a 2 record set with three live sides and a studio side with four new tracks.....covers a lot of ground, as far back as "Laugh at Me" and as recent as stuff off of "Schizophrenic"......all in all, the live sides are perfectly acceptable, and the studio side offers two good ones ("We Gotta Get Out of Here", which finds Hunter trapped in a discotheque, and "Man O War" which gives us choice lyrics like "the demon in my semen").......all in all, for Mott/Hunter fans, I think vinyl rips of it are fairly hard to locate.

From 1975 we have a poorly recorded Detroit show,which at least provides a live version of "The Truth" (also strangely "White Light White Heat"(LATE EDIT: The Detroit disc is defective and does not apear here it is awful anyway) .......from 1981 comes a Hunter/Ronson set from Central Park NY, which features a few efforts from the latter solos that I don't have ("Gun Control", "Lisa Likes to Rock N Roll", really pretty good stuff, somewhat to my surprise......a 1979 show from Cleveland from the "Schizophrenic" tour REALLY brings down the house, of course, with "Cleveland Rocks".....and one more I've found, a 1989 BBC session with stuff old and new, good and bad, see what you think.......

Gonna about wrap up my week of Mott/Ian, always a favorite of mine and I hope you've enjoyed it.... going to see the Black Keys tonight, so maybe we'll do something for them tomorrow, we'll see! Till then, please enjoy these.

IAN HUNTER-01 Once Bitten Twice Shy/02 Who Do You Love/03 Lounge Lizard/04 Boy/05 3000 Miles From Here/06 The Truth, The Whole Truth, Nothing But the Truth/07 It Ain't Easy When you Fall/08 Shades Off/09 I Get So Excited

ALL AMERICAN ALIEN BOY-01 Letter to Britannia From the Union Jack/02 All-American Alien Boy/03 Irene Wilde/04 Rape/05 You Nearly Did Me In/06 Apathy 83/07 God (Take 1)/08 Restless Youth

YOU'RE NEVER ALONE WITH A SCHIZOPHRENIC-01 Just Another Night/02 Wild East/03 Cleveland Rocks/04 Ships/05 When the Daylight Comes/06 Life after Death/07 Standin' In My Light/08 Bastard/09 The Outsider

WELCOME TO THE CLUB-01 FBI/02 Once Bitten Twice Shy/03 Angeline/04 Laugh at Me/05 All the Way From Memphis/06 I Wish I Was Your Mother/07 Irene Wilde/08 Just Another Night/09 Cleveland Rocks/10 Standin' In My Light/11 Bastard/12 Walkin With a Mountain/Rock N Roll Queen/13 All the Young Dudes/14 Slaughter on Tenth Avenue/15 We Gotta Get Out of Here/16 Silver Needles/12 Man O War/13 Sons and Daughters

OVERNIGHT ANGELS-01 Golden Opportunity/02 Shallow Crystals/03 Overnight Angels/04 Broadway/05 Justice of the Peace/06 (Miss) Silver Dime/07 Wild N Free/08 The Ballad of Little Star/09 To Love a Woman

CENTRAL PARK 1981-01 Once Bitten Twice Shy/02 Gun Control/03 Central Park and West/04 All the Way From Memphis/05 I Need Your Love/Honky/06 Lisa Likes Rock N Roll/07 Violence/08 Noises/09 Is Your Love In Vain/10 Standin in My Light/11 Bastard/12 Just Another Night/13 Cleveland Rocks/ 14 Irene Wilde/15 All the Young Dudes/Ships

CLVELAND 1979-01 FBI/02 Once Bitten Twice Shy/03 Life After Death/04 Laugh At Me/05

Bastard/06 Just Another Night/07 Standing I My Light/08 Cleveland Rocks/09 When the Daylight Comes/10 Angeline

BBC 2/15/89-01 Once Bitten Twice Shy/02 How Much More Can I Take/03 Big N Little Love/04 Following In Your Footsteps/05 Just Another Night/06 Sweet Dreamer/07 (Give Me Back My) Wings/08 Standin' In My Light/09 Bastard/10 The Loner/11 You're Never Too Small To Hit the Bigtime/12 All the Way From Memphis/13 Irene Wilde

Mott the Hoople Part 1

Arguably my favorite of all bands, one of a handful anyway.... once did a "rarities" post on them, this
time I am going to give them the "XTC/Hendrix" treatment and throw ya pretty much everything I got.

The wonderful 1969 debut album proudly wears its influences, namely Dylan and the Rolling Stones, covering material as diverse as The Kink "You Really Got Me" (done as an overpowering instrumental), Sonny Bono's "Laugh at Me", and Doug Sahm's "At the Crossroads".....all of which are fantastic interpretations, and the original material "Rock N Roll Queen" and in particular they Dylan-esque "Backsliding Fearlessly" sparkles as well......the classic lineup was guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer, Dale Griffin, bassist Overend Watts, keyboardist Verden Allen, and, most notably, vocalist/pianist/resident genius Ian Hunter. The album is brilliant and not nearly appreciated enough.

The follow-up, "Mad Shadows" is something of a letdown, although it does include a good one in "Walkin' With a Mountain", and a great one, one of the heaviest rockin tracks of the era, "Thunderbuck Ram".......likely one wishing to dabble could find these on one of the comps I am going  unleash the next few days, the album is for fans........

Speaking of.....album #3 "Wildlife", is in a word, awful......partially acoustic and hardly rocking in the least, it contains the respectable "Angel of Eighth Avenue" and NOTHING else of merit......if ever a band looked as if its run were over, this was it.......I was/am a huge fan of the group and rate this disc as  1/2*, being charitable.

The comeback, part , was "Brain Capers" a flatout

tremendous maturation and honestly one of the best and hardest rocking albums of the mid-70's......not only do you get titles such as "The Wheel of Quivering Meat Conception", and of course "Death May Be Your Santa Claus", but great numbers such as "Darkness Darkness", "The Journey", "Sweet Angeline", and one of the greatest hard-rock songs of them ALL, "The Moon Upstairs".......one of the first songs to use the word "fuck" in a non-shocking context ("We ain't bleeding you, we're feeding you, but you're too fucking SLOW!" (another great lyric: "For those of you who always laugh, let this be your epitaph", among others, this is one GREAT song on one spectacular hard rock album. NOT to be missed under any circumstances.

Then along came Bowie......Bowie saw something he liked in them, and with his input, they became leaders of the glam rock scene......Bowie got them Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane", also a favorite song of mine which works perfectly in this context, and gave them the wondrous "All the Young Dudes", which features' Hunter's spoken bit near the end which seemed to give the band credibility in the gay community ("Hey you up there......you in the glasses......I want you".......a tremendous song and an anthem for a movement/era, the album also includes other gems, "Jerkin' Crocus", "One of the Boys", "Sucker"........one of the finest albums of the 1970's.......(note: I once read that the band preferred Bowie's "Drive In Saturday" to "All the Young Dudes".......I hear  version exists SOMEWHERE, not sure, but wouldn't THAT be amazing, and it might have changed musical history for better/worse.)

However, not even the best Mott the Hoople album of the 1970's, because these guys their stride with the classic "Mott".....nearly every track here is a wonder......leading off with the classic "All the Way From Memphis" ("It's a mighty long way down rock n roll, and your name gets hot so your heart grows cold") (some lame ass hair band covered it in the late 80's or so, chnging the lyric "Some spade" to "some guy" or something, Good Lord).........."Whizz Kid" is a fine one, "Hymn for the Dudes" is majestic ("you ain't the Nazz.....you're just a buzz......some kinda TEMPORARY")......."Honaloochie Boogie" shoulda been a hit single, "Violence" is a sort of overlooked "semi-classic", "Drivin' Sister" is a great track with some excellent drumming (also referencing Mott's all but unknown "Half Moon Bay".......the autobiographical "Ballad of Mott the Hoople" is quite insightful as Hunter lays out his soul as well as those of hi mates in just a few lines, and finally, the Dylanesque "I Wish I Was Your Mother" ........THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST ALBUMS, NOT JUST OF THE 1970's, NOT JUST HARD-GLAM ALBUMS, THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST ALBUMS EVER PRODUCED......I give out only 5 star ratings, this is one of those albums I think deserves more........

Well, all good things come to an end.......Allen and Ralphs left (Ralphs to form Bad Company), the
bad took on Morgan Fischer and Ariel Bender to replace them for "The Hoople" (these guys did NOT lose a lot of sleep on album titles).......not a horrible album, but after the past two, what could we realistically expect.....It contains one really great one "Marionette" ("I ain't one yet!"), "Crash Street Kids", "Born Late '58", and a few more are passable.......this is though the end of the road for stdio work.....Hunter departed, and the leftovers issued "Drive On" and "Pointing and Shouting" which I don't have and wouldn't post if I did, they are simply awful......we do have a vinyl rip of a decent live (commercially available) album, it features the Bender/Fischer lineup, really does rock hard, in particular "Sweet Angeline"........there was a 30-year double disc reissue which we'll get to eventually, with some of the other live stuff.....what were doing today is 1) getting the basic discography out of the way, and 2) establishing my love for the band. LOTS and LOTS of live stuff, comps, demos, Hunter solo stuff, etc, yet to come, probably most of the week.......I love this band, always did, and if you have anything to contribute that you think I may be lacking, PLEASE, now is the time.......

Remember I used to title my posts "The Best _________ Post Ever"?  I stopped doing that because someone from another blog (who never did like me or my blog anyway) took offense to it and didn't understand the sarcasm/self deprecating humor.......point being, if you can find a BETTER Mott the Hoople post than you will see here the next 3-4 days, I'll eat Drew Barrymore's undergarments.

Be well, LOTTS of MOTT to come this week, I am excited, if you are a fan, I hope you are too..... tomorrow: LOTTS of COMPS crammed with rare stuff!

"Some spade said rock n rollers, yer all the same.... man, that's yer instrument, I felt.... SO ASHAMED!"

MOTT THE HOOPLE-01 You Really Got Me/02 At the Crossroads/03 Laugh at Me/04 Backsliding Fearlessly/05 Rock and Roll Queen/06 Rabbit Foot and Toby Time/07 Half Moon Bay/08 Wrath and Wroll

MAD SHADOWS-01 Thuderbuck Ram/02 No Wheels to Ride/03 You Are One Of Us/04 Walkin' With a Mountain/05 I Can Feel/06 Threads of Iron/07 When My Mind's Gone

WILDLIFE-01 Original Mixed Up Kid/02 Angel of Eighth Avenue/03 Wrong Side of the River/04 Waterlow/05 Lay Down/06 It Must Be Love/07 Whiskey Woman/08 Home Is Where I Want To Be/09 Keep a Knockin'

BRAIN CAPERS-01 Death May Be Your Santa Claus/02 Your Own Backyard/03 Darkness
Darkness/04 The Journey/05 Sweet Angeline/06 Second Love/07 The Moon Upstairs/08 The Wheel of Quivering Meat Conception

ALL THE YOUNG DUDES-01 Sweet Jane/02 Momma's Little Jewel/03 All the Young Dudes/04 Sucker/05 Jerkin Crocus/06 One of the Boys/07 Soft Ground/08 Ready For Love/After Lights/09 Sea Diver

MOTT-01 All the Way From Memphis/02 Whizz Kid/03 Hymn For the Dudes/04 Honaloochie Boogie/05 Violence/06 Drivin' Sister/07 Ballad of Mott the Hoople/08 I Wish I Was Your Mother

THE HOOPLE-01 The Golden age of Rock N Roll/02 Marionette/03 Alice/04 Crash Street Kids/05 Born Late 58/06 Trudi's Song/07 Pearl and Roy (England)/08 Through the Looking Glass/09 Roll Away the Stone

LIVE-01 All the Way From Memphis/02 Sucker/03 Rest In Peace/04 All the Young Dudes/05 Walkin' With a Mountain/06 Sweet Angeline/07 Rose/08 Medley: Jerkin' Crocus/One of the Boys/Rock N Roll Queen/Get Back/Whole Lotta Shakin/Violence

The best Ian Hunter post ever

For the most part, Ian Hunter WAS Mott the Hoople, as much as I hate to admit that.....his overwhelming personality trumped all, Mott albums such as "All the Young Dudes" and "Mott" would have been TOTALLY forgotten relics had it not been for Hunter's genius......his solo career also had sparks of brilliance, (Mott the Hoople's post-Ian Hunter efforts, "Drive On" and "Pointing and Shouting", are two of perhaps the worst recorded albums in the history of music)

Hunter's first post-Mott solo LP is damn near a classic, a simply classic rock n roll album, with the fantastic "Once Bitten Twice Shy" which was later covered by some ridiculous hair metal band in a suck-shit version, the great "Who Do You Love", and the mind-dissolving slide guitar classic "The Truth, The Whole Truth, Nothing But the Truth" which is, I don't know, one of maybe the underappreciated tracks in rock history? Brilliant "solo" debut, but there was yet more to come....."All American Alien Boy" is a fine effort as well, there are some great tunes here ("Rape", "You Nearly Did Me In", "Apathy 83"(sample lyric: "There ain't no rock n roll no more, just music of the rich"), and especially, "God (Take 1)" (lyrically a very odd conversation between Ian and the Lord, lyrically there are some VERY clever moments, opening line: "Oh, God said to me, gonna kick your ass")....Hunter had some great songs still in his cranium, this is nearly as fine an album as his solo debut.

Next came "You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic", which is a fine album as well, an unusual circumstance for a rocker "striking out on his own" after leaving "his" band......but this album is an amazing triumph as well, "Just Another Night" and "Cleveland Rocks" are great, "Standin In My Light" ("they take my pictures off the walls, I still won't trade with the pay of the New York Dolls") and "Wild East" are good, and "Ships" (in the GUESS WHAT?) was covered by (wait for it) Barry Manilow for which Hunter more money than he made in his entire career with Mott as well as his solo career........life can be so ironic at times......ANYWAY.....

Hunter has released several albums since "Schizophrenic", none of them have really impressed me a lot, I am including "Overnight Angels" simply because I happen to have a copy (it ain't much), but he did release a pretty good live LP."Welcome to the Club", which is a fair-to-good three sided live effort, including some  great Mott material ("All the Young Dudes", "All the Way from Memphis" for example), as well as some of Ian's solo work.....it is a fine album, actually, and the fourth side includes some new Hunter studio material including two fine new rockers("We Gotta Get Out of Here","Man O War")

Gotta coupla boots here, don't get too excited, the sound quality is something "less than stellar"...."Drunk on Wine and Wisdom" is not dated and is credited to the "Hunter/Ronson Band", while not great it does include some rare tracks such as "England Rocks" and "Traitor".

We have a 1975 Hunter boot from Detroit, which is frankly fairly awful, if you are a Mott/Hunter fanatic have at it.....and a 1989 Hunter/Ronson Band BBC Boot from 1989, which is not bad and contains some material not available on the previous releases.

Hunter has released other albums since "You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic"....other than the lame "Overnight Angels" I don't think I've ever heard any of them,(I think I may have heard "Short Back and Sides" and, if I recall, pretty much considered it the "write him off" moment of a fine and brilliant career) nor do I want to, especially......memo to Ian Hunter: "It's a mighty long way down rock n roll, and as your name gets hot then your heart grows cold".........hey, Ian.....THEN your name gets cold. In the 1970's/early 80's he was as bad-ass as they come though, BOTH fronting one of the best bands of an era AS WELL AS turning in a VERY VERY good few solo albums before the final turn towards suckville. Without question one of the finest and most important artists of that most crucial (and best) of rock n roll decades, those fantastic 1970's.........

IAN HUNTER-01 Once Bitten Twice Shy/02 Who Do you Love/03 Lounge Lizard/04 Boy/05 3000 Miles From Here/06 The Truth, the Whole Truth, Nothing But the Truth/07 It Ain't Easy When You Fall/08 Shades Off/09 I Get So Excited

ALL AMERICAN ALIEN BOY-01 Letter to Britannia From the Union Jack/02 All American Alien Boy/03 Irene Wilde/04 Rape/05 You Nearly Did Me In/06 Apathy 83/18 God (take 1)/19 Restless Youth

YOU'RE NEVER ALONE WITH A SCHIZOPHRENIC-01 Just Another Night/02 Wild East/03 Cleveland Rocks/04 Ships/05 When the Daylight Comes/06 Life After Death/07 Standin' In My Light/08 Bastard/09 The Outsider

WELCOME TO THE CLUB-01 FBI/02 Once Bitten Twice SHy/03 Angeline/04 Laugh At Me/05 All The Way From Memphis/06 I Wish I Was Your Mother/07 Irene Wilde/08 Just Another Night/09 Cleveland Rocks/10 Standin' In My Light/11 Bastard/12 Walkin With a Mountain/Rock N Roll Queen/13 All The Young Dudes/14 Slaughter on Tenth Avenue/15 We Gotta Get Out Of Here/16 Silver Needles/17 Man O War/18 Sons and Daughters

OVERNIGHT ANGELS-01 Golden Opportunities/02 Shallow Crystals/03 Overnight Angels/04 Broadway/05 Justice of the Peace/06 (Miss) Silver Dime/07 Wild N Free/08 The Ballad of Little Star/09 To Love a Woman

DRUNK ON WINE AND WISDOM-01 Intro/02 FBI/03 Once Bitten Twice Shy//04 Life After Death/05 Laugh at Me/06 Letter to Britannia From the Union Jack/07 Just Another Night/08 Angeline/09 Standin' In My Light/10 Bastard/11 Cleveland Rocks/12 England Rocks (rare A-Side)/13 I'm the Teacher (soundtrack)/14 All American Alien Boy (Single Version)/15 Traitor (B Side)/16 Great Expectations (soundtrack)

DETROIT 1975-01 The Truth The Whole Truth Nothin' But the Truth/02 Lounge Lizard/03 Unknown/04 Who Do You Love/05 White Light/White Heat/06 Boy/07 Unknown/08 Once Bitten Twice Shy/09 Roll Away the Stone/10 Unknown/11 All the Way From Memphis/12 All the Young Dudes/13 Encore

HUNTER/RONSON BBC 2/15/89-01 Once Bitten Twice Shy/02 How Much More Can I Take/03 Big N Little Love/04 Following In Your Footsteps/05 Just Another Night/06 Sweet Dreamer/07 (Give Me Back My) Wings/08 Standin' In My Light/09 Bastard/10 The Loner/11 You're Never Too Small to Hit the Big Time/12 All the Way From Memphis/13 Irene Wilde

Links will be up when they are up, zippy has gone back to its previous, inconsistent self...... oh well, it was a great week!

Be whisking away to the magical land of Strat-O-Matic baseball here in an hour or so, perfect plan would be I cet the remaining two discs to upload (ITunes seems to be having reading a couple of these CD's, they are REALLY old), but should I succeed, I will get them all started in Zippy, who will do me right and have everything uploaded after I go kick some Strat O Matic ass, I'll return and post the links before midnight.........hopefully that's how it goes.

Dunno WHAT I'll put up tomorrow, but you know it will be something GREAT.......by the way the ultimate in congratulations to my son Grant Miller for being named Most Valuable Player of his High School JV Team as a freshman (he also got PLENTY of varsity playing time).....making it MORE impressive is the fact that he missed seven games with a bad leg injury, but in my highly prejudiced opinion, it was still a sound and logical selection. I hope to see him win three more of them, then maybe one or 2 in college? World's proudest Daddy, give me a LITTLE latitude for a minute!

Some random Mott the Hoople rarities

Mott the Hoople were one of my all-time favorite bands, without question. I was going to do a "greatest ever" post on them so as to put all of their classic studio albums up for all, maybe I will at another time, but I got looking at the shelf, and there is SO MUCH material that so many might not have heard....I think I'd rather do it as a "rarities" post. Like so many of the other bands of which I consider myself a "fan", I probably have 50-75 of their shows, the quality of which, of course, varies greatly (although, frankly, most of theirs tend to run toward the "poor" end), if there is a Mott show you've been looking for, chances are I may have it (unless for some reason you want something from the wretched, post-Hunter "Pointing and Shouting" era, although I would find that extremely hard to believe).

So, what are NOT included here are their stunning debut album, its frankly awful follow-up "Wildlife", or the comeback "Mad Shadows", or the classic "Brain Capers".....maybe another time. We'll start off with "Rock N Roll Queen", which includes just a small taste of the early greatness of the band (the great "Thunderbuck Ram", one of the hardest rocking songs ever recorded (from Mad Shadows) is here)...there are other anthologies available of their early work, I really recommend simply listening to the albums in their entirety (except for "Wildlife"). Of course, as great as they were, their career changed when David Bowie "discovered" them and gave them "All the Young Dudes".....instead of just a really good rock n roll band, they were now glitter/glam heroes, and it was a perfect fit. I have here the remastered/expanded version of "All the Young Dudes", which includes some demos, some live tracks, and an Ian Hunter/David Bowie duo on the title track. In a move some might refer to as excess, I have also included the THREE (!) disc "All the Young Dudes" box set, with more odds and ends of varying quality than you could possibly imagine. I am a FAN of this band, this is a fan's collection for certain.

What else, lets see...."Two Miles From Heaven" continues the obscurities trend with a vocal version of "You Really Got Me", and demo versions of some of the early tracks (some quite good, such as "The Road to Birmingham", some inferior such as "Thunderbuck Ram").....both "Hoopling Furiously" and "BBC Recordings" contain, well, BBC recordings of the older material. I'll cap it off with just two of the many concert recordings of theirs that I have, "Very Flash, Very Rude" is a pretty good set from Winterland San Francisco 1973, and from the same year a show from Boston MA...as I say I have MANY concerts from these guys, request your favorites and I will post them....at sometime in the future, also, I'll likely post all those classic early albums (The debut through "The Hoople" anyway), because they deserve to be heard in full.......also quite a bit of Ian Hunter's post-Mott output is worthwhile.

I hope everyone likes this stuff, and I hope I didn't put up too much off-the-wall stuff here, I wanted to tribute them with some REAL rarities.....it's NOT the "best" Mott the Hoople post ever, but I didn't intend it to be either. This is a FAN speaking, and the more obscurities and eccentricities I can find, the better. Links will be up by morning, I have an extensive collection of their stuff so request away if you wish, leave a comment if you should care to as well (in case, like, I put copy the tracks in the wrong order or something, which I guess I did on the Screaming Trees post, for which I apologize....I'm just doing this for the fun of it, if I'm something less than accurate at times, such is life.)

There are a LOT of tracks on some of these albums, but I'm going to try to be descriptive of what you'll be hearing, so bear with me a bit for the length of this.

ROCK N ROLL QUEEN-01 Rock N Roll Queen/02 The Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conceptor/03 You Really Got Me/04 Thunderbuck Ram/05 Walking With a Mountain/06 Death May be Your Santa Claus/07 Midnight Lady/08 Keep a Knockin

ALL THE YOUNG DUDES REMASTERED AND EXPANDED-01 Sweet Jane/02 Momma's Little Jewel/03 All the Young Dudes/04 Sucker/05 Jerkin Crocus/06 One of the Boys/07 Soft Ground/08 Ready For Love/After Lights/09 Sea Diver/10 One of the Boys (demo)/11 Black Scorpio (demo of Momma's Little Jewel)/12 Ride on the Sun (demo of Sea Diver)/13 One of the Boys (UK Single Version)/14 All the Young Dudes (Bowie/Hunter Vocal)/15 Sucker (live)/16 Sweet Jane (live)

ALL THE YOUNG DUDES BOX SET DISC 1-01 Like a Rolling Stone (Impromptu Jam)/02 Rock N Roll Queen (45 RPM Version)/03 You Really Got Me (Vocal Version)/04 Wrath N Roll (1998 Mix)/05 Find Your Way (Backtrack/demo)/06 Moonbus (Baby's Got a Down) (Livedemo/1998 mix)/07 It Would Be a Pleasure (demo)/08 Ohio (Live/1998 Mix)/09 Midnight Lady (Steve Marriott vocal)/10 Debt/11 Downtown (1998 mix)/12 Long Red (1998 Mix)/13 I'll Be Me (1998 Mix)/14 Until I'm Gone (1998 Mix)/15 One of the Boys (Alternate Version/1998 Mix)/16 Journey (Alternate Version/1998 Mix)/17 Mental Train (The Moon Upstairs) (Demo/1998 Mix)/18 How Long? (Death may Be Your Santa Claus Demo)/19 Ride On the Sun (Early Sea Diver Demo/1998 Mix)/20 Movin On (Demo/1998 Mix)21 Hunchback Fish (Backtrack)

ALL THE YOUNG DUDES BOX SET DISC 2-01 All the Young Dudes/02 One of the Boys (UK Single Version)/03 Sweet Jane/04 Ready For Love/05 Honaloochie Boogie/06 Ballad of Mott the Hoople (Zurich 3/26/78)/07 I Wish I Was Your Mother (1998 Remix)/08 I'm a Cadillac/09 All the Way From memphis/10 Hymn For the Dudes/11 Violence/12 Roll Away the Stone/13 Crash Street Kids/14 Marionette/15 Golden Age of Rock N Roll/16 Rest In Peace/17 Born late '58/18 Foxy Foxy/19 (Do You Remember) The Saturday Gigs?

ALL THE YOUNG DUDES BOX SET DISC 3-01 All the Young Dudes (Bowie)/02 It's Goodbye/03 Just Can't Go To Sleep/04 Transparent Day (demo)/05 Shakin All Over (demo)/06 Please Don't Touch (demo)/07 So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go bad) (demo)/08 Honaloochie Boogie (1998/demo mix)/09 Hymn For the Dudes (demo/1998 mix)/10 Nightmare (demo 1998 mix)/11 Saturday Kids/12 Lounge Lizard/13 Shout It All Out/14 It Don't Come Easy (Demo 1998 Mix)/15 Barking Up the Wrong Tree (1998 Mix)/16 To Short Arms (I Don't Care) (Eddie Kramer/Electric Lady Mix)/17 Get Rich Quick (Demo 1998 Mix)/18 International Heroes (45RPM Mix)/19 American Pie/The Golden Age of Rock N Roll (Live 1998 Mix)/20 Roll Away the Stone/Sweet Jane (Live 1998 Mix)/21 Rock N Roll Queen (Live 1998 Mix)/22 Blowin In the Wind (Live 1998 Mix)

TWO MILES FROM HEAVEN-01 You Really Got Me (Vocal)/02 The Road To Birmingham/03 Thunderbuck Ram/04 Going Home/05 Little Christine/06 Keep a Knockin/07 Black Hills/08 Mama's Little Jewel/09 Ride the Sun/10 Grown Man Blues/11 Until I'm Gone/12 One of the Boys/13 (There's an) Ill Wind Blowing/14 The Debt

BBC RECORDINGS-01 Whiskey Woman/02 Darkness Darkness/03 The Moon Upstairs/04 Original Mixed Up Kid/05 Thunderbuck Ram/06 Your Own Backyard/07 Death May Be Your Santa Claus/09 Darkness Darkness/10 The Moon Upstairs/11 Whiskey Woman/12 The Journey

HOOPLING FURIOUSLY-01 Thunderbuck Ram/02 Whiskey Woman/03 Original Mixed Up Kid/04 Darkness Darkness/05 The Moon Upstairs/06 The Moon Upstairs/07 Whiskey Woman/09 Darkness Darkness/10 The Journey/11 Death may be Your Santa Claus/12 One of the Boys/13 Midnight Lady/14 All the Young Dudes/15 It'll Be Me

VERY FLASH VERY RUDE-01 Angeline/02 Drivin Sister/03 Sucker/04 Sweet Jane/05 Hymn For the Dudes/06 All the Way From Memphis/07 Rose/08 All the Young Dudes/09 Jerkin Crocus/10 Rock N Roll Queen/Get back/11 Walking With a Mountain

BOSTON 8/4/73-01 Drivin Sister/02 Sucker/03 Sweet Jane/04 Hymn For the Dudes/05 All the Way From Memphis/06 Ready FOr Love/07 All the Young Dudes/08 One of the Boys/09 Rock N Roll Queen/10 Angeline Outro

What a damn great band.....I may do another post on them soon if these go over well. One of the best bands ever.