Once upon a time in Rock ‘n’ Roll land there was
a band called Mott the Hoople - well, actually from 1969-1974. After the
loss of their original lead guitarist Mick Ralphs to Bad Company, they
recruited Luther Grosvenor, who was re-christened Ariel Bender on
joining the group by English singer/songwriter Lindsay de Paul - and has
lived with the pseudonym ever since.
But the boys in the Hoople soon started to get bored
with Ariel’s fancy ways, and weaving of magic spells all over Ian
Hunter’s songs (who had now taken over the sole leadership of the band
after Ralphs’ departure). So poor old Ariel was given the boot only to
re-appear later in his own band, the fine Widowmaker. A rescue call was
sent out and was answered by what was thought to be the only man for the
job, the platinum haired ‘Spider from Mars’ Mick Ronson.
Mick had already been involved with the Hoople in
helping to produce their ‘All the Young Dudes’ album in 1972.
Everybody expected this to be the lighting of the fuse for the Hoople to
fire into Superstardom, but of course life is never that straight
forward. After their one single ‘Saturday Gigs’, which plotted the
band’s milestones of success and failure, was a chart flop (but a
great song), and a few warm-up gigs on the European continent, Ian
Hunter collapsed in New York on a publicity trip and was diagnosed with
mental and physical exhaustion. Hunter recovered, but the band never
did.
Ian Hunter stayed in New York, taking with him Mick
Ronson to start work on his first solo album. Then forming the Hunter/Ronson
Band to promote said album, plus Mick Ronson’s second solo album
‘Play Don’t Worry’. Very successful they were, too.
This left the backbone of the band, Overend Watts of
the thunderous bass and the multi-coloured hair (Overend had a year
before he turned down the position of bass guitar in the formative Bad
Company. Oh! You foolish loyal dreamer you, Overend), and one of the
rock world’s great drummers Dale (Buffin) Griffin.
Mott the Hoople’s keyboard player, Morgan Fisher,
had cleared off to Japan as soon as Mott the Hoople demised, but second
stage keyboard player, Blue Weaver, had stuck around, and as the nucleus
of a band, they started recording demos.
This turned out to be a bit of an uphill struggle as
the only person in the burgeoning group with any writing experience was
Overend Watts. His sole recorded ditty had been 48 Crash released on
Mott the Hoople’s last studio album. Not exactly a long pedigree. To
make matters worse, Blue Weaver was then lured away by the American
dollar of the Bee Gees touring band, who were on the crest of a wave
after the disco sensation ‘Saturday Night Fever’. Hey, you can’t
knock back a lot of honest bucks when you have a wife and kids to feed.
On a lick and a promise Morgan Fisher was coerced
back into the fold and Ray Major, who was formerly with British rock
band ‘Hackensack’, came in to lend his great axe work to the combo.
Major had supported Mott the Hoople on their Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus
Tour, and should perhaps have replaced Ralphs the previous year.
Over 200 audition vocalist tapes were listened to, 60
of which were auditioned. After the false start with Terry Wilson-Slessor,
who joined the band one day, and after the welcoming party that night
joined Paul Kossoff’s Back Street Crawler the next, Mick Ralphs
recommended they take on Nigel ‘The Dome’ Benjamin (one look at him
will tell you how he got his nickname).
Miraculously by then, through all the turmoil,
Overend Watts had come up with ten suitable little slabs of pure rock
‘n’ roll, and the band went straight into the studio and recorded
their debut album with Ray Major’s adding a short little instrumental.
Against all odds they came out with a little classic.
Opener ‘By Tonight’ sets the tone with its
strident beat and ringing guitar riffs. Morgan Fisher, very sensibly,
sticks mainly to piano all through the album, and there is nobody else
that can tinkle the ivories quite like Morgan Fisher, who is probably
the world’s most unlikely looking rock ‘n’ roll star with his
twirled moustache and penchant for flat caps. The rhythm section is
obviously rock solid. Helpfully, Nigel Benjamin’s vocals are as far
removed as possible from Ian Hunter’s monotone delivery, which further
helped them to distance themselves from their past.
The single from the album is a dance floor classic
called Monte Carlo. The album is chocker block full of kicking rockers
and contains the stage favorite ‘The Great White Wail’ with its
intense riffing, heavy backbeat, and some of the most varied vocal
wailing ever put on tape. So, with the album - aptly titled ‘Drive
On’ - available in the shops, and the band deciding to drop the Hoople
bit from their name, ‘Mott’ went shouting and pointing out onto the
road with fame and glory. The target the World awaited. You will have to
wait till next week.
A
very weighty novel this week, almost 500 pages. The Pole Dancer by R. D.
Lawrence (Dragon’s Mouth Press, 2004, ISBN 988-97752-1-2) is what I
would call an ‘Airport’ novel, the genre being one that you can pick
up and put down at will (every time the hostess asks you if you would like
an orange juice).
Mott’s CD review:The Story of Mott - Part One (the Band not the Dog)
5
Stars *****