Prior to the intervention of David Bowie with “All The Young Dudes”, Mott The Hoople were kickass Shrewsbury rockers with mud on their boots and fire in the engine room.

Pre-“Dudes” ballad “Waterlow” shows Ian Hunter was already a writer of rare tenderness, and in barely 18 months they delivered gloriously self-referential, comedic, strangely moving and far-seeing rock’n’roll soap operas – from “All The Way To Memphis” through to their ’74 sign-off “Saturday Gigs”. Every generation deserves the opportunity to discover them anew.

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GAVIN MARTIN

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