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Mott The Hoople were initially the result of a union between two prominent bands from the borders of England and Wales - The Soulents and The Buddies. They worked together under a series of different names with varying line-ups until Guy Stevens at Island Records discovered them; he signed them to the label but replaced singer Stan Tippins with Ian Hunter and re-branded them as Mott The Hoople (the name came from the title of a Willard Manus novel about an eccentric who works in a circus show). Their self-titled debut album was recorded in a week in 1969 and won them a cult following, but their next two albums Mad Shadows (1970) and Wildlife (1971) both flopped. The band was on the point of splitting up until a fan - David Bowie - wrote All The Young Dudes especially for them. It became one of the UK's biggest hits of 1972 and they followed it with the Top 10 album Mott as they became front-runners of the glam rock era - part teen-pop idols, part-serious rock musicians with two keyboard players. The departure of Hunter and Mick Ronson to form a duo effectively ended the band, though the rest continued as Mott for a few years and were supported on a US tour by Queen. Mott released two more albums before changing their name to British Lions and then split in 1980. Mott The Hoople reunited with Hunter for five London shows to great acclaim in 2009.
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