Artist · chart history · #539 in indie & aaa artist polls
Mott the Hoople
Band Hereford United Kingdom Active 1969–1974
Mott the Hoople formed in 1969 in Hereford, United Kingdom and was active until 1974. Mott the Hoople has 68 chart appearances on 58 radio countdowns from 23 stations on RockLists, spanning 1982–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “All the Young Dudes”, which appears on 54 lists with a best position of #59. The station that charted Mott the Hoople most often is WXPN (Philadelphia, PA), with 11 appearances.
Mott the Hoople were a scruffy Herefordshire rock band on the verge of breaking up when David Bowie talked them out of it and handed them "All the Young Dudes". He wrote it and produced the album of the same name in 1972, and suddenly the band that couldn't catch a break had a glam anthem, a slow, swaggering singalong with Ian Hunter's sneering, world-weary voice at the center.
They had started out as the Doc Thomas Group and took their new name on signing with Island Records. The early lineup had Hunter on vocals, piano and guitar, Mick Ralphs on guitar, Overend Watts on bass, Verden Allen on organ and Dale Griffin on drums, a rough-and-tumble crew that played like a pub band dressed up for a party. Mott, in 1973, proved Bowie's boost was no fluke: "All the Way from Memphis" is a rollicking, piano-pounding romp, and "Drivin' Sister" roars along with its foot to the floor. The Hoople, in 1974, brought "Roll Away the Stone", a doo-wop-flavored stomp.
Ralphs left in 1973, Ariel Bender and Morgan Fisher came in, and Mick Ronson briefly joined in 1974. Hunter departed that year, and the band's fortunes faded after him. They have reunited in 2009, 2013, 2018 and 2019.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Mott the Hoople on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | All the Young Dudes | 54 | #59 | – | – | |
| 2 | All The Way From Memphis | 6 | #247 | – | – | |
| 3 | Roll Away The Stone | 2 | #263 | – | – | |
| 4 | All The Way To Memphis | 1 | #270 | – | – | |
| 5 | Death May Be Your Santa Claus | 1 | #870 | – | – | |
| 6 | Saturday Gigs | 1 | #916 | – | – | |
| 7 | Drivin' Sister | 1 | #638 | – | – | |
| 8 | The Journey | 1 | #1567 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
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