45 years ago today, Wendy first stole clothes from unlocked cars, while Freddy's got...

[Miles Archer]

[FSogol]

1. Great song. Ever hear the story of it?

From wiki:

Regarded as one of glam rock's anthems, the song originated after David Bowie came into contact with Mott the Hoople's bassist Peter Watts and learned that the band was ready to split due to continued lack of commercial success. When the band rejected his first offer of a composition, "Suffragette City" (which later appeared on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars), Bowie wrote "All the Young Dudes" in short order especially for them, allegedly sitting cross-legged on the floor of a room in Regent Street, London, in front of the band's lead singer, Ian Hunter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_Young_Dudes

[Miles Archer]

2. Yes...watched two pretty good British documentaries on the band, via YouTube, a few months ago.

I also really enjoy the Hunter / Ronson live performances of it...there's one on the live album "Welcome To The Club," and the anniversary edition of "You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic" carries a bonus live disc.

Ronson teases the intro on guitar on low volume, and Hunter says "louder..." and the band just crashes in at full volume. 'tis a thing of beauty.

I have all of the Mott albums...the take-away from the British docs is that they slayed in live performance, watching their audiences grow and become increasingly rowdy, but the records weren't selling and really didn't represent the live act at all. Om a commercial level, Bowie absolutely rescued the band from a premature end.

That said, there are gems to be found on those first discs:

[The King of Prussia]

3. I saw Ian Hunter play live about a month ago

with The Rant Band. Sensational, see them if you get a chance. For anyone his performance was phenomenal, for a man is his seventies it was beyond belief.

[Miles Archer]

4. His (relatively) recent live CD / DVD with Mick Ralphs was FERAL.

Hunter's guitarist takes the first solo, largely a note-for-note reading of Ronson's original. He fades it out on George Harrison's "Within You, Without You." Hunter sings the "Truth won't hurt ya, truth won't hurt ya , the truth will never hurt ya" refrain and the yells "HIT ME!" and Ralphs pulls off a much heavier and tortured solo than anyone would have a reason to expect after his tenure in Bad Company.

Highly recommended purchase if you don't already own it.