All The Young Dudes

Released by Mott The Hoople, 1972

Graham Bonnet

“Only an artist like Bowie could write such a wonderful song and give it away. Ian Hunter is an old friend of mine, and Mott did such a great job with it. As we all know, it saved their career. It was instantly singalongable, like the first time you heard When A Man Loves A Woman [by Percy Sledge] or That’s The Way God Planned It [by Billy Preston] – one play was all you needed.”

Gene SimmonS, kiss

“I knew the man and greatly respected him. My favourite song of his was, ironically enough, made famous by Mott The Hoople. All The Young Dudes was one of two songs that David offered to Mott, the other being Suffragette City. Those guys couldn’t get a foothold and were about to break up, but David really liked them. They didn’t like Suffragette City but they did like All The Young Dudes.

“I’ve got Bowie’s original demo with him singing lead and playing a lot of the instruments. Mott took that demo and put Ian Hunter’s vocal on it. The guitar lick is still so iconic. If a new band came out with it now, I’d say: ‘Wow, who is that?’ That’s the mark of a truly great song.”

Jay pepper, tigertailz

“When I was a kid this song really connected with me. It was an anthem, a call to arms for the young people. It felt as though it talked to me directly. It still does.”