Mott the Hoople was an English rock band that broke onto the American charts in 1972 with their classic, "All The Young Dudes." The tune, written by David Bowie, reached #37 and is now in the R&R Hall of Fame. Their name is taken from a 1966 comic novel by Willard Manus, whose protagonist (Norman Mott) is an independent rebel. The band poked their head onto the bottom of the chart twice more, when "One Of The Boys" and "The Golden Age Of Rock 'N' Roll" both peaked at #96. When they weren't doing covers, the songwriting was primarily driven by singer Ian Hunter and guitarist Mick Ralphs. The pair wrote some intriguing and influential material, but most of it failed to connect with popular radio. Hunter left in 1976 and moved onto an equally inconsistent solo career, while Ralphs found fame and fortune as a member of Bad Company. You can hear some of his Hoople riffs and songs (including "Ready For Love") in the Bad Company catalogue. If the boys wrote more tunes like the catchy "Honaloochie Boogie" from 1973, they might have stood a better chance of becoming a more permanent fixture on US radio. The tune features Andy Mackay of Roxy Music on saxophone (he also played sax on their other classic tune, "All The Way From Memphis").
Paul Carrack has been all over the music landscape since the 70s when he had his first big hit with the outfit called Ace, which took their signature song, "How Long" to #3 in 1975. After Ace broke up in 1977, Carrack played with Roxy Music and worked on his first solo record, "Nightbird" (1980), but it failed to chart. Carrack then did some time with Squeeze, finding chart success with his song, "Tempted". "Tempted" landed at #49 in 1981. Carrack then left Squeeze, but would rejoin briefly in 1993 to re-record "Tempted" for the movie Reality Bites. Carrack stayed in Squeeze long enough to complete a new album with them, "Some Fantastic Place". After leaving Squeeze the first time, Carrack made his first appearance on the charts as a solo artist in 1982 with the delightful little song, "I Need You". "I Need You" went to #37 and was produced by Nick Lowe, who also teamed up with Carrack to form a side band called Noise To Go. Some of you may know Carrack's voice best from his work with Mike + The Mechanics. In 1985, Carrack gave the band their first hit, taking "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" to #6. In 1989, Carrack finally hit the apex of the chart, taking "The Living Years" to #1. Carrack also found success as a solo artist. His third solo record, 1987's "One Good Reason", was his most successful, yielding four charting singles - the best performer was the excellent "Don't Shed A Tear", which hit #9. With the exception of "I Need You", Carrack's second solo record, "Suburban Voodoo", was strangely overlooked. It didn't produce any other charting singles, but managed to get to #78 on the album chart thanks to "I Need You". The album remains one of my favorite records from Carrack - filled with snappy pop and rock tunes. Carrack's vocals are earnest and the musicianship sharp. Check out "Always Better Than You", one of many other great tunes on this under-appreciated classic.
