Another of those weird Sainsbury’s exclusives. 2 LP’s on Orange vinyl featuring 21 of Mott’s singles and key album tracks.

After 4 albums for Island with not a sniff of success David Bowie helped Mott The Hoople (their name was taken from an obscure 1966 novel by Willard Manus about Norman Mott who works in a freak show and his adventures with Hoople’s, or normal people) get their first hit with “All The Young Dudes”, and what a song that is. It’s rumoured that Bowie regretted giving it away almost as soon as he had and Mott made it their song so he couldn’t really claim it back. Lyrical sidenote is that Bowie once said that “the news” that the Dudes were carrying was the same news that the News guy wept about in “Five Years” on “…Ziggy Stardust…”.

Mott then ran with it and released a superb bunch of singles through 1973 and 1974. “Honaloochie Boogie”, “All The Way From Memphis”,  “Roll Away The Stone”, “The Golden Age Of Rock ‘n’ Roll”, “Foxy Foxy”, “Saturday Gigs”, a great run and all on this compilation. Alongside those singles we have key album tracks and other stuff. Outside those we’ve already mentioned over the last 2 albums we have the anthemic “One Of The Boys” (also a single but shockingly not a hit), “Sea Diver” (orchestrated by Mick Ronson) and the sleaze rock of “Jerkin’ Crocus” all from the album “All The Young Dudes” plus “Rose”, the B-side of “Honaloochie Boogie”.

Mott were great, this record is Orange and if you need a place to start finding out how great Mott were, this would be it.

One Of The Boys - https://youtu.be/h5MvCYKjHvU?si=-y-jdSiZPDf4Ij5b