MOTT THE HOOPLE - THE HOOPLE: Last Call For Rock's Hard Luck Kids
A convincing case could be made for Mott The Hooplebeing the ultimate "hard luck kids" of rock and roll music. They were an influential band that could haveand should have been bigger than they were but were held back byartistic/personality conflicts inside and outside the band, record businesschicanery and inexplicable moments of bad luck that consistently cropped upwhen they were on the verge of a breakthrough.
For an illustration, consider the circumstances behindthe group's final studio album, 1974's TheHoople. When it was time to record,the group couldn't get their studio or engineer of choice. They had to recordin atmosphere of politics-induced chaos in the U.K. (miner's strike, electricoutages, gas shortage, government changeover between parties) while alsobreaking in new guitarist Ariel Bender, a.k.a. Luther Grosvenor. Once it wasrecorded, the final tapes had problems and had to be remixed at another studio.Thankfully, Mott The Hoople was used to bad news by this point and soldieredon.
TheHoople is bookended with singles that have become staples ofany Columbia-era Mott compilation, both carrying a distinctly Hunter-esqueelement of early rock and roll nostalgia. "The Golden Age Of Rock & Roll" is a barnstorming opener:the guitars roar and the saxophones chug as Hunter and his pounding piano leadthe boys through a two-fisted salute to the restorative powers of rockmusic. Listen out for the line about"96 decibel freaks," a reference to the city of Leeds' attempt toimpose a noise limit on rock concerts.
The album closing single, "Roll Away TheStone," was actually recorded and released prior to the albumsessions. Ralphs is featured on guitarbut the album version adds overdubs from Bender and a re-voiced spoken-wordpassage. Like "Golden Age," it mines glam rock's throwback fondnessfor '50s rock stylings but amps them with '70s bombast and theatricality. Some prefer the single version but the extratweaks on the album version make it sonically of a piece with the rest of thealbum.
Speaking of glam rock, it was at a theatrical peak in1974 in the U.K., what with Bowie, Roxy Music and groups like Cockney Rebelpushing their mixture of high concepts and Weimar-era Berlin decadence to thehilt. Hunter picks up that mantle on afew numbers here. "Marionette"is the most overt entry in this area, an operetta-styled commentary on how themusic business eats its own when they become successful. It's dramaticallystructured, piling on saxophone, dramatic keyboard flourishes and violinsalongside the blunt-force rock guitar as Hunter emotes for all he's worth. The vitriolic, unsparing lyrics keep it fromdrifting off into the ether of pretension.
Another key theatrical track here - and a bigSchlockmania favorite - is "Through The Looking Glass." This time,Hunter turns the vitriol on himself, skewering his own vanity and neurosisabout his age/looks in a kind of furious monologue aimed at the reflection hismirror provides. The sound is almost asgrandiose as "Marionette," featuring dazzling backing vocals fromU.K. session stalwarts Sue and Sunny as well as an operatic orchestralarrangement from Graham Preskett. Huntertops it off with a commanding vocal that defies his fragile vocal range throughsheer, explosive emotion.
There's also a couple of slam-bang rockers perfectlytailored to Mott's reputation as a barnstorming live act. "Crash Street Kidds" is a perfectcounterpart to "Violence" from Mott because both capture the voice ofyouthful, working-class rage that would fuel the U.K.'s punk rock revolution afew years hence. A panzer-styleperformance from drummer/co-producer Dale Griffin keeps its barrage ofshout-vocals and stun-guitars rolling forward. "Born Late '58" wasboth the songwriting and lead vocal debut for bassist Pete "Overend"Watts and it's a thumper with amusing car-terminology-as-code-for-describingwomen lyrics. It's the mostold-fashioned expression of rock on the album, harkening back to early Mottwith its "drunken bar band gone heavy" feel.
That said, TheHoople has trouble adding up to more than the sum of its parts. The first issue is the change inguitarists. The band admitted thatGrosvenor struggled in the studio, trying too hard to fill Ralphs' shoes. He showsan interesting noisy/wild style in solos but he's just not the craftsman thatRalphs was, leaving the sound feeling a bit unbalanced. For example, consider "Alice," amidtempo sleaze-rock track whose prostitute-themed narrative cries out for somesteamy guitar work that never arrives.
Also, the material doesn't coalesce into an album the way All The Young Dudes or Mott did. A couple of songs stick out. "Trudi's Song" is often pointed to by fans as an odd man out on the album, a soft, sentimental ballad that leans heavy on the acoustic guitar and keyboards. It feels a bit quaint surrounded by material like "Marionette" and "Crash Street Kidds." Elsewhere, "Pearl 'N Roy (England)" is a bit of English political commentary whose oddball, brass-heavy arrangement feels more like a music hall experiment that belongs on an Ian Hunter solo album.
And Hunter's solo career wouldn't be too far behind The Hoople. Mott would record a few more fine singles -"Foxy Foxy" and "The Saturday Kids" - but would give up theghost before 1974 was over. Hunter wouldmove on to a solo career that continues today and the remainder of Mott TheHoople would continue through the '70s in various forms (Mott, BritishLions). The Hoople isn't the perfect final album they deserved but itsambition and energy of its high points remain worth hearing for fans.
Besides, it delivers the kind of bombast that modern rock just can't summon up... especially when rock's original hard luck kids are the ones kicking up a ruckus.