All the Young Dudes was written and produced by David Bowie. Mott The Hoople had a cult following in England and Bowie was a big fan but they were about to break up. To stop them from breaking up he offered to produce their next album and give them a song…this song.
Mott the Hoople does a great job on this. This era is my favorite of David Bowie… All the Ziggy Stardust music (which this was originally written for) and the Hunky Dory album…not that any era of Bowie is bad.
David Bowie on writing the song for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars album
“Ziggy was in a rock ‘n’ roll band, and the kids no longer want rock ‘n’ roll,” Bowie explained to Rolling Stone in 1974. “There’s no electricity to play it. Ziggy’s adviser tells him to collect news and sing it, ’cause there is no news. So Ziggy does this, and there is terrible news. ‘All the Young Dudes’ is a song about this news. It is no hymn to the youth as people thought. It is completely the opposite.”
The song peaked at #37 in the Billboard 100 and #3 in the UK in 1972.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKvNtAVZyOc
All The Young Dudes
Billy rapped all night ’bout his suicide
How he’d kick it in the head when he was 25
Don’t wanna stay alive when you’re 25
Wendy’s stealing clothes from unlocked cars
Freddy’s got spots from ripping off stars from his face
Funky little boat race
The television man is crazy
Saying we’re juvenile delinquent wrecks
Man I need a TV when I’ve got T. Rex
Hey brother you guessed I’m a dude
All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news
All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news
Now Jimmy looking sweet though he dresses like a queen
He can kick like a mule
It’s a real mean team
We can love
Oh we can love
And my brother’s back at home
With his Beatles and his Stones
We never got if off on that revolution stuff
What a drag
Too many snags
Well I drunk a lot of wine
And I’m feeling fine
Gonna race some cat to bed
Is this concrete all around
Or is it in my head
Oh brother you guessed I’m a dude
All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news
All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news
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