Rock of Ages: Mott the Hoople - "Foxy, Foxy" (1974)

Mott the Hoople is best known as Bowie's favorite band, which he produced their biggest album, All The Young Dudes as well as wrote the titular track for said album. It seems like Mott the Hoople was never able to get out from under Bowie's monolithic shadow and will forever be remembered for only one great track. In my phase of researching other great glam artists beyond T.Rex and Bowie, I dipped into the albums of Mott the Hoople, which range from Dylanesque to straight up party glam, I found a track that stuck out as being superior to their most famous song. "Foxy, Foxy", which is a single released around the same era as their underrated and fantastic record The Hoople, is a song reminiscent of Phil Spector's era of wall of sound goodness infused with glam rock power and libido.

The opening drum beat is taken from "Be My Baby" and is laden with piano and a great back beat. Ian Hunter's singing is at it's all time best and the band projects a bravado and swagger that is soaked in beautiful orchestration. This song has less of the guitars that Mott the Hoople and is heavier on their horn section and piano. It has lush sounds and is as theatrical as any other glam rock anthem should be. Mott the Hoople gets overlooked in the grand scheme of classic rock and roll and a forgotten single like "Foxy, Foxy" deserves its due.



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