MOTT THE HOOPLE – “Saturday Gigs”
“Saturday Gigs” was Mott The Hoople’s farewell single. Farewell records occupy a special place in my heart, because….well, you can probably guess why, actually. On this track Mott bid a tearful adieu to their small and foolish body of fans, with a versified look-back over their star-studded career, from “All The Young Dudes” to “All The Young Dudes” and back again. Now, truthful lyrics would have run as follows:
“I was in a pub prog band
Nobody wanted to know me
Then I went off cap in hand
To scrounge from David Bowie.”
Actually, the real “Saturday Gigs” is still brutally honest. And, predictably, stupid with it. “Do you remember the Saturday gigs? We do! We do!” yell Mott. Yes, of course you fucking do, you sock-brained gimps, you’re the band! You were the only ones there! But in the end the song founders on the simple fact that aside from one undeserved brush with fame, Mott were no-hope circuit sloggers. The proof? As the first verse builds to a climax, Ian Hunter tells of the band’s early struggles, culminating in a glorious, triumphant cry…“AND THEN WE WENT TO CROYDON!”
At least they left us laughing.