Fans invited to thank Mott The Hoople for the music, the magic and their own memories!
Mott the Hoople fans are being invited to thank one of rock’s friendliest bands by contributing their own personal stories and pictures to You Are One of Us, a book written by fans for the fans.
Few groups managed to connect with their followers in the way Mott the Hoople did when they first formed in 1969. Despite splitting up in 1974, the band’s fans have stayed loyal to the original group members and their subsequent music and creative careers, including acclaimed reunion tours in 2009, 2013 and 2019.
Music journalist and Mott’s former Sea Divers fan club president Kris Needs described Mott as the approachable face of rock, transforming it ‘into a thing we could reach out and touch’.
The book’s title was inspired by a Mott The Hoople song from the Mad Shadows album that encapsulated the self-reflecting bond between the group and their fans, feelings echoed by Kris Needs, the ultimate Mott authority, and megafans like Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Mick Jones from The Clash.
‘This is our chance to thank the entire extended Mott family for the music and the magic with our cherished memories,’ said Hit the North publisher and the book’s co-editor Andrew Field, who privately published Phil John’s We Rocked, You Rolled, a road crew’s diary of Mott The Hoople’s final European tour in 1974 in 2013 to coincide with a UK reunion tour.
‘If fans want to be in the book, simply visit the Hit the North website and send their online word-and-image submissions. We’ll publish the definitive fans perspective, written by the fans for all the other fans and the surviving band, the crew and their families,’ said Andrew, who is working with fellow Mott fans David Crisfield, Keith Hollinshed and Simon Rowberry to compile and edit You Are One of Us.
‘Mott The Hoople kept me sane when I was at military boarding school in the seventies. They were the big brothers with attitude I never had. I thought they’d been virtually forgotten about until the internet revealed loyal fans were still very much in love with everyone in the Mott wider family. Concerts not only celebrated the group but also became great social gatherings in their own right … two fans from either side of the Atlantic met at a concert and are now happily married,’ he said.
Mott The Hoople originated from Herefordshire and stayed loyal to their roots and their fans — even when they were playing Broadway in New York City, on Top of The Pops showcasing hit singles like All the Young Dudes, Roll Away the Stone and All The Way from Memphis, or socialising all over the world with pals like David Bowie, Queen, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, Keith Moon, The Clash and Def Leppard. Hugely influential, the band has been name checked in songs by Queen, REM and the Mambo Sons.
You Are One Of Us will be published this Autumn by Hit the North to coincide with MottFest 2025 (taking place in Ross on Wye, Herefordshire, on 3rd to 4th October 2025) where fans from across the globe are uniting to have a party to thank the extended Hoople family for the music, the magic, and the memories. A special event may take place on 5th of October in the town.
The deadline for online submissions for You Are One of Us is Friday 1st August 2025.
ENDS
MottFest 2025 celebrates the unique contribution to UK rock music of Mott the Hoople, Mott and British Lions. A weekend of live music, film screenings and spoken word events take place at the Corn Exchange, Ross-on-Wye on Friday 3rd October (18.30 – 23.00) and Saturday 4th October (13.00 – 23.00). Musicians John Fiddler, Morgan Fisher, Luther ‘Ariel Bender’ Grosvenor and music journalist and definitive Mott authority Kris Needs are planning to participate alongside other members of the hugely influential wider Mott the Hoople family. Tickets for the weekend cost £40.
Fans wanting to contribute to You Are One of Us should visit https://www.hitthenorth.co.uk/mott-the-hoople or contact Andrew Field at andrewfield3@me.com.
Full details of the book will be be released later this summer.
Profits from Mottfest 2025 and a % of the book cover price will be donated to charities chosen by the families of the late bass player Pete ‘Overend’ Watts and drummer Dale ‘Buffin’ Griffin, the band’s original Ross-on-Wye rock steady rhythm section.
