Mott the Hoople were an English rock band on the verge of breaking up when their fortunes turned in the most famous way. A young David Bowie, a fan of the group, offered them a song he had written, "All the Young Dudes", and produced their recording of it. Released in 1972, it became a glam-rock anthem and the band's signature moment.
Mott had a real cult following and a respected run of albums, and they are remembered fondly by rock historians. But that one Bowie-gifted single is the track that carried their name to the masses, and nothing else they recorded matched it commercially.
On streaming, "All the Young Dudes" sits near 114 million plays, while their next most-streamed song, "Roll Away the Stone", trails at around 9 million. That puts the ratio above 12, far past our 5.0 line.
By our measure Mott the Hoople are a certified one-hit wonder, and a poetic one. The song that saved their career was a present from one of rock's greatest writers, and it has outshone everything they made before or since.