Where did Mick Ronson come from?

Mick Ronson had been known to the band since the 1972 Bowie rescue act.

Ziggy Stardust didn't just give Mott a hit single, he persuaded them - with ease - to sign a new deal with his manager Tony De Fries and the MainMan company, a move which promptly saw the band land a good recording deal with CBS. And Ronno came along too.

He was, of course, Bowies guitarist in The Spiders from Mars and at the time one of Davids side-kicks. He came along to the sessions for the 'All The Young Dudes' lp and is credited with arranging strings and brass on the last track on that lp, 'Sea Divers'.

His appointment to the band was reported in the 28th September issue of Sounds thus...

He replaced Ariel Bender in the band initially to just play guitar on what was intended to be the bands goodbye single 'Saturday Gigs'. But so successful was the recording that everyone agreed to carry on with Mott the Hoople once again.

However, in a contemporary report by Bill Henderson of Sounds soon after Mott finally split, we read that Ian Hunter knew that it wouldn't last; Ronson had his own solo career (a single 'Billy Porter' and second album 'Play Don't Worry' on RCA) in full swing at his time of 'joining' the band and he wasn't putting it on ice for Mott the Hoople. And anyway, pro-longing the life of Mott was not part of the original brief...

Still, his contribution to the single was tremendous; John Peel gave it a special mention in his regular singles review column in Sounds. It really did seem that at last they had found the right replacement for Ralphs and that great things were around the corner. I couldn't wait to see them…