Failure sucks.
Oh, I'm not talking about losing the Super Bowl. Or getting fired as CEO of a major corporation. Those hurt. But what really hurts is when you've been exerting all the effort you can muster and nobody notices. When you're trying so hard, but it seems you're spinning your wheels. When you've been at it so long you don't know what else to do, but believe you might have to call it a day.
Mott The Hoople was introduced with a modicum of hype. They did an instrumental version of "You Really Got Me" in order to capture radio's ears. But no one seemed to care. They made album after album, some of the later ones even getting good reviews, but each one sold essentially nothing. It was time to give up.
And then David Bowie entered the picture. He loved the band. He gave them a hit song, "All The Young Dudes", and agreed to produce their album.
This meant a lot in the U.K. David Bowie was a big star there.
But in the U.S., only the cognoscenti were familiar with Mr. Bowie, and therefore "All The Young Dudes" didn't really break through. Its glam consciousness didn't ring true in a country where glam had not taken hold. But working with Bowie got "Creem" to notice. They hyped "All The Young Dudes". The band was finally garnering attention, half a decade after their debut. They seemed to be on a run. But the action fizzled out. And Mick Ralphs gave up. Oh, not on music, but Mott The Hoople. He joined forces with Paul Rodgers and created the superstar act Bad Company.
At this point Paul Rodgers meant nothing. "All Right Now" had been a hit four years before. The drummer and bass player were essentially unknown. And this power trio with lead singer was going to be fronted by Mick Ralphs? Don't you need a speedy, swirling fret genius to pull this off? Wasn't Mick Ralphs' playing positively WORKMANLIKE?
It turned out Mr. Ralphs had untapped reserves. But what really broke Bad Company was the fact they were on Swan Song, Led Zeppelin's label. By now, years later, Mr. Bowie meant something in the U.S., but Ziggy was no match for mighty Led Zeppelin. Their imprimatur got people to NOTICE!
And notice they did. Because Bad Company's debut contained one of those instant tracks. Something you only had to hear once to embrace. I'm speaking, of course, of "Can't Get Enough".
Today Bad Company is seen as some kind of corporate rock/hair band irrelevancy. This is unfair. They made some spectacular music. The second album was good through and through. And thereafter there were gems. But the debut, it was a haunting masterpiece.
Oh, "Can't Get Enough" was not representative of the rest of the record. The title cut, the band's signature song, "Bad Company", was the definitive statement. There's really no better singer than Paul Rodgers, and when he sings the chorus here, you melt, you DIE! Your body twists, contorts with the emotion, the beauty.
But it wasn't only "Bad Company". The closer, "Seagull", has you believing you're at the beach alone, thinking about life.
And then there's "Ready For Love"
"I want you to stay
I want you today"
Sung by Paul Rodgers, these words sound like the appeal of a star on a bad day. You see Paul Rodgers can do rich, can belt, can do meaningful, but he can't do subtle. If he's singing, you've GOT to pay attention. But what if someone with a weaker voice sang these lines, what would HE mean? Would HE be looking to get laid on his day off or...
"Walking down the rocky road
Wondering where my life is leading
Rolling on, to the bitter end"
"Ready For Love" was not written for Bad Company's debut. Rather it was written by Mick Ralphs for Mott The Hoople's last ditch effort with David Bowie.
And it sounds like it.
This is not a pompous rocker, ENTITLED to sex. Rather, this is a road-weary journeyman who feels he may not be entitled to ANYTHING! Then again, isn't it a human right? Isn't EVERYBODY entitled to intimacy?
"Finding out along the way
What it takes to keep love living
You should know how it feels my friend"
Today we've got instant stardom. The major label straps you to a rocket and you end up dominating the world, or exploding into a million pieces.
But that's not the way life is. Life is a journey. A struggle to get a handle on things. You get little pieces of the puzzle here and there. You lose your virginity. Have a relationship. Even get MARRIED! And then, suddenly, you're out on the street again.
And it's not only relationships, it's work too.
But one of the great things is you START TO FIGURE LIFE OUT!
Mick Ralphs is having a DISCUSSION with the woman. He's APPEALING to her, not DOMINATING her. He's searching for CONNECTION!
When Mick sings he's ready for love he's not saying that he's horny, that his dick is hard. Rather he's saying he's ready EMOTIONALLY!! He doesn't want another one night stand. He wants something MEANINGFUL!
"Now I'm on my feet again
Better things are bound to happen
All my dues surely must be paid
Many miles and many tears
Times were hard but now they're changing
You should know that I'm not afraid"
It's taken me fifteen years to get back on my feet again. There were just too many losses.
But at this point, I feel I've got enough in the emotional bank. I've scrambled all the way back. Well, "scramble" connotes fast movement. It was SLOW! Like a failed rocker in obscurity, I wanted to give up. More than once. But I couldn't. Because I believed.
And when you've been through the mill, you want love, but you're not ready. The opposite sex can perceive it. You're raw, distant, untrusting. You want to play, but the idea of putting in all that effort and ending up in the same lonely place once again prevents you from trying. Even if you think you want to, if your brain says go, your heart says no.
But then you get to a point where you're no longer afraid. You're willing to lose. Because without the connection, without the love, life isn't worth living.
"Ready For Love" sounds like the plea of an animal in the wilderness. Who's suddenly come across members of his own species. He's had time to think about this interaction. He wants to play it right. He's not desperate, he's READY!
Ready for love.
Ready for stardom.
Ian Hunter was Mott The Hoople's lead singer. He believed in the large gesture. Playing to the back row. But not only did he not write "Ready For Love", he barely sang on it. No, the important parts were sung by the writer, Mick Ralphs.
And Mick Ralphs has got one of those voices which doesn't qualify for the school choir. Oh, it's not an acquired taste, like Bob Dylan's. Or execrable, like Ashlee Simpson's without autotuning. Rather, it's thin. Serviceable if you're singing to your honey, but not on stage.
And therefore, this rendition of "Ready For Love" has this SINCERITY! It radiates TRUTH! There's no put-on, no artifice. It's the naked story, of someone who's been through too much, but just can't give up.
And for the first four and a half minutes, the arrangement is identical to the one subsequently employed by Bad Company. But then the song changes radically. Angelic voices ooh and ahh, and then for two and a half minutes, Mick Ralphs wrings fireworks out of his guitar. And these are not the fireworks at the baseball game, inside the domed stadium. Rather, they're middle of the night fireworks. Subtle fireworks. As if you're watching the Fourth of July show of a financially-strapped town, from over the hills and almost far away.
It's like Mick is DEMONSTRATING that he's ready for love. He's showing the woman who he is. He's not beating her over the head, he's being lyrical, he's evidencing joy, the kind of joy that comes out of a guitar, the kind of internal joy that makes women fall in love with musicians.
But you're not sure there's anybody else there. Mick gets so carried away, gets so into the moment, that there's satisfaction in the playing alone. For this brief period, his life choice is the right one. It might not be the ultimate satisfaction, but it works. It's like pleasuring yourself while you await Ms. Right. It's not all you want, but it gets you through the night.
Mr. Ralphs' replacement, Ariel Bender, had none of his soul. And, not long thereafter, Mott The Hoople broke up.
But if the original Mott The Hoople got back together today, they'd play more than clubs. Because their music had a certain intensity, a certain soul. And it's THIS element that keeps people interested, keeps people spinning the old records.
Sure, "All The Young Dudes" contained a semi-hit.
But that Bowie composition just got your head nodding.
"Ready For Love" set your mind adrift. Unmoored you. Had you contemplating life. And that's great rock and roll.
Subscribe to Feed
