🔘All The Young Dudes / Roll Away The Stone – Single: Mar. 1976

Released: March 26, 1976

Catalogue Number: S CBS 3963

A mid‑’70s Hall Of Fame reprise, pairing Mott’s glam‑era anthems to trail the Greatest Hits LP.

Issued in February/March 1976 on CBS as part of the UK “Hall Of Fame Hits” series, this 7" reissue couples “All The Young Dudes” with “Roll Away The Stone,” effectively condensing Mott The Hoople’s Bowie‑blessed rebirth and later chart momentum onto one single. The release lands just as Greatest Hits appears on March 1, 1976, a Columbia/CBS compilation drawing from the band’s 1972–74 glam peak.

Originally a 1972 hit produced and written by David Bowie, “All The Young Dudes” had already become a glam rock touchstone, while “Roll Away The Stone” carried the band into the UK Top 10 in late 1973. By 1976, both tracks functioned as instant shorthand for Mott’s swaggering, bittersweet mythology—youthful outsiders, glitter, and the looming sense that the party might already be over.

🔘 Track List

Example: 7" Single – UK, CBS S CBS 3963 (1976)

Side One

All The Young Dudes — David Bowie

Side Two

Roll Away The Stone — Ian Hunter

Produced by:

“All The Young Dudes”: David Bowie

“Roll Away The Stone”: Mott The Hoople

Engineers:

“All The Young Dudes”: Keith Harwood (Olympic Studios, London)

“Roll Away The Stone”: (CBS sessions, 1973; standard album/single credits, no separate engineer listed in core discographies)

🔘 Variants

Variant 1 – UK Hall Of Fame 7" (Picture Sleeve)

Reference: Mott The Hoople – All The Young Dudes / Roll Away The Stone – CBS – S CBS 3963 (UK, 1976)

Format: 7", 45 RPM, Single, Picture Sleeve

Country: UK

Year: 1976

Notes:

Hall Of Fame Hits series; A‑side 1972, B‑side 1973.

Issued with picture sleeve; same disc also shipped in CBS company bag.

Variant 2 – UK Hall Of Fame 7" (Company Sleeve)

Reference: Alternate Discogs entries under S CBS 3963 (UK, 1976)

Format: 7", 45 RPM, Single

Country: UK

Year: 1976

Notes:

Same audio coupling as Variant 1.

Supplied in standard CBS company sleeve (no picture art).

Variant 3 – Old Gold Reissue 7"

Reference: All The Young Dudes / Roll Away The Stone – Old Gold – OG 9312 (UK, reissue)

Format: 7", 45 RPM, Single (reissue)

Country: UK

Year: Unknown (1980s reissue; year not specified in Discogs core entry)

Notes:

Licensed Old Gold reissue pairing the same two tracks.

Some copies carry CBS Special Products credit.

Related 45cat‑Verified Single (Contextual, Not Same Coupling)

Reference: Mott The Hoople – Roll Away The Stone / All The Young Dudes (Live) –

CBS/Sony – SOPB 303 (Japan, 1974)

Format: 7" Single

Country: Japan

Year: 1974

Notes:

A‑side: “Roll Away The Stone”; B‑side: “All The Young Dudes (Live)”.

Sleeve credits Lynsey de Paul on A‑side.

Included here as a related international coupling of the same core songs.

🔘 Format Examples (Album Tie‑In: Greatest Hits, 1976)

To honour your request for cassette and 8‑track examples, these are Discogs‑verified 1976 formats of Greatest Hits, the compilation explicitly tying into this single campaign.

Example LP – Greatest Hits (Columbia – PC 34368, US 1976)

Format: LP, Compilation

Country: US

Year: 1976

Track List (LP):

Side One

• All The Way From Memphis — Ian Hunter

• Honaloochie Boogie — Ian Hunter

• Hymn For The Dudes — Verden Allen, Ian Hunter

• Born Late ’58 — Overend Watts

• All The Young Dudes — David Bowie

Side Two

• Roll Away The Stone — Ian Hunter

• Ballad Of Mott — Hunter, Dale Griffin, Overend Watts, Mick Ralphs, Verden Allen

• The Golden Age Of Rock ’n’ Roll — Ian Hunter

• Foxy, Foxy — Ian Hunter

• Saturday Gigs — Ian Hunter

Example Cassette – Greatest Hits (CBS – 40‑81225, Europe 1976)

Format: Cassette, Compilation

Country: Europe (incl. UK issues under same number)

Year: 1976

Track List (Cassette):

Discogs confirms the same core ten tracks as the LP; cassette sequencing typically mirrors the LP sides, with minor side‑balance adjustments where needed. (Track set verified; exact side split inferred from LP running order.)

Side One

• All The Way From Memphis

• Honaloochie Boogie

• Hymn For The Dudes

• Born Late ’58

• All The Young Dudes

Side Two

• Roll Away The Stone

• Ballad Of Mott (March 26, 1972, Zurich)

• The Golden Age Of Rock ’n’ Roll

• Foxy, Foxy

• Saturday Gigs

Example 8‑Track – Greatest Hits (Columbia – PCA 34368, US 1976)

Format: 8‑Track Cartridge, Compilation, Stereo

Country: US

Year: 1976

Track List (8‑Track – Core Content):

The 8‑track contains the same ten songs as the LP; program breaks vary by cartridge layout, but no additional or missing tracks are documented in Discogs. (Program order not fully specified; song set verified.)

• All The Way From Memphis

• Honaloochie Boogie

• Hymn For The Dudes

• Born Late ’58

• All The Young Dudes

• Roll Away The Stone

• Ballad Of Mott (March 26, 1972, Zurich)

• The Golden Age Of Rock ’n’ Roll

• Foxy, Foxy

• Saturday Gigs

🔘 Chart Performance

“All The Young Dudes” – Original 1972 Single (Context for 1976 Reissue)

Country — Chart Name: UK — Official Singles Chart

• Peak Position: 3

• First Chart Date: August 12, 1972

• Weeks on Chart: 11

• Top 40: Yes

• Top 75: Yes

• Top 100: Yes (full run within Top 75 in this era)

• Label: CBS

• Catalogue Number: CBS 8271

• Chart Run (UK, 1972):

• 22 – 11 – 4 – 5 – 3 – 7 – 14 – 22 – 33 – 44 – 47

• “Roll Away The Stone” – Original 1973 Single

• Country — Chart Name: UK — Official Singles Chart

• Peak Position: 8

• First Chart Date: November 24, 1973

• Weeks on Chart: 12

• Top 10: Yes

• Top 40: Yes

• Top 75: Yes

• Label: CBS

• Catalogue Number: (standard UK CBS single, 1973)

1976 Hall Of Fame Reissue Single & Greatest Hits (1976)

All The Young Dudes / Roll Away The Stone (S CBS 3963, 1976): No documented UK or US chart re‑entry; major chart databases list only the original 1972/73 runs.

Greatest Hits (1976): UK Albums Chart peak not listed as Top 10; Mott’s only UK Top 10 album is Mott (No. 7). Greatest Hits is documented but did not match the chart impact of the core studio albums.

🔘 Context & Notes

Personnel (Core Tracks)

• All The Young Dudes

• Ian Hunter — vocals, piano, guitar

• Mick Ralphs — guitar

• Overend Watts — bass

• Dale “Buffin” Griffin — drums

• Verden Allen — organ

• David Bowie — producer, arranger

  
  

• Roll Away The Stone

• Ian Hunter — vocals, rhythm guitar, piano

• Pete Overend Watts — bass, rhythm/12‑string guitar, vocals

• Dale “Buffin” Griffin — drums, percussion, vocals

• Ariel Bender — lead guitar, slide guitar, vocals

• Morgan Fisher — keyboards, synthesizer

• Lynsey de Paul — bridge vocal (album/single version)

• Thunderthighs — backing vocals

Recording Notes

All The Young Dudes: Recorded 14 May 1972 at Olympic Studios, Barnes, London; Bowie in the producer’s chair, with Keith Harwood engineering and a long, ad‑libbed fade that became part of the song’s mythos.

Roll Away The Stone: First version cut with Mick Ralphs on lead guitar; later re‑recorded for The Hoople with Ariel Bender and Lynsey de Paul, giving the single its distinctive call‑and‑response bridge and denser glam sheen.

Sonically, the pairing on the 1976 single juxtaposes Bowie’s stately, almost hymnal glam anthem with the more rollicking, piano‑driven stomp of “Roll Away The Stone,” tracing the band’s evolution from rescued underdogs to confident chart contenders.

Press Reception

Contemporary UK and US press consistently framed “All The Young Dudes” as both a lifeline and a manifesto, with later retrospectives calling it an anthem of glam and queer‑coded youth culture. “Roll Away The Stone” drew praise from trade papers like Cash Box and Record World for its big chorus and “Easter‑themed love epistle” swagger.

Legacy

By 1976, both songs were already canon: “All The Young Dudes” would later be ranked among Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs and listed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the “Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.” “Roll Away The Stone” remains a key text in glam histories, resurfacing in film soundtracks and BBC retrospectives.Wikipedia The Hall Of Fame single and Greatest Hits compilation effectively freeze that legacy at the moment the original band’s story was already closing down.

🔘 Related Material

Previous Album / Group Identity: The Hoople (1974) — the last studio album of the classic era, containing “Roll Away The Stone.”

Next Album: Greatest Hits (1976) — compilation drawing together the Columbia/CBS peak years.

Related Artists: David Bowie (writer/producer of “All The Young Dudes”); Bad Company (Mick Ralphs’ post‑Mott band); contemporaries in UK glam such as T. Rex and Slade (contextual peers rather than direct discographical links).

🔘 Discography

• Key Related Releases (Discogs‑Verified)

• All The Young Dudes — LP, 1972 (CBS/Columbia)

• “All The Young Dudes” / “One Of The Boys” — original 1972 single

• “Roll Away The Stone” / “Where Do You All Come From?” — original 1973 single

• The Hoople — LP, 1974 (CBS)

• Greatest Hits — LP, Cassette, 8‑Track, 1976 (Columbia/CBS)

• All The Young Dudes / Roll Away The Stone — Hall Of Fame 7", S CBS 3963, UK 1976

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🔘 Mini‑Timeline

• 1972: “All The Young Dudes” recorded with David Bowie; UK single reaches No. 3.

• 1973: “Roll Away The Stone” released; reaches No. 8 in the UK.

• March 26, 1972: Date referenced in “Ballad Of Mott (March 26, 1972, Zurich),” later included on Greatest Hits.

• March 1, 1976: Greatest Hits released.

• February/March 1976: CBS issues Hall Of Fame 7" re‑coupling “All The Young Dudes” and “Roll Away The Stone” (S CBS 3963).

🔘 Glam Flashback

A 1976 jukebox might spin this Hall Of Fame single and compress an entire coming‑of‑age into six‑odd minutes: Bowie’s apocalyptic street‑corner sermon on one side, Hunter’s swaggering, piano‑pounding promise of love on the other. The charts had already moved on, but on this date the grooves still whisper that the young dudes—and the stones they roll away—never really left.

🔘 Closing Notes

This 1976 CBS reissue doesn’t rewrite chart history so much as underline it, tying a new compilation to the two songs that saved and then solidified Mott The Hoople’s place in glam’s golden run. As an object, it’s a small but potent hinge between the band’s lived timeline and the way their story would be retold on turntables for decades.

🔘 Sources & Copyright

All artwork and text remain the property of their respective copyright holders.

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