THERE IS NO doubt that Mott The Hoople were one of the most influential British rock bands of the 1970s. Having gone from a struggling club band to wider international success, it came as something of a shock when leader Ian Hunter pulled the band apart by quitting in late 1974, taking flamboyant guitarist Mick Ronson with him to peruse a solo career. For the other members of Mott The Hoople this could have spelt disaster but fortunately their resolve and determination overcame all obstacles resolving to carry on with a revised line up. Enlisting new guitarist Ray Major and unknown vocalist Nigel Benjamin (recommended to the band by Bad Company and former Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs), the band reconvened, still signed to CBS, but under the new handle of Mott. It was this line-up (also featuring former MTH stalwarts Pete 'Overend' Watts, Dale 'Buffin' Griffin and Morgan Fisher) that recorded 'Drive On' one of the year's most surprising and exciting albums. Although it exploring some of the more grandiose musical themes touched on by latter day MTH, the album is also a hot-bed of hard rocking, allowing the extraordinary vocals of Nigel Benjamin to take centre stage. It's this full-on direction that lent the record a sense of urgency that still impresses to this day - a fact that hasn't escaped the attention of Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott who has, in recent years, persistently championed these songs in concert and on newly recorded versions