Day 99: Bender, yes or no?

"Did you see the suits and the platform boots?"
-- The Saturday Gigs (1974)

Full disclosure: I grew up on Mott the Hoople Mark II, not Mark I.

The song that drew me in was "Memphis," and the first album I bought was Mott. Mick Ralphs played on those, but he was either already gone or about to be, I forget which. It was years before I saw a picture of Verden Allen and decades before I circled back to Brain Capers and its predecessors. Hey, I was an American boy who listened to too much AM radio in the early '70s. No apologies.

The Hunter-Watts-Griffin-Bender-Fisher band was my image of Mott the Hoople. That was the only version I saw live -- May 21, 1974, at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago. I loved The Hoople, and "Pearl & Roy" remains one of my favorite obscure tracks by anybody. Not being a guitar whiz, I couldn't evaluate the skills of Ariel Bender/Luther Grosvenor, but he sure was a lot of fun.

This is a roundabout introduction to one of the core questions of the buildup for the MTH reunion shows -- "What Should We Do About Bender, and Hey, Shouldn't We Consider Morgan Fisher in This Too?"

I've grown to realize that the Hunter-Ralphs-Allen-Watts-Buffin version of the band is the real deal, and the version I loved was just patchwork. I recognize the genius of Brain Capers, and many of the pre-1972 songs are among my favorites. I know "Pearl & Roy" won't be on the setlist at Hammersmith (but IH, won't you consider it for one of your shows?)

The vibes I get say the band already has decided that Bender won't have any part in these shows. This saddens me. Limiting it to the original five is fine, but then how does one explain the presence of Martin Chambers on drums? (I know, I know, but it does detract from the symmetry).

I know Bender crossed the line with that "Ariel Bender's Mott the Hoople" tour of a few years back. Not cool, Luther. But I've been wondering if that bogus band didn't in its way set up these genuine reunion shows. In other words, if someone's going to cash in on the MTH name, it might as well be the real Dudes.

And I know Bender isn't always, how shall we say, clear-headed enough to perform. He was at the Astoria for IH's 2004 show there -- I know, he posed with me -- and I think he was the only guitarist in London that night who wasn't on stage for the encore. It was quite possibly because he would have had to be taped to a pillar to stand upright.

I don't know anything about contracts, appearance fees, travel allowances -- maybe that's the obstacle. Fisher lives in Japan, for cripes sake. But I'd like to see it worked out; I think a lot of us would.

Bender and Fisher shouldn't be on stage for the full set, but I'd rather see them out there for one of the encores than any of the celebrity MTH fans who are bound to be in the wings at Hammersmith (cough) Joe Elliott (cough).

This is a once-in-a-lifetime deal -- for the band, for all of us. Bender on "Walkin' With A Mountain" would blow the roof off. Better yet, how about a Hoople medley with Bender and Fisher joining in? If they need chorus help for "Pearl & Roy" -- I know the words.