Leader of MOTT THE HOOPLE Pete Overend Watts has died today, aged 69. A towering presence and brilliant – in all meanings of the word – musician, it was his vision that shaped this band and its later incarnation, MOTT. Watts was one of the first serious to adapt to the visual requirements of the early ’70s and adopt glam looks that somehow contrasted rough-hewed pieces the ensemble used to deliver, but Overend’s bass anchored it all. With only a handful of tracks co-written, and “Born Late ’58” solely penned, for THE HOOPLE, Pete’s songcraft bloomed in MOTT where he became main composer, the position which shifted towards the end of the decade when the group morphed once more, into BRITISH LIONS.
That was basically the end of Overend’s creative career, although he carried on, occasionally, as a producer for such records as “Back To Mystery City” by HANOI ROCKS that he worked on together with Dale Griffin, Watt’s rhythm section partner in all those previous collectives, who passed away in January 2016. They’d played together in the reformed MTH a few years earlier, and are reunited in the better world now, doing their honaloochie boogie and rolling away the stone. R.I.P., Overend.
