Almost 30 years later, in 2009, Hunter announced that the five founding members of Mott the Hoople would reunite for a string of United Kingdom performances; unfortunately, Griffin, having recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, was unable to perform in the reunion gigs, although he did partake in the encores portion.
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His passing comes a week after the death of Bowie, who was 69, and a day before Eagles rocker Glenn Frey, who died on Monday aged 67 of complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia.
The band were best known for their song All The Young Dudes, written by David Bowie and performed by them with Bowie on backing vocals.
Born in Ross-on Wye, England, Griffin formed Silence with Verden Allen, Mick Ralphs, and Pete Overend Watts in the late 1960s.
He called Griffin “one of the nicest, friendly and talented men I have ever known”. Not long after, Tippens was ousted by vocalist Ian Hunter, although he remained as their road manager.
He also offered them his stomping track Suffragette City, but they wanted his other track Drive-In Saturday, which Bowie would not part with.
Bowie refused to give it up, but wrote them the anthemic All The Young Dudes instead (its narrative forms part of the story of Bowie’s alter-ego Ziggy Stardust).
The single reached number three in the charts, and the band’s later album Mott made it into the UK Top 10.
Griffin would also go on to work behind the mixing board, producing albums for the Cult, Hanoi Rocks and more.
Writing on Facebook, Bragg said: ” I always had a soft spot for Mott the Hoople. DALE then joined the BBC as a producer and produced numerous BBC Radio 1 JOHN PEEL sessions from 1981 to 1994 including PULP, SMASHING PUMPKINS, NIRVANA and ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK.
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Griffin is survived by his partner, Jean Smith.
