Oh dear - how am I going to get through all these!

John McMillan: Doesn't think it's a good idea. Bit late now.

Janet Rotko enjoys Detroit gatherings.

Callmeafan: 'Is there a version of Lou Reed's 'Sweet Jane' with Lou Reed singing and Mott backing?' Well, Lou did the singing on the track before I did it to give me an idea of the phrasing, so it's probably out there somewhere.

Jeff Williams: 'When is the new one coming out?' Probably around May. I don't actually know yet as the contracts are still in negotiation. This should all be sorted by the next HM.

Jesse Addison: No idea. Maybe Morgan shot it. Too far back; would have been super 8. I've not seen it.

Patrik Hanson: Say I'm an enigma.

Jerry Ross: Conservatism ain't what it used to be. There used to be a vocational aspect - you were responsible and all that. Conservatism in itself isn't necessarily bad, but conservatives put me off.

Chris Brown: 'Re: Richard Rimmer - I can help him out. ' Thank you, Chris.

Bob Clayton: Andy York played and co-produced. Steve Holley is on drums; Paul Page on bass, Andy Burton on the keyboards, James Mastro, M.C. Bosch and Jack Petruzzelli on various guitars.

Scott McCrumb: 'Any chance Steve Holley will get to belt out one of his songs during the '09 tours?' Sure - if I get to play the drums.

Billy Innes wants 'Read 'em 'n' Weep' live. We'll see; I like the song.

Lynn Webb has never written a fan email, but is rather partial to 'Words'.

Verne: I'm well aware of the numerous pitfalls involved, but I feel like doing it so I'm going to do it. I'm not saying it makes any sense - and the timing (for me) is not good. But it's now or never - the completion of a circle.

Alan Levy: Noted.

Julie Beasley: No problem!

Dave Griffiths MBE: That's not the way it works.

Stale: Glad you're still functioning.

Anthony Aruffo: Irene was (and probably still is) a real person. 'Boy' was an amalgamation of images.

Neil Longhorn: It's a possible eventuality.

Jon Irelan: Don't know yet.

James Coats: No - never met him. Good though - wasn't he.

Ray McKelvey: Hangin' in - that's it! (I could murder a raddish).

Brit Fan says in my 60's I look 25. Some folk'll say anything.

Willie: I'm past that stage. Too much like hard work. Tempting though!

Jim Johnson: Forgot them.

Daniel Adam Smith: That would be Der. Der and I got on well. He knew what he wanted and he was easy because he was good. Even got invited to see his motor bike - the ultimate accolade.

Staale Einarsen says there's a radio program about me on Norwegian Radio Channel 1 on Saturday the 10th. Thanks; is that Finn?

Fiona: Happy New Year, Fiona.

Bryan: Didn't know D.F. but flattered by the comparison.

Steve K: Yeah, it's a shame. It's a good venue. Progress.

Larry Fiore: I do have a favourite but I've forgotten who it is.

Nanci Leiching: I still see them and I'll forward your message.

Ed O'Neill: 'Bought the 2CD set - it's great - smiled all the way through it. Wife thinks I'm nuts!!' So does mine.

Lucky Tiler: It's true.

Karen Ferguson: 'Touring the UK?' We'll see. I've got a record coming out, but the economy's lousy and then there's the MTH thing. Too early to figure it out.

Richard Ely: Nice letter. Thank you, Richard.

Richard Kaderli: I played piano on it. Nice - gospelly.

Stuart Robb: Noted.

Steve K: 'BBC4 (digital) aired a show yesterday called, 'All the Young Dudes' presented by Paul Morley (cultural commentator and part of Art of Noise group) looking at the link between music and fashion to the present. Mott gets a few mentions and 'Dudes' is the entry/exit music. About 15 years ago I worked with Paul on a New Order video and I know he was a MTH fan. You can see it on BBC1 player.' Thanks, Steve.

Garrett Lee: Yup - it's all true - it's all true.

Kevin McDempster: Very happy about the MTH reunion.

Frank Ehnle: Going mad!

Jim Piddock: Noted.

Darlene Burns: We'll see.

Howard C.: I've no idea.

Owen Kelly: It would have to be very special.

David Quantick: Enjoy!

Phil Taylor: Enjoy!

Geoff Byrant: I've no idea at this time.

Chris Moore: It's a bit far!

Owen Kelly: It was Verden who started the whole thing rolling!

Marty G: 'Saw the original band 25 times! Still going.' Chris Robinson: Nothing planned at this time.

Joe Basili: 'N.Y .M.T.H?' Not to my knowledge.

David Taylor: 'It'll be great to see the original band as I was minus 7 at the time.' On your second point - it's the vocals.

Michele Lynn: 'Please - please - New York!'

Bobby Balloch: 'I'm 50 and I'm crying!' Don't panic, Bob - they say 50's the new 30's.

David Nagy: I didn't think it would ever happen. Nothing was further from my mind until Phally started putting silly thoughts in my head.

Roger (CT) 'Black Dog' was Winston Churchill's name for depression. There's a book on him out now by Carlo D'este. Get it. It makes you cheerful about the current recession.

Jeff: Vivaldi wasn't it?

Liz Krinsky: 'Speechless - my kid brother, too.'

Walter Hood: As far as I know, it's only London. That's all I've signed up for.

John: Washington?

Gary: The U.S.?

Mike Riley: 'Best wishes on the Mott gig.'

Jerry M: I couldn't sing his songs. Obviously, I could sing them, but it needed a different kind of singer. Mick was right. Pain at the time.

Kerri Fraser: 'Heart is pounding.'

Tere: 'Two shows? That's it?' Yup. Well, three now that they've added another one to piss off the scalpers.

Tim: We've done nothing yet. It's a ways off.

Don Clark: I don't think a tour is a good idea - anywhere.

Shug Cassidy: Brilliant - best band in the world getting together!

Tripp Pair: 'I'm g lad the decision to reunite feels right. Good luck and have fun.' A lot of people are saying, 'have fun' and that's how I'm looking at it. Life's too short and I've got my own stuff to do.

Alan Keinch: It's a jungle back there!

Julian Richards: Noted.

Phil Smith: No Bristol for the time being.

Kellianne Flynn: Knocked out.

John: Look after yourself.

Malcolm George: 'Fantastic - with all the doom and gloom etc.' It's NOT a tour - it's just Hammersmith Odeon (our old stomping ground).

Les Vineyard: 'If you write a song on piano does that mean you'll play the song on piano on stage?' Good question. Most of the time - yes; sometimes, no. 'Shrunken Heads' was written on piano, but I play acoustic guitar on stage. Andy Burton plays the part I wrote on piano. It's whatever suits.

Christian Govenius: Nope.

Hope Campbell: 'No, flippin way.'

Richard Rimmer: Please give Chris Brown my email address [Ed. Note - taken care of by private email].

Kim Fletcher: Too early to say.

Bryan Paterson: Suitably impressed to say the least.

Paul Cavani: Not as far as I know.

Amanda Taylor: Check links on this site.

Colin Price: Noted.

And Healey: Noted.

Carol Mitchell: Nope.

John Surge: Nope.

Alan (Kent,WA): I keep the good ones home.

Richard Denham: The set list will probably be what sounds good in rehearsal. Too early to tell.

Fred Prellberg: Thrilled.

Tim Kearns: You do get around.

Rob: 'My wife dragged me to see the 'We Are One' concert today in Washington D.C.. I was sort of interested, and I wanted to see Bruce, but imagine my surprise when I see Mellencamp on stage with Andy York!!! What a thrill! I have to say, while everybody else went home thrilled with Obama - I went home happy having seen Andy on the biggest stage of his career - and he was one of the first to meet Obama when the concert was over!' I saw this - fabulous. I've tivo'd. Went round Andy's Friday night and he's totally chuffed about it. It was pretty amazing and quite honestly - he deserves it for the amount of commitment he gives to everything he does.

David Maile: 'You'll never regret this - you'll see what history reveals - we're all with you - we're part of the band too.' What a nice thing to say - and it's true.

Kelly Wallace: 'Flying to London; would have flown to Mars!'

Bruno Silverra: ' 'It use to be 10 - now it's 10-08.' What does it mean?' It means it's eight minutes later.

Tom Knight: Noted.

Tony Grist: We'll play what we play.

Trey Patterson: Noted with thanks.

Gary Voysey: It's good it still stands up.

Mickey Boyle: I've no idea what's happening recording wise.

Tracy: Hang in.

Joe S.: Sorry - it's gone.

Mark F.: There are simply no touring plans for MTH.

James Deans: 'I feel you don't get the recognition you deserve for your contribution to the music world - particularly songwriting. I'm interested to know your feelings on this.' I don't think I coincide with the masses for whatever reason and that's fine with me.

Fiona: 'Just chatting with Roy Davis (Shy) who asked me to say, hi.' Hi Roy.

Brian Felhandler: 'USA?' No idea.

Phil John: Hi Phil! I don't remember a diary, but these days I remember less and less! Keep in touch with Ritchie - he'll know what's going on.

Chuck Baehr: 'Audio and video from MTH - please!' This seems to be a common thread so I'll mention it.

Lenny Scolletta: Sorry, Lenny - we don't do this.

Willie: No problem.

Glenn: No.

Shawn Jones: 'I know the real reason you're doing these shows - to put a stop to all the people on the HM who ask you every bloody month if MTH will ever get back together.' Very true. 'Seriously, how did this all come about?' I was doing an acoustic tour of the UK and Phally was turning up and whispering in my ear as only the Welsh can. Then Craig from the Mean Fiddler and Mick B. made a 40th Anniversary pitch and a good offer at a venue we used to play back in the day. Phally said Pete was up for it and I rang Mick and Mick said he was up for it. Pete rang and said Buff was up for it. 5- 0 for the first time ever. Hey - it's now or never.

Derek Sargeant: I wouldn't assume anything, Derek. We just want to have a good time - that's all.

Rich Whalen: 'When is MTH coming to NY?' As far as I know, - they're not.

Brit fan: 'How far back with the songs?' Well, it's the original line up.

John Huffman: There 's a song on the album called 'Valley of Tears.' It is about a tribe of Agora Indians.

Victor: 'Some tasty IH bits in February's 'Stereophile'.

Douglas Mosko: Nothing planned for the U.S.

Dean: We did - we did. There's so many requests for U.S. shows that I'm going to omit them from now on. It's great you're interested, but I'm just repeating myself over and over.

Ian Martin says he's digging out the flares. Please DON'T!

Phil Monaghan: They didn't ban us at the Odeon - they banned us at the Royal Albert Hall. (So we're still on!)

Lionel Avery: 'Will you be rehearsing at the Pied Bull Islington?' He used to sell us two day old cheese and tomato rolls for 3 old pennies - and I used to buy them! Bit crispy, but there you go.

Paul Rivers: 'Will MTH impact solo plans?' Dunno. Might delay them a bit what with the economy and all. I've no idea at the moment.

Frank Doyle - UK dates? Well, I've covered the touring thing ad nauseam so I'll stop answering those as well - and the CD, DVD thing. I've got the message and we'll see what happens. As of this moment there are NO plans to TOUR MTH. We don't want to do that.

Beth Khoury says Obama's only been in office a day and already he'd making miracles happen. Nice one. No, they're coming from Australia.

One good thing about all this is we seem to have made a lot of people happy in gloomy and distressing time. That's a plus.

Mick McKenzie's asking about IH tours - it's too early to say. If I do go out I'd guess it would be spring in the U.S., but that's just a guess. Can't see me in the UK before the MTH gigs. Maybe after that.

Peter Jordan: It'll be what it is.

Keith Hollinshed sends in a rewrite of Saturday gigs. I'm going to hang onto this, but don't get your hopes up. Good idea.

Geoff Bryant: 'At 9 AM on 22nd January I was logged onto two internet ticket sales and I was on the phone to one other (yes, I qualified for one of the front row seats), but I really wanted to go both nights and the only way I could afford it was to go for the ordinary seats. Both web sites crashed as the demand was so high. Drastic action was called for. I got through on the phone and the young girl taking my booking screamed because as she tried to look on the floor plan to let me know where the seats were they were sold to somebody else! She honestly said, 'What is Mott the Hoople' as this was the fastest selling ticket she had ever dealt with. I explained very quickly and luckily scraped in downstairs both nights.' It was the fastest selling ticket in London the first few days.

Laurent Moitrot: 'Cleveland Rocks' was the original title. Thanks for your support.

Lyndon Brown: 'Gig of the decade.' Well, thanks for calming the old nerves!

Terrance: What did you think of the Dave Clark 5? I like Mike Smith - he was great - should have left Dave Clark.

James McShirley: Hey James - you're welcome.

Keith Nickless: 'Rip off fascists at Ticketmaster charging over £100 for a £36 ticket. Can you get your manager to sort them out? It's giving you a bad name.' Don't buy 'em. We'll add on a show or two to stop them.

Karen: Have you any idea how crazy this stuff is? Sorry.

Dennis Dahill: 'Been watching the video of the F Ups version of ATYD - it's great - have you seen it?' No, I haven't.

Sookie: Yup.

Gary Tuner: I would guess it would.

Roberta: No, I'm not going to tell you the set list (whatever that may be). It's all part of the fun, surely.

Shugster: 'Any new material for MTH reunion?' Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

David Wright: 'Are you getting the 'H' out of the Hall of Fame for the MTH reunion?' You're kidding - right?

Joanne Rishton: Don't worry - the Rant band's going now where; we'll be out there - if the economy can sustain it.

Freddie Palethorpe: 'Worked with Dale Griffin on three Peel sessions with my band 3D. I was the drummer - huge Mott fan - nervous about doing sessions with Buff. No need - he was fantastic.'

Roderick: I've no idea what you're on about.

Douglas Moss: I want my new one out in the spring. It's in the works.

Eric Hovdahl: 'Look out for Norwegians at the reunion concert! Many there from Strings Attached Evening - subject to WAF (wife acceptance factor). We're gonna hurt all the way home.' That's good - I'm a firm believer in Norway. It's not far from Scotland!

Bart: 'What kind of emotions are you going through?' I just want it to be good - you never know till you do it.

Big Boabby: Accies 2 - Hearts 0. There is a God!

Bruce Robertson: Rehearsals won't be till much later.

Al Maddox: See you there, Al. See you there.

Bart says Springsteen's new album is brilliant.

Dawn: 'Please come to us.' How nicely put.

Alfredo: I've no idea what the security is at Hammersmith. It's usually hit 'n' miss. Sorry I can't be more specific. Trouble is nowadays everybody's on the make and it puts band off. The genuine fans miss out because of the scam merchants.

Shelly: It's a long shot.

Alan Grier: Nobody offered and we just wanted to keep it simple.

Graham Fieldhouse: He doesn't do interviews - sorry.

Brit fan: 'Already sold the dog - one of the cats - two of the kids and the mother in law's wedding rings - got to go.' Oh, don't say that.

Honaloochie B: Advice on clothing and not bad at that. I myself, prefer that 70's on the pier look, but I could be talked round.

Helen Creese: Doesn't' ring a bell.

Mike Reid: Nobody was reluctant in the band at all. It just fell into place. It never did that before.

Gary Sawruk: Maybe we don't kiss the correct bottoms. Never did.

So there we have it. The overall feeling I'm getting is CD/DVD - and I'll forward this to the people concerned; but remember MTH is diplomatic situation - I'm just in the band. I missed a load of people - there's tons of it - but most of you are saying the same thing. Don't get your hopes up on touring though - that's not the point. The point is for the five of us to get together for a reunion - not only with ourselves - but with our fans who've never wavered over the years in their support for IH and MTH. This is a thank you. I'm not keen on turning it into an average gig situation. That's not what we want to do at all.

Finally, our hearts go out to Andy Sibson's family - Ruth, Amy and Luke. Andy had a heart attack while playing football. I believe I spoke to Andy a few times over the years as he was a rabid IH follower and was looking forward to the reunion. It's all very sad. Not only was he a great fan, but by all accounts Andy was a fabulous bloke. A great family man; and a great teacher - 'A modern day teacher with old fashioned principles.' was one quote I read.

Anyway, Ruth, Amy and Luke - our deepest sympathy -

Ian and Trudi Hunter

IH