'Once we start going downhill we will split. At the moment we're going up and up, but once things start going downhill Mott will finish. We won't do middle of the road gigs, and if the albums don't do as well as the ones before, then it's all over. We will definitely split unless we get better.'
Strong words from Ian Hunter, keyboard man and vocalist with Mott The Hoople. Straight talk from a guy who doesn't mince words and whose head - despite the dark glasses and shaggy curls - seems to be in the right place.
Mott are a down-to-earth, hard-working crew. Not for them the gimmicks and trappings that tend to follow sell-out concerts at the Lyceum. There's no limousine to pick them up, just an ageing Ford Zephyr.
But their steady rise over the past two years makes Ian's gloomy prediction on their future look pretty unlikely for the time being. On July 8, two years to the day since Mott was formed, the group top the bill for the first time at London's Royal Albert Hall.
A far cry from Letchworth Youth Club, the venue they played on July 8, 1 969.
The release of the group's third album, 'Wildlife' is another step forward for fro the group, showing their capabilities as musicians instead of the looning ravers they appear to be on stage. Looking back, Ian has misgivings about previous albums but this time there are none. Listen to him.
'I was actually embarrassed with 'Mad Shadows'. It was badly produced and badly mixed and I couldn't listen to it. I haven't even got it at home. It was a diary of bad periods we were going through at the time and was recorded live in the studio.
'The new album is lengths ahead musically. We put a lot more thought into it and a lot more time. The mix is so much better.
Disagreements over the 'Mad Shadows' album has led to the departure of producer Guy Stevens from the Mott scene. Although he has done three of the tracks on the new album - one of which was a live recording from Fairfield Hall, Croydon - the group have produced the greater part.
The end of April sees Mott making their second American tour, and another trip is on the cards for November. Ian is reluctant to talk about reaction to the group by American fans - for he has read dubious statements on the same subject from other hands.
'The papers have been saying bands that come back from the States have done well and, without mentioning any names, I know they haven't. After the first trip we got back and never said anything like that. It went well enough, we said. Well now we are back for double money, which isn't bad for only the second time.'
'We will still be supporting. We're not big enough to top yet but there are so many bands that you can get to support for 500 dollars a night. We are getting 3,000 just to support and that's a lot.'
Despite this success story, Ian seems unhappy about the attitude to the group from certain quarters. He admits that something is going wrong somewhere - but cannot understand what it is. It has been said - probably due to their stage act - that Mott are England's answer to Grand Funk Railroad, and Ian doesn't like it.
'Black Sabbath came in for a lot of criticism from pseudo snobs and so do we. But other groups seem to be able to do no wrong. The other day we saw a group recording at Island who have had twice as much press as we have and they made us cringe. I don't want to mention any names because everybody is slagging other people off these days, but I heard their album, which made the charts, and thought it was terrible.'
Mott are cutting down on club work in favour of concerts to try to get through to more people. 'A concert satisfies a group's ego more but the kids can get in for 10s and see you in comfort where as in a club you pay 75p to get in and have to sit through two other groups in discomfort before the group you really want to see. And the stage is usually too small so you can't give a good show'.
'We have this following who come around with us, everywhere. They are incredible people who travel everywhere. I don't know how because they have no means of transport. We recognise the same faces up and down the country. I think they jump on trains without paying or something. It's like the Kinks in America. Their following jump on planes to go around I with them everywhere they play'.
Ian is slightly apprehensive about the group's Albert Hall debut in July. 'It's two years to the day since the band formed so it's been a steady rise over two years. There was no big thump 'here we are' like Zeppelin, just a steady rise, which is the way we wanted it.
'But the minute things start going down we are going to forget it. This album has got to be higher in the charts than the last one for that reason. We will definitely split if it doesn't do better, but the advances are quite good, which is a result of all I the live gigs we have played. I don't know where we can go without further chart success. We've played five encores before now which is unusual for a group without chart success.'
Would the group ever release a single? 'We are not against releasing a single, but we want to release one which we could be proud of. We could release a 12-bar single which might get into the charts but we wouldn't be proud of it, so forget it.'