Mud will be forever remembered affectionately for their pop rock classics Dyna-mite, Lonely This Christmas and Tiger Feet at the height of the early 1970s glam rock era. Associated with lively, upbeat material, they enjoyed their greatest successes courtesy of the hugely commercial songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. They had 14 Top 20 hits between 1973 and 1976 - including three Number 1s - although success didn't come overnight and they toured endlessly with little success until being signed to Mickie Most's RAK label, when they scored their first hits with Crazy, Hypnosis and Dyna-mite. They went on to even bigger commercial success with the Elvis Presley pastiche Lonely This Christmas, the Buddy Holly cover Oh Boy, and the million-selling Tiger Feet. Their last Top 10 UK hit was Lean On Me in 1976, after which the pop landscape changed and they attempted to embrace the disco boom. Through the 1980s the band toured in different line-ups as Les Gray's Mud, while original members Ray Stiles joined The Hollies and Rob Davis went on to write songs for Kylie Minogue and Spiller featuring Sophie Ellis Bextor. Suffering from throat cancer, Les Gray died in 2004.
