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Was there ever time when a band could be really popular and still be cool? Whaddaya mean you never heard of Marc Bolan and T. Rex?
Posted by Rob Ortenzi on 09-Dec-05 @ 05:25 PM
YEARS OF EXISTENCE: 1967-1978 YEARS OF DECENT EXISTENCE: 1971-1974 BEST
RECORDS: Electric Warrior (1971), The Slider (1972), Tanx (1973), Born
To Boogie soundtrack
(2005) WORST RECORDS: Zinc Alloy And The Hidden Riders Of Tomorrow (1974),
Bolan's
Zip Gun (1975), Futuristic Dragon (1976), Dandy In The Underworld (1977) GO
DOWNLOAD: "Bang A Gong," "Jeepster," "Raw Ramp," "The
Slider," "20th Century Boy," "Metal Guru," "Solid
Gold Easy Action" FILE UNDER: Real Glam (not that dogshit coming
out of L.A. in the '80s that Nirvana had to kill)
SIMILAR-SOUNDING DINOSAURS: David Bowie, Slade, New York Dolls, the Sweet and freakish, elderly child-porn enthusiast Gary Glitter. It should be stated that each of these artists put his own stamp on the genre, no matter how facile the whole scene was. THE MUSIC: In 1967, Mark Bolan and his bongo-playing buddy Steve Peregrine Took would play gigs as a folk duo under the handle Tyrannosaurus Rex. They were as cosmic and patchouli-laden as hippies come. (Who else would title their album My People Were Fair And Had Sky In Their Hair... But Now They're Content To Wear Stars? Oh, that's easy: Fall Out Boy.) By 1970, Bolan said adieu to Took, shortened the name, went electric, and started a band with drummer Bill Legend, percussionist Mickey Finn and bassist Steve Currie. Bolan's new music had charging, anthemic riffs, inimitable goofy wordplay ("The president's weird/he's got a burgundy beard/he's a rip-off") and a whole lot of self-mythology ("I drive a Rolls Royce/'Cause it's good for my voice"). Add liberal amounts of makeup and flash clothes, and, voila! Glam rock! When his career went on the slide and all the other rock dinosaurs of the '70s were condemning the beginning of the British punk movement, Bolan readily embraced it: He took the Damned on tour with him and gave young upstarts (Generation X, the Jam) love on his television show (brilliantly titled Marc). At the height of "T. Rextacy," Ringo Starr-a man who knows something about rock idolatry-approached Bolan to make a concert movie. That film, 1972's Born To Boogie, thrillingly captures the band's energy, as well as the teen-girl insanity it generated. WHAT THEY SAY: "He had the whole range of rock-hero postures, he sang, he danced, he played guitar, and he slapped on the makeup and sparkle, thus virtually inventing 'glitter pop' and thereby being ultimately responsible for innumerable sins against taste." -Al Spicer, Rock: The Rough Guide WHAT I SAY: Let me strap on my Vapor V model air guitar and testify: Bolan's work-even at its most vacuous-has held up significantly over time. Let's see how the output of any five Warped Tour headliners fares in three decades. Not like any of you will actually care by then, anyway... WHY YOUR (GRAND)PARENTS LIKE THEM: Your elders weren't that cool. They might've bought Electric Warrior for the hit single "Bang A Gong (Get It On)", but they pretty much ignored Bolan & Co. for the rest of his career, thinking the Eagles had so much more to offer. CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: The negatives for Born To Boogie were disintegrating in Ringo's garage until last year, when Sanctuary Records put up the cash to restore the movie for DVD and audio CD release. It's the only way you'll ever experience T. Rex at the height of their powers: Bolan died in an auto accident in 1977; bassist Currie took the same highway off the mortal coil in 1981; and Finn succumbed to liver failure in 2003. Only drummer Legend, who is active in his community's church (check out the DVD extras), still remains. Coincidence? -Jason Pettigrew |
