T. Rex

T. Rex (originally named Tyrannosaurus Rex), a 70s British folk-rock combo, was the primary force in glam rock. Their music was a mixture of the underlying sexuality of early rock & roll, adding dirty grooves to fat distorted guitars, as well as an overarching folky/hippie spirituality that always came through the clearest on ballads. The group's front man was Marc Bolan. In Britain, he became a superstar, sparking a period of "T. Rextacy" among the pop audience with a series of Top Ten hits, including four number one singles. Over in America, the group only had one major hit -- the Top Ten "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" -- before disappearing from the charts in 1973. T. Rex's popularity in the U.K. didn't begin to waver until 1975, yet they retained a devoted following until Marc Bolan's death in 1977. Over the next two decades, Bolan emerged as a cult figure and the music of T. Rex has proven quite influential on hard rock, punk, new wave, and alternative rock. The turning point in Bolan's career came in October of 1970, when he shortened the group's name to T. Rex and released "Ride a White Swan," a fuzz-drenched single driven by a rolling backbeat. "Ride a White Swan" became a major hit in the U.K., climbing all the way to number two. The band's next album, T. Rex, peaked at number 13 and stayed on the charts for six months. Encouraged by the results, Bolan expanded T. Rex to a full band, adding bassist Steve Currie and drummer Bill Legend (born Bill Fifield). The new lineup recorded "Hot Love," which spent six weeks at number one in early 1971. That summer, T. Rex released "Get It On" (retitled "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" in the U.S.), which became their second straight U.K. number one; the single would go on to be their biggest international hit, reaching number ten in the U.S. in 1972. Electric Warrior, the first album recorded by the full band, was released in the fall of 1971; it was number one for six weeks in Britain and cracked America's Top 40. The third album under the name T. Rex, The Slider was released in July 1972. It became the band's most successful album in the US, but wasn't as successful as Electric Warrior in the UK, only reaching #4. During spring/summer 1972 Bolan's old label Fly had been 'cashing-in' with the #1 compilation album Bolan Boogie, a collection of A- and B-sides and LP tracks, which had a bad effect on The Slider's sales. However, the two singles released from The Slider, "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru" both flopped in the US, but became #1 hits in the UK. By November 1973 original members of the band began to leave, alienated by Bolan's increasingly egotistical behaviour, which was fed by success, money, cocaine, and brandy. Bolan and his wife/manager June split and he began a relationship with Gloria Jones, a session singer and writer, on the band's second major US tour. Jones had achieved fame in the US for the 1964 recording "Tainted Love," of which the UK group Soft Cell would gain notoriety and worldwide success with their cover in the early 80's. In the late summer of 1977 Bolan hosted his own ITV show, Marc. He was a crusader for punk rock, which led him to invite many punk artists to appear on the show. On the final episode of Marc, recorded on 7 September 1977, a long-awaited performance with his old friend David Bowie was scheduled. When the two begin their duet at the show's finale, Marc tripped and fell off the stage. It would be his final public appearance, for he would die a week later. While driving home from a London club Gloria Jones lost control of her car, smashing into a tree. Marc Bolan, riding in the passenger's seat of the car, was killed instantly.Most remember T. Rex by one song, "Bang a Gong (Get It On)". Maybe Marc would want it that way. Find out more at: http://www.borntoboggie.net/

Research info provided by Stephen Thomas Erlewine and Wikipedia.

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