T. Rex

70's glam rock icons T. Rex sprang from the vision of Marc Bolan, who steered the group toward high-volume rock & roll laced with boogie rhythms, flights of lyrical fancy, and crunching guitars. Starting with the 1970 single "Ride a White Swan," Bolan mined the essentials of rock and pop, cloaking them in equal parts mystical poetry and down-to-earth raunch. Tracks such as "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" along with the album Electric Warrior established the T. Rex sound, The Slider refined it further, and every subsequent release aimed high, frequently hitting the mark—most notably on 1974's funk- and soul-influenced Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow. Both the band and Bolan met untimely ends, yet their influence proved enormous, shaping many of the finest metal, punk, new wave, and alternative rock acts that emerged in their glittery wake.

Born Mark Feld on September 30, 1947 in Stoke Newington, London, England, Marc Bolan displayed an early aptitude for show business. He picked up the guitar at nine and joined friends in a skiffle outfit, then made his professional acting debut in 1963 with a minor part on the children's television series Orlando. After a short stint as a child model, Bolan turned fully to music and issued his debut single, "The Wizard," in November 1965 soon after signing with Decca Records. Several more singles followed, revealing a clear debt to Dylan and Donovan, before the Yardbirds' manager Simon Napier-Bell assumed control of his career; in 1967 Bolan joined the lineup of the freakbeat eccentrics John's Children. Although he remained long enough to write and sing lead on their single "Desdemona" and to tour Europe as the Who's opening act, he departed after only four months and began composing material for his next venture.

Before the close of 1967 Bolan unveiled Tyrannosaurus Rex with a performance at London's Electric Garden. Finding the full-band format unsatisfying, he reshaped the project into an acoustic duo by enlisting Steve Peregrin Took on percussion. Bolan's loopily engaging lyrical sensibility and Eastern-influenced melodies, paired with Took's unconventional approach, secured a devoted audience within London's hippie community and earned praise from John Peel on his influential BBC radio program. The duo secured a contract with Regal Zonophone Records, and their first album, My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows, appeared in July 1968. It marked the initial production credit for longtime Bolan collaborator Tony Visconti, who would oversee nearly all of Bolan's later recordings. The second Tyrannosaurus Rex album, Prophets, Seers & Sages: The Angels of the Ages, followed just three months later, while the third, Unicorn, arrived in May 1969 shortly after Bolan published his book of poems, The Warlock of Love. Took soon departed, with Mickey Finn stepping in as the new percussionist. In 1970 the pair recorded A Beard of Stars and the single "Ride a White Swan," both signaling a shift away from the waning U.K. hippie scene. Bolan switched to electric guitar, lending the songs greater volume and grit, while Finn's handclaps and percussion supplied a backbeat that transformed Tyrannosaurus Rex from folk act to rock band. The duo signaled this evolution by shortening their name and releasing the self-titled album T. Rex later that year; Bolan reinforced the emerging proto-boogie direction by expanding to a quartet with drummer Bill Legend and bassist Steve Currie. He also adopted top hats, feather boas, and glittery stage outfits, injecting welcome flash into the performances. While some longtime followers resisted the move away from his elfin hippy persona, the September 1971 release of Electric Warrior provided ample reassurance. Produced by Visconti and featuring backing vocals from Flo & Eddie, the album topped the U.K. charts, cemented T. Rex as one of Britain's premier acts, and helped ignite the glam rock movement that would dominate the country for years. It also yielded two U.K. hit singles, "Jeepster" and "Get It On."

Retitled "Bang a Gong (Get It On)," the latter reached the American Top 40 and fostered a cult following for T. Rex in the United States, particularly on the West Coast. As "T. Rexstasy" swept the U.K. and Europe, the band issued The Slider in July 1972, delivering more of the group's crunchy hard rock boogie and Bolan's sly, playful lyrics while revealing a deeply emotional, nearly melancholy dimension. During the album's recording, Ringo Starr directed a documentary about Bolan and T. Rex titled Born to Boogie. Afterward Bolan began work on a record that drew more heavily from American hard rock and soul. Characterized by lushly layered production, Mellotrons, massed backing vocals, and heavier guitars, 1973's Tanx departed from the classic T. Rex template while preserving much of its flash. Concurrent non-LP singles "20th Century Boy" and "Metal Guru" proved to be the final two T. Rex singles to enter the U.K. Top Ten. The band maintained a rigorous touring schedule aimed at conquering America. Recording for the next album occurred amid tour breaks, and 1974's Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow reflected American sounds even more strongly than its predecessor, with vocalists Gloria Jones and Pat Hall prominent in the mix. Although the album stayed close to the classic T. Rex approach, personnel changes mounted: Visconti left the creative team, the remaining band members followed, and Bolan and Jones moved to California. Recorded in Hollywood, 1975's Bolan's Zip Gun pursued a similar funk-inflected course.

Following that album's muted reception, Bolan recovered in early 1976 with Futuristic Dragon, an ambitious collection whose expanded sonic palette incorporated elements of doo wop, '60s girl groups, and disco. He and Jones also welcomed a son, Rolan Bolan, and the family returned to England, where Bolan hosted the pop music program Marc. The show showcased performances by Bolan himself, glam-era artists including David Bowie, and emerging punk acts such as the Jam, Generation X, and the Boomtown Rats. Capitalizing on the program's success, Bolan recorded the 1977 album Dandy in the Underworld. Its stripped-down, direct rock rhythms recalled the band's early style, and the single "I Love to Boogie" delivered the sort of rock & roll pastiche only Bolan could craft. It proved his final album released in his lifetime; he died in an auto accident in September 1977. Marc Bolan and T. Rex's legacies endure through repeated reissues of their albums and archival collections of rarities. Edsel has participated in this preservation by reissuing each T. Rex album alongside alternate versions drawn from different takes and demos. In the 2020s the label began issuing year-by-year box sets, with 1972 and 1973: Whatever Happened to the Teenage Dream? compiling studio albums, singles, demos, and rare tracks into cohesive overviews. Marc Bolan and T. Rex merit such comprehensive treatment: across their brief career they reshaped the terrain of both pop and rock, rendering it brighter and more exhilarating.