Biography
Singer-songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan, accompanied by multi-percussionist Steve Took, formed Tyrannosaurus Rex as a psychedelic folk duo in 1967. They seemlingly got their name from Ray Bradbury’s short story “A Sound of Thunder”.
Science fiction, nursery rhymes and most of all, high fantasy books such as The Chronicles of Narnia set the tone of Bolan’s lyrics, fitting perfectly with the acoustic-guitar and creative percussion of the music. The duo released three albums and four singles in 1968 and 1969, and achieved some success in the UK underground, having then rising radio personality John Peel as a fan and two time collaborator of the band (as narrator of some wild child stories featuring in two of the Tyrannosaurus' albums).
Creative differences made the duo split apart and Took was replaced by Mickey Finn in 1969. By then it became clear that Bolan was the band. Starting with the single “King of the Rumbling Spires”, they started experimenting with electric guitars, bass and full drum kits, and within a year, transitioned into a whole new band, less hippie and more glam, now going bt the abbreviation T. Rex. Lyrics also became simpler and more sexually oriented, although Bolan never lost it’s childish wonder and flair.
And then the band’s success sky-rocketed, right at the start of the glam craze. Between 1970’s “Ride a White Swan” and 1973’s “The Groover”, T. Rex had a run of 11 singles ranked in the top 10, encountering a popularity in the UK unseen since the demise of the Beatles.
Many T. Rex songs of that era – such as “Children Of The Revolution”, “20th Century Boy”, “Get It On” – became close to modern rock standards, having being covered by numerous artists. Electric Warrior received critical acclaim as a pioneering album of glam rock and it’s follow-up, The Slider, allowed the band to break into the top 5 in the USA.
Although Bolan kept his super star status until the end of his short life, the apex of “T. Rextasy” was fleeting, and by 1974, the band wasn’t seeing the same popularity or critical acclaim. Bolan, by then allegedly had became addicted to cocaine and quite disconnected from the world. Feeling that glam had run its course, tried his hand at soul music and disco music, and even got his own TV show.
In 1976, Marc Bolan started flirting with the rising punk scene, but unfortunately, he never got the chance to reinvent himself again, as, in 1977, Bolan died in a car accident a few months after releasing T. Rex’s final studio album, Dandy in the Underworld. Since then, T. Rex have continued to exert a large influence over a variety of subsequent artists.
