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 T REX My People Were Fair And Had Sky In Their Hair But Now They Are Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows (1968)  Rating (Out of 10): 7 Tracklisting: Hot Rod Mama/Scenes of/ Child Star/Strange Orchestras/Chateau In Virginia Waters/Dwarfish Trumpet Blues/Mustang Ford/Afghan Woman/ Knight/Graceful Fat Sheba/Weilder Of Words/Frowning Atahuallpa(My Inca Love) On September 16th 1977, two weeks before his 30th Birthday, Marc Bolan, frontman of T-Rex and Glam Rock icon, died in a car crash leaving the world bereft of a hugely iconic and innovate musician of the likes no-one had known of before or since. In a very short period of time, Bolan had made a huge impact on the music world. Born Mark Field, he had a brief stint as a model in his late teens before forming several bands including the unremarkable ‘John’s Children’ and changing his name to Toby Tyler to try to make it as a solo musician. Then in 1967 after changing his name yet again, this time to Marc Bolan, he met Steve Peregrin Took and formed the band Tyrannosaurus Rex. The rest as they say, is history. DJ John Peel took an immediately liking to the young Bolan and tirelessly promoted them on his radio show. Another man who can be credited as playing a large role in the success of Marc Bolan and Tyanosaurus Rex is the now legendary music producer, Tony Visconti. At the time Visconti had been working with David Bowie, but the producer put his work with Bowie on the back burner to work on Tyrannosaurus Rex’s first album, a decision that many people at the time would have thought difficult to believe, but as it turned out, was a very sensible move indeed. Visconti could see the magic that Bolan had, the magic that would see him become one of the most innovative and extraordinary people in the music industry.It is a quality that is hard to put into words, but is instantly recognizable when witnessed and is most definitely linked with his voice, a voice was strangely unique, with a very English quality and a very spiritual and mystical feel to it. Tyrannosaurus Rex’s first album bore the very strange and lengthy title of ‘My People Were Fair And Had Sky in their Hair, But Now They Are Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows.’ The album cover matched the surreal title by having a painting by George Underwood depicting angles and elves and characters that bore a striking resemblance to Marc and Steve. All things considered ‘My People Were Fair…’ acted as a good introduction to Marc Bolan. It is very different to the type of thing he would go on to do later, and is very different to what people now think of as the music of T-Rex, but all the essential characteristic were present The poetry, the surrealism, the glamour, and the unique vocals were all there. The songs themselves are good, but nothing compared to what he was come up with in later years. Most of them he had written for John’s Children and are acoustic, hippyish type affairs. But the magic that only Marc Bolan could possess was beginning to show and as a debut album ‘My People Were Fair …..’ shows a lot of promise of what was to come. Send A Comment Electric Warrior (1971)  Rating (Out of 10): 9 Tracklisting: Mambo Sun / Cosmic Dancer / Jeepster / Monolith / Lean Woman Blues / Bang A Gong (Get It On) / Planet Queen / Girl / The Motivator / Life's A Gas / Rip off By the time ‘Electric Warrior’ was released in 1971, Marc Bolan had implemented a considerable number of changes in his band. Steven Peregrin Took had left to be replaced by Mickey Finn, and Bolan changed the name to T. Rex, a smart move, making it more accessible and also heralding the changes that were to come. Considerable changes had also been made to the bands musical direction. The long album titles had gone in favour of shorter, snappier ones such as ‘Unicorn’ and ‘Electric Warrior’, and the songs had changed from long, folklorish tales to powerful, rock songs with electric guitar riffs, booming bass lines and luscious vocal harmonies. Previous to the release of Electric Warrior, Bolan had had a number two hit with ‘Ride A White Swan’, giving him the biggest success of his career so far, and helping him to single handedly create glam rock. When Marc parted ways with Steve Peregrin Took many people believed that it had been because Took had been a radical hippy and had wanted to use music as a revolutionary tool, while Bolan just wanted to be a rock star. But with Electric Warrior, Bolan seems to effortlessly combine the two ideals. Electric Warrior saw Bolan finally become the rock star he had always aspired to with the album going to number one in the charts, while the songs seem to point to a yearning and a constant search for something more. Songs such as ‘Life’s a Gas’ and ‘Bang A Gong’ are Bolan’s party songs, songs that celebrate life in all it’s superficiality (Life’s a gas, I hope it’s gonna last’) while Cosmic Dancer, Monolith and Girl convey a sense of dissatisfaction and longing. In this way, Electric Warrior shows the two sides of Marc Bolan and the essence of what T Rex was really about. The songs of ‘Electric Warrior’ are all powerful, well written and characteristic of the glam rock genre that Bolan managed to single handedly invent. ‘Bang A Gong (Get It On)' would become a hit of anthemic proportions while ‘Cosmic Dancer’ would become a favourite among fans and other musicians alike and would be covered by the likes of Morrissey and David Bowie, and it is easy to see why. It is a magical song with a truly spiritual feel to it. The lyrics are wonderfully poetic and Bolan’s vocals sound incredible. It most definitely provides a high point for the album and for Bolan’s career as a whole. With ‘Electric Warrior’ Marc Bolan achieved the success he had always longed for, and earned himself a page in the history books as the King of Glam Rock and one of the most innovative musicians in music history. He defined an era and a musical genre and undoubtedly became an icon of a stature that could somehow never be matched. 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