At home with the Bolans, 1971

For a time in 1971 and 1972, before he was overshadowed by Bowie and the other Glam Rock bandwagon jumpers, Marc Bolan was unquestionably Britain's biggest pop star. In my archive I found these black and white photos which capture Bolan and his T. Rex band mates Mickey Finn, Steve Currie and Bill Legend as they are about to release the album Electric Warrior.

A version of this photo was given as a poster with copies of Electric Warrior

The photos were taken by Kieron 'Spud' Murphy, who was also responsible for the original photo used as the image for the cover of Electric Warrior.

That photo, taken at the Albert Hall, Nottingham on 14 May 1971, can be seen on the wall behind Mickey Finn in the lounge photo shown here.

These interior photos and the colour photo below were all taken at the flat in Clarendon Gardens, Maida Vale, London, where Marc lived with his wife June Child.

The band photo with Marc in the foreground was given away as a poster with early copies of the Electric Warrior vinyl LP.

Following on from the success of Hot Love, the Electric Warrior album contained the hits Get It On (Elton John plays piano on this clip from Top Of The Pops) and Jeepster, which cemented Bolan's new rock style and created the greatest teen music craze since Beatlemania.

The album was produced by Tony Visconti and benefits from the background vocal talents of Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, otherwise known as Flo & Eddie, fresh from their exploits with Frank Zappa. The template for the T. Rex sound, with the characteristic raw crunch of Bolan's guitar and the band's behind-the-beat groove, was set on this record.

My vintage copy of Electric Warrior

But not everyone was taken in by Bolan's new direction. DJ John Peel said his close friendship with Marc and June effectively ended because Peel was reluctant to play the new T. Rex single when it arrived at Radio One.

Marc and June Child

Peel didn't specify which single it was, but having been such a strong supporter of the band in its previous form, Tyrannosaurus Rex, he had to ask himself whether he would have played the record if he and Marc were not friends. He concluded that he wouldn't have. Bolan froze him out from then on.

Peel obviously felt that Bolan had sold his soul to the screaming teens. I'm sure a lot of other fans from the Tyrannosaurus Rex period felt the same.

Whatever the merits of Bolan's new direction, it was a hugely successful one and in 1972 the run of hits continued with Telegram Sam, Metal Guru, Children of the Revolution, Solid Gold Easy Action and 20th Century Boy.

But as the photographer in the colour shot here (not credited so I can't name them) says, Marc was extremely vain and convinced of his own genius. 

As his fame increased, so did his cocaine usage. Tony Visconti is adamant that his music suffered as a result.

Visconti noted that while Bolan was still able to write hit songs, he didn't have the musical vocabulary to break beyond the singles market and was incapable of taking direction from those around him. It was only a matter of time before his star burnt out.

As their careers progressed, Bolan was compared with David Bowie, who had his own ideas about how to carve out an identity with glam rock imagery.

By 1973, Bowie soon overtook Bolan, through the sheer breadth and brilliance of his music, whereas Marc wasn't able to maintain the quality and the momentum. His run of Top10 hits came to an end in 1974.

In that initial burst of Glam Rock in 1971 and 72, though, Bolan vied with Slade as the UK's most popular chart act. Electric Warrior stands as a still vibrant and vivid snapshot of the time.

Here is a live studio version of Jeepster which I think captures the spirit of the T. Rex sound. There's some contemporary footage included at the end of the video too.

The poster from Electric Warrior

Here's Cilla Black duetting with Marc on Life's A Gas from the Electric Warrior album

And while we're celebrating this music, let's have some more. Probably my favourite of the 1972 singles. Children Of The Revolution. Mickey Finn is a riot on this.

Here's an article from the Daily Telegraph that summarises Marc's life and career, warts and all:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4728611/Behind-the-glitter.html

Also on this blog:

Alice Cooper - Back when he was genuinely scary

Slade - Glam rockers back at No.1 

1974 - Sparks and 'Kimono My House'