{ Lick That Riff! }

Hello and welcome to another in the Hero Worship series. Hope you are all ok?

Anyway, this weeks post takes us to 70’s Glam Rock in the form of the legendary Marc Bolan. Big hair, big riffs and premature death all make this guitarist and frontman an icon.

What Total Guitar Said:

You Know Him By His: Corkscrew curls, pre-Slash top hat, feather boas and glam rock riffs.

Greatest Moment: 20th Century Boy. Who said galm rock couldn’t be heavy?

David Bowie had more staying power and the New York Dolls’ burnout tale is more entertaining, but Marc Bolan almost single-handedly created glam rock and flew the glam flag longer than either acts. And while Bolan’s good looks and androgynous image garnered most of the press coverage, there’s no denying Bolan’s talent for penning instantly memorable pop hooks, teen anthems and killer riffs.

Born Mark Feld on September 20, 1947, in East London, the eventual glam king discovered Rock ‘n’ Roll via the likes of Eddie Cochran and Chuck  Berry. By the time he was playing for audiences, it was a folk artist influenced by Bob Dylan with JRR Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings serving as lyrical inspiration.

By the late 1960’s he had changed his name to Marc Bolan and, along with percussionist Steve Peregrine Took, formed Tyrannosaurus Rex. The duo’s first few releases were quite pretentious affairs, going by long-winded titles such as, My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair… But Now They’re Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows.

This direction continued for a few albums until Bolan’s desire to rock returned, thanks to the arrival of producer Tony Visconti and Took being replaced with another bongo-man, Mickey Finn. The new-look group, who had abbreviated their name to T.Rex, issued a self-titled release which, although a little unfocused, included the track Jewel as an example of the groups early direction.

However, it was the single Ride A White Swan that became the surprise smash hit even though it was not included on the album. Sensing that their future lay in rock, T.Rex and drummer Bill Legend had soon scored another monster hit with Hot Love. While most rockers were sporting scruffy beards, unkempt long hair and jeans, Bolan decided to go the opposite route: femme-fatal make-up, snazzy outfits and perfectly coiffured hair. The T.Rex hit making machine continued to roll along during the early 70’s with albums such as 1971’s Electric Warrior and 1972’s The Slider becoming instant classics. Songs from this period included: Bang A Gong (Get It On), Jeepster, Metal Guru and Telegram Sam.

But, as evidenced by the masterpieces Children Of the Revolution and 20th Century Boy, Bolan could aslo pen heavy, Zeppelin-worthy riffs. By the mid 1970’s however, the flood of hits had dried up. Just when it appeared as though he was making a comeback (hosting his own tv show called Marc), Bolan was killed in a car accident on September 16, 1977.

So that was Marc Bolan. Hero. Legend. Another great musician who’s life was cut way too short, not long before his 30th birthday. Who knows what other cracking songs and riffs he would have made, but then again the same could be said for so many, Lennon, Cobain, Hendrix.

R.I.P Bolan

Other Posts in the series:

Popularity: 3% [?]

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!