For three years, from 1970 to 1973, Glam-Rock
rode the crest of a wave in the British
Charts, and first out of the traps, and
top of the ladder throughout these years
was Marc Bolan. With his corkscrew hair,
elfin looks, and colorful glam rags, he
was every teenage girl’s dream.
He was leading his Electric Warriors to
two #1 albums, four #1 singles, and eight
other top five singles, including two
tours of America, one of Asia, and continuous
touring in Europe.
Everywhere, the whole band was greeted
on stage by mania from a barrage of young
girls not seen (or heard) since the days
of Liverpool’s Fab Four. All concerts
were sellouts, and a series of dates at
London’s Wembley Arena were being
filmed as the movie ‘Born to Boogie’,
directed by none other than Ringo Starr.
It’s quite strange to see Ringo
standing there in the midst of all these
screaming females without one of them
recognizing him. It was only eight years
earlier that he had been the object of
their desire.
Glam Rock came in many different shades,
the pre-packed article being one. The
Chinn/Chapman writing partnership looked
after at least four of the most successful
acts. Sweet, with ‘Blockbuster’
and ‘Ballroom Blitz’, Mud
with ‘Tiger Feet’ and ‘Lonely
this Christmas’, Suzi Quatro (one
for the boys) with ‘Can the Can’
and ‘Devil Gate Drive’. Smokie
with ‘Living Next Door To Alice’
(yes, the original version of that other
version of ‘Alice’) and ‘I’ll
Meet You at Midnight’. To keep all
these bands going they must have been
turning out a song a day.
Then there were the bands that wrote
their own songs. T. Rex with ‘Hot
Love’, and ‘Ride a White Swan’,
Slade with ‘Coz I Luv You’
and ‘Mama We’re All Crazee
Now’ (all of Slade’s songs
were deliberately misspelt - well I think
it was deliberate), Wizzard with ‘Ballpark
Incident’ and ‘See My Baby
Jive’, or Cockney Rebel with ‘Judy
Teen’ and ‘Come Up And See
Me Sometime’.
Some major rock bands used the Glam Rock
scene as a kick start to their careers,
like Mott the Hoople, who got their first
big break in 1972, with the David Bowie
penned ‘All The Young Dudes’
after which they wrote a couple of Glam
Rock classics themselves, ‘Roll
Away The Stone’, and ‘All
The Way From Memphis’. So without
Glam Rock I may well have been called
‘Spot’, ‘Rover’,
or something just as common.
Unfortunately for most of the bands not
in the last category, it was very hard
to forge out a long lasting career. Because,
although they were all able to keep up
the string of hit singles for Glam Rock’s
three year duration, none of them were
able to come up with whole albums that
matched the glories.
Not really surprising for the Chinn/Chapman
bands. I mean, how could the songwriters
keep coming up with singles for them all,
let alone album tracks?
Sadly, such was the case with Marc Bolan
and his band T. Rex. Although the singles
were all ‘Solid Gold, Easy Action’,
on his albums, you got an awful lot of
swine before you got the pearls. The album
in question, ‘Electric Warrior’,
was when Bolan was at the height of his
popularity, being preceded by two #1 singles
in ‘Hot Love’ and ‘Get
It On’. The latter of which is included
in this set. It was his breakthrough song
in the United States of America, but re-titled
‘Bang a Gong’.
‘Electric Warrior’ was released
in September 1971 going straight into
the #1 slot, followed by another single
in November, ‘Jeepster’, which
still got to #2 despite the Christmas
rush. The album, I fear, sold so well
because at the time any magazine that
had Marc Bolan on the cover would have
sold in its millions, and such was the
case with ‘Electric Warrior’.
It became a must have item for all of
the band’s fans, regardless of what
it sounded like.
What you actually get is eleven tracks,
two of which are classics. The singles;
‘Jeepster’ absolutely cooks
in its final passage, and ‘Get It
On’ (Bang A Gong) is simply stunning
in a timeless way, with its Chuck Berry
riff, refrain, and infectious toe tapping
rhythm. Unfortunately Bolan’s sigh
as the song fades out, ‘Meanwhile
I was there thinking’, is the last
bit of genius on the album.
All the other songs are embarrassingly
repetitive, just going over the same old
formula, with varying degrees of glitter
sprinkled over them, but never coming
near to the standard of the singles.
Bolan’s long time producer Tony
Visconti has released the 30th anniversary
addition of this album with some fine
sleeve notes. There are also an added
eight tracks, which were either works
in progress, or demos never meant to be
released for public viewing - and on hearing
them, they never should have.
This was no way the end for Marc Bolan
and the Boys, as the singles kept coming,
interspersed over several albums. However,
by 1974 it was all over bar the shouting.
After the band split up in much rancor
at the end of the year, Bolan faded from
the scene.
Before his tragic death in 1977 he was
reduced to doing his own T.V. show, but
by then Punk Rock was rearing its ugly
head.
If you are a fan of Marc Bolan and T.
Rex I suggest either ‘The Essential
Marc Bolan and T. Rex’ CD, which
collects all the hit singles together,
or the double CD called ‘The Best
Glam Rock Album in the World ... Ever’,
which has most of the songs by the bands
mentioned in this column, and more. Both
of these are Five Star efforts.
For those of you who look back on the
days of your youth wistfully, remembering
28'’ bell bottom trousers, tiny
tank tops, staggering around on your 8”
platform boots, with glitter in your hair
(these are the guys I am talking about),
there will be a display of early seventies
foolery by those old Glammers from Bangkok,
‘Mott The Bastard’, who will
be playing most of these songs from memory
at Shenanigans The Irish Pub. Hopefully
the band will totter on stage at about
10.30 p.m. on Friday 13th June. Lucky
for some, but not if ‘El Diablo’,
‘The Root of All Evil’, and
‘Sandilands’, on his bike,
in a wig and make up, have anything to
do with it. Can you dig it?
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
