Marc Bolan: Glam Rock's "Main Man"

Let's get this out of the way up front. This CD should have been called "Great Hits 1970-1977 The A-Sides" and included "Ride a White Swan" (which went to No. 2 in the UK), "Hot Love" and "Get It On," (both No. 1 in the UK, and retitled "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" in the US, it was Marc Bolan's only stateside hit). It was after all in 1970 that Bolan shortened the name from Tyrannosaurus Rex and dropped the folky mysticism (including album titles like "My People Were Fair and Had Stars in Their Hair, But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brow") and picked up the electric guitar and became one of the leading proponents of the glam rock movement. [I have a 1985 cassette "T. Rextasy," on Warner Brothers that contains these three songs plus some of his later singles--evidently Demon had some licensing problems with these earlier songs.]

But even without those three songs, if you already own "Electric Warrior" (the album containing "Bang a Gong (Get It On"), this makes a terrific companion album without having to buy the rest of his mid-Seventies catalog.

This CD begins with Bolan's third and fourth consecutive UK No. 1's: "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru," both songs containing the fuzz-chord riffing that became his trademark sound on all of his best hits. And (in the UK at least) the hits kept coming. "Children of the Revolution," "Solid Gold Easy Action," "20th Century Boy" and "The Groover" all went Top Ten. "Truck on Tyke" wasn't much of a stylistic change, but it was his first single of the Seventies not to hit the Top Ten--and at No. 12 it would be the highest charting single of the rest of his career.

Fans of Marc Bolan, who died in a car accident in 1977, will find this CD essential listening. While his later-Seventies albums would contain spotty material, "The Slider" and "Tanx" (both now available with bonus tracks) would make excellent additions to your T. Rex collection as well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The Very Best of Bolan minus one

T. Rex is right on track with this set. How Bang a Gong didn't make it, I'll never know, but otherwise there isn't a loser in the bunch. Great glam rock from the Master that Bowie himself wrote about in Ziggy Stardust.