Marc Bolan

Marc Bolan was a pop-star supernova in England's glitter era; though his reign was brief he left some timeless records behind. Born Mark Feld, he grew up in London and in his teens was evincing musical talent and good looks, working as a model for a time. By age nineteen he'd set his sight son rock stardom and convinced Yardbirds manager Simon Napier-Bell to take him on; Napier-Bell added him to the band John's Children after briefly considering him for the Yardbirds (He adopted the mystic-sounding name Marc Bolan around this time). With John's Children Bolan wrote and recorded "Desdemona," which became a cult classic after being banned by the BBC (for its line "Lift up your skirt and fly"). Bolan then shifted gears and styled himself a fantasy-inspired folksinger, forming the acoustic duo Tyrannosaurus Rex (first with partner Steve Peregrin-Took and then percussionist Mickey Finn, both virtual nonentities). They became a fixture at late-'60s festivals, and Bolan's elfin persona endeared them to the hippies. A turning point came with 1970's "Ride a White Swan," which kept the elfin leanings but added a throwback rockabilly sound; it was Bolan's first hit (reaching #2 in England) and is sometimes called the first glam-rock record. With the name shortened to T. Rex, Bolan went full-speed ahead with the rock & roll direction; the T. Rex team now included producer Tony Visconti (also working with David Bowie, with whom Bolan had a friendship and rivalry) and backup singers Flo & Eddie (aka ex-Turtles Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan). February 1971's "Hot Love," a UK Number One, launched Bolan's hottest streak with a string of hits over the next two years: "Get It On," "Jeepster," "Metal Guru", "Children of the Revolution" and "20th Century Boy." During this stretch Bolan was arguably the UK's biggest rock star-though their success never quite translated to America, where only "Get It On" charted (retitled "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" because of a same-titled hit by the group Chase). His UK peak was captured in a concert film, Born to Boogie, by first- and only-time director Ringo Starr. Bolan's fall from grace was equally swift as the classic T. Rex group fell apart and the records stopped hitting. He was now styling T. Rex as an R&B-influenced band, with his new romantic partner Gloria Jones as featured singer. During 1974 he made a final attempt to break T. Rex in America, touring as the unlikely opening act for Blue Oyster Cult. However the emerging punk-rock movement was friendly toward him; he absorbed this sound on the final T. Rex album Dandy in the Underworld and toured in 1977 with the Damned as opener. That year he launched a music television show, "Marc" (ITV 1977), which featured punk bands alongside old-guarders like 10cc, Hawkwind and Bowie. Now solidly on the comeback trail, Bolan was celebrating with Jones on September 16, 1977; she drove them home and crashed the car. Jones was injured and Bolan killed. His iconic status has grown in the decades since.