Marc Bolan
by Bob Dunne
The last time Beetle in- terviewed Marc Bolan he had just completed laying down some basic tracks for "Tanx", the followup to "The Slider". At that point in time, Marc was the biggest thing Britain had seen in many a year, Europe lay at his feet and it looked like North America was going the same route.
"Get It On (Bang A Gong)" was the single which inspired that hope. In North America it was played once an hour on the hour by any and every AM rock station that valued its ratings. From that single on things fell apart, slowly at first, then rapidly enough to encourage various industry-ites to write Bolan's epitaphs.
But, they didn't reckon on one fact. Bolan don't give in. Or up. John's Children was Bolan's
first brief flirtation with success. I say brief because it only lasted for two singles, less than two months. "Desdemona", later covered by Marsha Hunt, was the first big seller. "I only stayed with the band for about five weeks altogether. I didn't like the way the management was considering me as 'another pretty face'. But the real reason I left was the fact that I wrote a followup single called "A Midsummer Night's Scene", it was recorded, but then when I heard what had been done with it afterward, it didn't even sound like the same record. It was a Simon Napier-Bell production and he fiddled with the tapes so that in the end it sounded completely different. I didn't feel that was right." Bolan left.
Only six months later, Marc was back on the scene, playing a soft acoustic style with a conga drummer. The duo took off slowly at first playing wherever possible but keeping a decidedly low profile. Then an album. Some recognition. The beginnings of a solid cult following. Some more gigs. A follow up album. More grudging recognition. A definite hardcore popularity. Better offers. A third album. Attention galore. Marc Bolan the poet was taking England by storm. Just him, his guitar and a determination to be heard.
A fourth album was the cracking point. Tyrannosaurus Rex shattered in many pieces and fans wrote to the British pop weeklies and the glossy publications for little Mod birds like Rave by the droves in protest of Bolan's step into the background. Heartfelt letters stained with crocodile tears. Little did they know. Bolan don't give in. Or up.
Little did the pubes know at the time that Bolan was stream- lining the unit to produce a rockier sound. As he explains, "If you listen to the four
"I still get about 25,000 fan letters a week in Britain."
Tyrannosaurus albums, you'll notice a definite natural progression to a more rock- oriented sound. I've always really been a rocker, underneath it all, and that's what I like best. 1967 was flower power time; everything was soft and mellow. But by 69-70 things had changed and my music was changing with the times."
Marc estimates that it took about two months for the revamped and newly camped T. Rex to dominate the scene. Yet, the quick (yes, even 'meteoric') rise to the top of the charts had little effect on Bolan. "There were no problems in accepting such a quick change in popularity because two months is a long time when you're watching it yourself. That's more than enough time to adapt. When "Ride A White Swan" was successful, I was happy glad to have finally 'arrived' after bein' on the fringes, but it wasn't a life-changing event."
Marc has also always taken pride in helping out friends and spotting new talent. He fancies seeing himself in the producer's chair and working with a number of upcoming acts in the for- seeable future. He's in the process of forming his own label and producing "The Cosmic Choir". However, one of the first acts he decided to help is currently sitting at the top of the heap. The originally common was bond the same producer, Tony Visconti. The artist in question? David Bowie.
"I was just helping him out. We've been friends for quite some time, over 10 years, and I wanted to do whatever I could, so I played on a few tracks and just threw in the occasional opinion."
Yet, after "Electric Warrior' and "The Slider" had both glided into secure top twenty positions on the North American charts, "Ziggy Stardust" started causing ears to cock. "Space Oddity", rereleased from an earlier album took the charts by surprise in a slow but deliberate climb and suddenly David, darling of the 'hip' un- derground, was a full-fledged, successful commercial entity.
It is fair to say that in the following two years, Marc Bolan's popularity in North America waned somewhat. Conversely, David Bowie came on like gangbusters with a hot rock'n'roll band in tow. Even in Europe and Britain, the lights that previously spelled out. Bolan's name were suddenly growing dim. Boppers were writing letters about David. Marc Bolan gave it one last shot, "Tanx", and then took a year and a half sabbatical....
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