This day in HISTOROCK !! Marc Bolan !!

            This day in HISTOROCK !!

               In 1977, 2 weeks before his 30th birthday, 29-year-old T Rex singer Marc Bolan was killed instantly when the car driven by his girlfriend, Gloria Jones, left the road and hit a tree in Barnes, London. The couple were on the way to Bolan's home in Richmond after a night out at a Mayfair restaurant. A local man who witnessed the crash said, "When I arrived a girl was lying on the bonnet and a man with long dark curly hair was stretched out in the road - there was a hell of a mess". Miss Jones who also played keyboards and sang backup with the band, sustained severe injuries and a broken jaw in the accident. At the time, T Rex was topping the charts and Marc had become a huge star in the UK !!  He achieved that rare thing — he had a massive teenybopper audience, yet secretly the cool guys appreciated how good he really was !! T. Rex, with Bolan’s ability to write the catchiest pop songs, produced four #1 singles and four #2 singles in the UK by the end of 1972 !!  T Rex originally started out as an acoustic duo called Tyrannosaurus Rex, before shortening the name to T Rex and adding electric guitar !! T. Rex vastly influenced the glam rock, punk rock and Britpop genres. Johnny Marr of The Smiths stated: "The influence of T. Rex is very profound on certain songs of the Smiths like "Panic" and "Shoplifters of the World Unite". Morrissey was himself also crazy about Bolan. Marr went on to say "When we wrote "Panic" he(Morrissey) was obsessed with "Metal Guru" and wanted to sing in the same style".  Marr rated Bolan as one of his ten favorite guitarists !! While T Rex never achieved the success in the US like he had in England, he left an indelible mark on the music industry and with musicians from all over the world !! Classic albums like "Electric Warrior", "The Slider" and "Tanx" and unforgettable songs like "Telegram Sam", "Jeepster", and "Get It On(Bang A Gong)", to name just a few !! In 1977, after spending 3 years in the US, Bolan came back home to England and Granada Television commissioned him to front a six-part series called Marc, where he introduced new and established bands and performed his own songs !! The last episode featured a "duet" with his old friend David Bowie. Before the singing started, Bolan fell off the stage lol, and with no time for a retake, the performance complete with him falling off the stage was aired, showing Bowie's amusement, which was clearly visible !! This would be Bolan's  last public appearance before his death !! RIP Marc Boaln !! Here is one of my fav T Rex songs "Telegram Sam" "LIVE" !! Enjoy :-)

Keep on ROCKIN !!
Trike :-)