Marc Bolan (born Mark Feld) was born in Hackney Hospital, East London on 30th September 1947. He was then taken to his first home, 25 Stoke Newington Common. He was the beloved son to Simeon and Phyllis Feld and younger brother to Harry Feld. Marc attended Northwold Road Primary School, Stoke Newington and later The William Wordsworth Secondary Modern School, Wordsworth Road, London.
Marc left school at the age of 14, claiming to have been expelled, as he didn't think they were teaching him the things he wanted to know. He had a huge interest in poetry and romantic literature, and was influenced by Dylan Thomas and Rimbaud. He formed his first group in 1959, and called it Suzie And The Hula-Hoops. Singer Helen Shapiro was a member of this band, and rehearsals were held in Marc's front room. Two performances were given, one at a local cafe and the other at a local school.
Marc reputedly met up with record producer Joe Meek in 1963, in an attempt to launch his singing career. Although one song, 'Mrs Jones' was recorded,a record deal did not result.
In 1964 Marc did some modelling work for Littlewood's catalogue and John Temple's brochure.
Marc had his first proper demo session at the end of 1964 and his second in January 1965, where multiple take of 'Blowin' In The Wind' and 'The Road I'm On (Gloria)' were recorded. It is around this time that Marc assumed the name Toby Tyler. On the 16th February 1965, Marc attended a demo session for Columbia Records, but was rejected. He was later signed up by Decca Records in August 1965, and his first proper recording session took place in September, where the songs 'The Wizard', 'Beyond The Rising Sun' and 'That's The Bag I'm In' were recorded. By now Marc was known as Marc Bolan. 'The Wizard' was released as a single, but was a commercial flopdespite tv appearances to promote it. The follow up singles, 'The Third Degree' and 'San Francisco Poet' also failed to chart.
In 1966 Marc met up with record producer Simon Napier-Bell, by turning up on his doorstep with his guitar, and actually performing his songs for him. Napier-Bell was able to secure a one off single deal with Parlophone, a subsidiary of EMI, and 'Hippy Gumbo' was released as a single. This was another comercial flop. It was this record that introduced DJ John Peel to the music of Marc Bolan.
In 1967 Simon Napier-Bell suggested that Marc join the group John's Children. Marc was the main song writer for the group, with tracks such as 'Desdomonia' and 'Midsummer Night Scene', but only stayed with the group a short time, and left in early July, to launch Tyrannosaurus Rex who made their debut concert the same month. Tyrannosaurus Rex consisted of Marc Bolan on vocals and guitar, and Steve Peregrine Took on percussion. The debut concert was allegedly a disaster. Tyrannosaurus Rex played some gigs at the Middle Earth Club in London. By the end of July 1967, it is assumed that Tyrannosaurus Rex originated as a four piece band, consisting of Marc on vocals and guitar, Steve Took on drums, Ben Cartland on bass, and a second unknown guitar player.
Two players were thrown out of the band leaving just Marc and Steve. The first Tyrannosaurus Rex demo session is thought to have taken place in July 1967 for Track Records, and a total of 8 tracks were recorded. A second demo session took place in August, and 'Lunacy's Back', 'Beyond The Rising Sun', and 'Misty Mist' were recorded. John Peel played two of them on his 'Perfumed Garden' programme.
In 1968 Tyrannosaurus Rex were spotted at a concert by record producer Tony Visconti, and they were signed to Straight Ahead Productions. Simon Napier-Bell withdrew as their manager and they signed with Blackhill Enterprises. Their first album, 'My People Were Fair And Had Sky In Their Hair, But Now They're Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows' was also released in 1968 and proved to be a success, however their second album, 'Prophets, Seers, And Sages, The Angels Of The Ages' was not so successful. The bandtoured the UK throughout the year. The bands first single was released in April 1968, and reached number 34 in the singles chart.
Tyrannosaurus Rex achieved minor success as an underground band, however by 1969 there was increasing tension between Marc and Steve Took. In March, Marc bought his famous Fender Stratocaster, and started to introduce the electric guitar into the set. In August of that year, Tyrannosaurus Rex embarked on an American tour, which turned out to be a disaster. The promotion for the tour was extremely bad, and Steve Took had taken increasingly to drugs, which caused a lot of problems between him and Marc, and resulted in disrupted performances. When the tour finished, he was made to quit the band.
Mickey Finn joined Tyrannosaurus Rex in October 1969. In November they embarked on a British tour.
In 1970 the 'Beard Of Stars'album reached number 21 in the charts and Tyrannosaurus Rex were proving to be a success in the commercial bracket. In September the band name was officially shortened to T-Rex. 'Ride A White Swan', got the band their first appearance on Top Of The Pops in November 1970, by peaking at number 2 in the charts. Steve Currie also joined T-Rex as the bass guitarist in November, and made his debut at a concert in the Civic Hall, Guildford, Surrey on Tuesday 24thNovember. In December 1970 the album T-Rex reached number 13 in the Uk Top Thirty and 188 in the US Top 200. The album was recorded at Trident Studios and produced by Tony Visconti.
Bill Legend was chosed as the bands drummer in 1971. He had already worked with T-Rex as a session drummer on 'Hot Love' and 'Woodland Rock'.
'Hot Love' became the band's first number 1 single in 1971. It remained there for 6 weeks. It peaked at number 72 in the USA Top 100. It was also a big success in Europe. 'The Best Of T-Rex' album was released in March, and got to number 21 in the charts. By mid 1971, T-Rex were becoming huge in Britain, they werre however, still struggling to find recognition in the US. 'Get It On' became the second number 1 for T-Rex in July 1971. It remained there for 4 weeks. It reached number 10 in the US Top 100, but took nearly eight months to get there. Again this single became a big hit in Europe and Japan.
'Electric Warrior' album was released in September 1971. It was a huge success and spent six months in the UK Top Thirty where it reached number 1. It also spent nearly eight months in the US Top 200, where it got to number 32. In October T-Rex embarked on their 'Electric Warriors' British tour. 'Jeepster' was released against Marc's wishes in November 1971, as his contract with Fly had expired. Again it was a success and reached number 2 in the UK Top Thirty. It was kept from reaching number 1 by Benny Hill's christmas single 'Ernie'.
1972 was an extremely busy year for T-Rex. It started with a concert on the 15th January at the Starlight Rooms, Boston, Lincolnshire. This concert was recorded by ATV for a documentary, 'Whatever Happened To Tin Pan Alley?' The concert went incredibly well, and it was as a result of this night that the term 'T-Rextasy' came about.
On the 21st January the single 'Telegram Sam' was released on Marc's own lable (EMI T.Rex 101). It reached number 1 and also became a top 10 hit in a number of European countries. It got to number 68 in the US Top 100. At the end of January they performed a series of live dates in Scandinavia and West Germany. Then in February they embarked on a North American tour, and although they had some chart success in the US, they never managed to acquire the recognition they wanted.
'Metal Guru' reached number 1 in May and spent four weeks at the top. This single again was a huge hit in Europe, Australia and Japan. T-Rex did another North American tour at the end of 1972.
'Children Of The Revolution' was released in September 1972 and reached number 2 in the charts. This also became a hit in West Germany, Austria and Japan. On the 1st December 'Solid Gold Easy Action' was released, and positioned itself at number 2. The film 'Born To Boogie' was premiered on the 14th December at the Oscar One Cinema, Soho, London, where it met with bad reviews.
In 1973, Gloria Jones and Stephanie Spruill were employed as backing singers, and Spruill was later replaced by Sister Pat Hall. Marc had started to get discontent with the T-Rex sound, and wanted to introduce the sound of soul into the music. It was also in the summer of '73 that guitarist Jack Green entered the band. By March, the latest single '20th Century Boy' was at number 3 in the charts. End of '73 T-Rex did a tour of the Far East, but Gloria Jones and Sister Pat Hall were not a part of the stage line up. In November, Bill Legend left the band, and Marc seemed to be looking for yet another musical direction.
By 1974 Gloria Jones was employed full time as a backing singer, but guitarist Jack Green and backing singer Sister Pat Hall left. In August, keyboard player Peter 'Dino' Dines was taken on. In the autumn of 1974, T-Rex made their final tour of North America. The tour was not a huge success, and Marc failed in his quest to conquer America completely. Not only did T-Rex fail to play in the States or Canada again, but there were no further record releases there in Marc's life time.
In January 1974 'Teenage Dream' was released, but only made it to number 13 in the charts. 'Light Of Love' was released in July, and peaked even lower at number 22. By this time Marc had gained a lot of weight, and was finding it increasingly more and more difficult to hold on to the success of the previous years.
A UK tour was scheduled for November 1975, but was postponed, firstly as the release of 'Futuristic Dragon' had been postponed to the following year, and secondly due to the birth of his son, Rolan.
In February 1976, Marc and the band embarked on their biggest UK tour since 1971, 'The Futuristic Dragon' tour. The corresponding album had been released in January, but only spent one week in the charts at number 50. The song 'London Boys' was released in February and got to number 40. 'I Love To Boogie' reached number 13 in June. 'Laser Love' was released in September, and reached number 41. Steve Currie and Davey Lutton left the band, and they were replaced by top session musicians Herbie Flowers and Tony Newman. It was also in September when Marc and Gloria moved in to what was to be their final home together, 142 Upper Richmond Road West, London.
1977 looked promising to be a good year for T-Rex. The media profile had increased greatly, and the 'Dandy In The Underworld' album was doing well. T-Rex prepared for a major British tour, which was supported by The Damned. Marc recorded a tv series called the 'Marc' shows in August for Granada TV. They were recorded in studio 6 at the Manchester TV Studios. These shows were instrumental to introducing new wave bands, such as The Jam, Boomtown Rats. He was signed up by Granada to film a second series. A second British tour was planned for Autumn '77 and some dates organised in Germany for Spring 1978.
On the evening of 15th September 1977, Marc and Gloria attended Mortons Club in London. They left in the early hours of the morning of 16th September, with Gloria driving the mini. Whilst driving along Barnes Common, Gloria lost control of the car, and ploughed into a tree. Marc, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was killed instantly. Gloria suffered serious injuries. Whilst talking to Richard Jones, Gloria's brother (who has now sadly passed away), he told us that the road was shrouded in a blanket of fog, and he could see why Gloria lost sight of the road and lost control of the car. Richard alerted the emergency services, and Marc was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Thousands of fans in the music world were stunned. A genius has been lost!
