T. Rex - T. Rex - Classics '2011

Tracks list

Tracklist:

Disc 1 

1. Tenement Lady (02:55)
2. Rapids (02:49)
3. Mister Mister (03:30)
4. Broken-Hearted Blues (02:03)
5. Shock Rock (01:43)
6. Country Honey (01:47)
7. Electric Slim And The Factory Hen (03:06)
8. Mad Donna (02:15)
9. Born To Boogie (02:04)
10. Life Is Strange (02:30)
11. The Street And Babe Shadow (02:17)
12. Highway Knees (02:34)
13. Left Hand Luke And The Beggar Boys (05:17)
14. Venus Loon (03:03)
15. Sound Pit (02:51)
16. Explosive Mouth (02:28)
17. Galaxy (01:50)
18. Change (02:47)
19. Nameless Wildness (03:07)
20. Teenage Dream (05:50)
21. Liquid Gang (03:18)
22. Carsmile Smith And The Old One (03:16)
23. You've Got To Jive To Stay Alive - Spanish Midnight (02:35)
24. Interstellar Soul (03:28)
25. Painless Persuasion v. The Meathawk Immaculate (03:29)
26. The Avengers (Superbad) (04:32)
27. The Leopards Featuring Gardenia And The Mighty Slug (03:38)
28. Light Of Love (03:16)
29. Solid Baby (02:37)
30. Precious Star (02:53)
31. Token Of My Love (03:40)
32. Space Boss (02:49)

Disc 2 

1. Think Zinc (03:25)
2. Till Dawn (03:02)
3. Girl In The Thunderbolt Suit (02:20)
4. I Really Love You Babe (03:33)
5. Golden Belt (02:41)
6. Zip Gun Boogie (03:21)
7. Futuristic Dragon (Introduction) (01:52)
8. Jupiter Liar (03:42)
9. Chrome Sitar (03:14)
10. All Alone (02:50)
11. New York City (03:57)
12. My Little Baby (03:09)
13. Calling All Destroyers (03:57)
14. Theme For A Dragon (02:00)
15. Sensation Boulevard (03:48)
16. Ride My Wheels (02:28)
17. Dreamy Lady (02:55)
18. Dawn Storm (03:43)
19. Casual Agent (02:56)
20. Dandy In The Underworld (04:36)
21. Crimson Moon (03:25)
22. Universe (02:44)
23. I'm A Fool For You Girl (02:18)
24. I Love To Boogie (02:15)
25. Visions Of Domino (02:28)
26. Jason B. Sad (03:23)
27. Groove A Little (03:25)
28. The Soul Of My Suit (02:37)
29. Hang-Ups (03:29)
30. Pain And Love (03:41)
31. Teen Riot Structure (03:35)


 Read Full BiographyBefore 1967 was out, Bolan had launched his new group,
Tyrannosaurus Rex, with a show at London's Electric Garden. However, Bolan
booked the gig before he finalized the band's lineup; legend has it he was still
auditioning musicians the day of the show, and by all reports the debut was
disastrous. Abandoning his original concept of a four-piece band, Bolan reworked
Tyrannosaurus Rex into an acoustic duo, with Marc on guitar and vocals and Steve
Peregrin Took on percussion. Bolan's loopy but engaging lyrical sensibility and
Eastern-influenced melodies, coupled with Took's use of hand drums and
unconventional percussion devices, helped to earn the group a loyal following in
London's hippie community, and they were championed by the legendary BBC disc
jockey John Peel. The duo scored a deal with Regal Zonophone Records, and their
debut album, My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're
Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows, was released in July 1968; the album was
produced by Tony Visconti, who would go on to produce nearly all of Bolan's
subsequent work. The second Tyrannosaurus Rex album, Prophets, Seers & Sages:
The Angels of the Ages, appeared just three months later, and the third,
Unicorn, came out in May 1969, shortly after the publication of The Warlock of
Love, a book of poems written by Bolan. However, Bolan and Took found themselves
increasingly at odds, as Took's behavior became more outré, especially during
a largely unsuccessful American tour, and Unicorn proved to be his last album
with Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Mickey Finn took over as the duo's percussionist, and in 1970 they recorded the
album A Beard of Stars as well as the single "Ride a White Swan," and both saw
the band moving in a new direction, venturing away from the fading U.K. hippie
scene. Bolan had begun playing electric guitar, giving the songs a bigger and
buzzier sound, and Finn's handclaps and percussion provided a stompdown backbeat
that turned Tyrannosaurus Rex from a folk act into a potent if minimal rock
band. The duo acknowledged their shift in direction with their fifth album,
which bore their new name, T. Rex. "Ride a White Swan" was a surprise smash in
the U.K., and the T. Rex album also fared well, and Bolan doubled down on the
group's new proto-boogie sound by expanding T. Rex to a quartet with the
addition of trap drummer Bill Legend and bassist Steve Currie. Bolan also took
to sporting top hats, feather boas, and glittery outfits on-stage, giving their
shows a welcome sense of flash, and while some of Bolan's older fans blanched at
his abandonment of his folkie impulses, the release of Electric Warrior in
September 1971 was all the consolation he needed. The album was a major hit,
rising to the top of the U.K. album charts and establishing T. Rex as one of
Britain's biggest bands, while also helping to launch the glam rock era that
would dominate U.K. rock for the next several years. The album spawned two U.K.
hit singles, "Jeepster" and "Bang a Gong (Get It On)," and while the former made
little impact in the United States, the latter cracked the American Top 40, and
T. Rex developed a growing cult following in the United States, especially on
the West Coast, where the glam crusade found its greatest American success.

As "T. Rexstasy" took hold in the U.K. and Europe, Bolan and his crew released
The Slider in July 1972, which offered more of the group's crunchy hard rock
boogie and Bolan's sly, playful lyrics; the album was another smash in the U.K.,
rising to number four on the album charts, while it peaked at a more than
respectable number 17 in the United States. The album was also recorded while a
film was being made about Bolan and T. Rex, Born to Boogie, directed by none
other than Ringo Starr. But neither of the two singles, "Telegram Sam" nor
"Metal Guru," made much of an impression in the United States, and neither did
the non-album single "20th Century Boy," though it was a smash in the U.K.
Surprisingly, T. Rex opted not to feature the song on Tanx, issued in January
1973, and the album rose no further than number 102 in America, and it received
lukewarm reviews in the U.K. and Europe, though sales there were still
impressive. By the time T. Rex released their next album, Gloria Jones had
joined T. Rex on keyboards and backing vocals (she was also in a romantic
relationship with Bolan, despite the fact he was married at the time), and the
group displayed a new R&B influence on 1974's Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders
of Tomorrow. However, the album's reception confirmed the bloom was off the rose
for T. Rex; the single "Teenage Dream" failed to crack the U.K. Top Ten, and the
LP wasn't even released in the United States.

Early 1975 saw the release of Bolan's Zip Gun, which was produced by Bolan after
Tony Visconti bowed out, and only featured drummer Bill Legend on one track,
with drummer Davy Lutton and keyboard man Dino Dines joining the group. Once
again, the album wasn't issued in America, though a combination of tracks from
Zinc Alloy and Zip Gun was released stateside by Casablanca Records as Light of
Love. Bolan became a tax exile who relocated to California, which made him the
target of more unfriendly reports in the British music press.

Bolan was on the rebound in early 1976 with the release of Futuristic Dragon, an
ambitious set that featured a bigger sound than T. Rex's last few albums, and
while it once again went unreleased in the United States, reviews were positive
and the album was a modest commercial success. Bolan also became a father with
the birth of Rolan Bolan, his son by Gloria Jones, and he returned to England,
where he became the host of a pop music show, Marc, that featured performances
by Bolan, artists from the height of the glam rock days (including David Bowie),
and rising stars on the punk rock scene, including the Jam, Generation X, and
the Boomtown Rats. As Bolan's star was on the rise, he returned to the studio to
make a new album; Dandy in the Underworld was credited to T. Rex, but was almost
entirely the work of studio musicians after the final breakup of the classic T.
Rex lineup. The album received positive press in the U.K., but Bolan had little
opportunity to bask in its success; he died in an auto accident on September 16,
1977. While both Mickey Finn and Bill Legend toured with bands calling
themselves T. Rex in the wake of Bolan's death, for nearly all fans the notion
of T. Rex without Marc Bolan seemed absurd, and the band's legacy has been kept
alive through reissues of T. Rex's recordings and archival collections of
rarities from Bolan and the group, and by covers of their songs from acts as
diverse as Guns N' Roses, the Violent Femmes, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the
Replacements, the Power Station, and the Bongos. ~ Mark Deming

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