Marc Bolan
Electric Warrior

Marc Bolan (T.Rex) Electric Warrior (1971).

How can we not pay tribute to the late Marc Bolan: he was the first star to ignite the glam-rock fashion in Europe. Teenage girls went wild for his youthful anthems in the purest Chuck Berry tradition.

Bolan didn't have the intellectual depth of his stablemate friend-rival, David Bowie, a more complex but also much more studied character, perhaps the first cyborg of rock: on his side was a spontaneity and a compelling charisma that hadn't been seen since the Beatles era.

The monolith of the Marshall amp on the cover indicates Bolan's Copernican revolution: having abandoned the hippie garb of the psychedelic minstrel, with Tony Visconti in production, our hero sets aside the acoustic guitar to become an electric warrior. The album opens with Mambo Sun, a tribal boogie with irresistible oriental choruses, then the whimsical Cosmic Dancer-perhaps Moonage Daydream owes a slight debt to this song-with those suspended chords that recall the poignant story of Major Tom in Space Oddity. It is followed by the syncopated boogie of Jeepster, perhaps one of his most beautiful rock'n boogie tracks.

Then Monolith and Planet Queen are sci-fi ballads that reveal the old folk-psychedelic roots of his early albums.

Get It On is one of his most compelling boogies ever, with notable funky covers by the Power Station and in disco style by a certain Witch Queen in '79. Life's a Gas is another gem of simplicity and melodicism... it almost sounds like a Lennon piece. The Motivator follows the trend of Get it on. The album closes with the hard rock of Rip Off, ending with a psychedelic finale of dissonant strings and trumpets.

Poor Marc, when pressed by a journalist on the new glam-rock stars like Slade and Bowie, he would retort snippily: "Have you seen my gold record in America for one million copies sold of Get It On. So all these rumors are false. In Houston, we pulled 5,000 people, in Los Angeles we sold out in an hour, and the album is 15th in the charts. But where are David Bowie and Slade - not in the top 100! "Record Mirror, November 11, 1972

How much will Marc Bolan's curly haired look and frenetic moves influence Paul Stanley of the Kiss? And the punks who will rediscover him for the bad taste and certain heavy rhythms - he will tour with the Damned in '77? And won't he anticipate trash metal with the 45 single Solid Gold Easy Action? And wasn't he the first glam-rocker to reach the charts in Italy, and even covered by the Prophets (Hot Love / Amore Caldo)?

And will descendants like Duran Duran - besides the make-up and boleros - not filch the riff from Get it on for Hungry Like the Wolf?