who needs TV when I’ve got T. Rex

(alternate title: Electric Warrior in Valhalla)

It was on this day in 1977 that former T. Rex frontman and glam rock pioneer Marc Bolan died in a car crash, two weeks short of his thirtieth birthday. While he may not have had fellow glammer David Bowie’s flair for musical innovation and experimentation, Bolan’s pulsating brand of hard rock boogie epitomized the gorgeous excess associated with the genre.

He was a major influence on the punk and new wave movements. In an interview for The Big Takeover a few years back, Captain Sensible of the Damned had nothing but the highest praise for Bolan, who befriended the band in the time just prior to his death. Echoes of T. Rex’s throbbing, sleazy sound can be heard in scores of tracks recorded by New Romantic and dark synth acts. (Soft Cell, I’m looking at you.)

As a tribute to the man and the legend, here are a couple of my favorite T. Rex tracks, alongside some cover versions of the same:

T. Rex – Children of the Revolution (from a 1972 single, available on the 2001 reissue of Tanx, 1973)

The Fast Set – Children of the Revolution (from a 1980 single)

The Violent Femmes – Children of the Revolution (from The Blind Leading the Naked, 1986)

T. Rex – Telegram Sam (from The Slider, 1972)

Bauhaus – Telegram Sam (from a 1980 single, available on the reissue of In the Flat Field, 1980)

Bonus track:

John’s Children – Desdemona (from The Complete John’s Children, 2002) – This is a 1967 garage rock single featuring Marc Bolan on guitar. The line “lift up your skirt and fly” was highly controversial at the time and effectively killed its shot at UK chart success.

Bonus video clip:

T’ Rex perfoming “Get It On (Bang a Gong)” on live TV. Yes, that’s Elton John on piano: