T.Rex
Founder and leader of T. Rex "Mark Bolan (Mark Feld, b. September 30, 1947, London - September 16, 1977) began making music professionally back in 1965 with the release of his first single" The Wizard ". Then he joined the short-lived psychedelic folk-rock project John's Children. Following the breakup of the group, Bolan formed the duo "Tyrannosaurus Rex" with percussionist Steve Peregrin Took. After signing a contract with EMI, the guys started recording their debut album, My People Were Fair And Had Sky In Their Hair But Now They're Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows. The unexpected success of this disc, as well as the accompanying single "Debora" forced the musicians to work harder, and by the fall of 1968 the second album "Prophets, Seers, And Sages, The Angels Of The Ages" was already ready. This release, like the first one, was purely acoustic, but already on the third disc of the group an electric guitar appeared. After an unsuccessful American tour, Took was replaced by Mickey Finn.
In early 1970, the revamped team released A Beard Of Stars, which climbed to # 21 on the UK charts. The last track with a guitar in the spirit of Hendrix gave a sense of the birth of a new band sound. In late 1970, the band finally switched to electric guitars and shortened their name to T. Rex ". The duo released the single "Ride A White Swan", which reached number two in the UK charts.
The team was soon expanded to four members, T. Rex ”appeared bassist Steve Curry and drummer Bill Legend (Bill Ffield).
The renewed team released the single "Hot Love", which topped the British charts for six weeks. In the summer of 1971, the band repeated their success with Get It On, which also entered the US Top 10 and became an international hit. With the release of "Electric Warrior", the rampant "tirexomania" began. The excitement was fueled by the stage image of Bolan, who appeared at concerts in a boa, a high hat and shoes with a thick platform. In 1972, Mark founded his own label, T.Rex Wax Co. The first release released by this label was the single "Telegram Sam", which again took the first line of the charts. In March, T. Rex ”gave concerts in front of a crowd of thousands of fans gathered at London's Wembley Stadium. Subsequently, videos from these shows were included in Ringo Starr's film "Born To Boogie".
Album "Slider", released in the summer of 1972, immediately burst into the top of the British charts, and in the first four days it sold 100,000 copies of this disc. The 1973 Tanx disc was somewhat unusual for T. Rex ”sound, according to Bolan it was a gospel album. The record sold well, but was less successful than its predecessors.
In the summer of 1973, a new guitarist, Jack Green, appeared in the group, as well as three backing vocalists, one of whom, Gloria Jones, became Bolan's girlfriend. In early 1974, Bill Legend was dismissed from the team, and Davey Luton took his place on drums. Gloria Jones took up keyboards. Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow was the last recording of T. Rex ”with producer Tony Visconti, as he was not satisfied with the new musical direction of the group. The following year, the team's popularity began to plummet. Finn and Green left the band, and keyboardist Dino Deans joined the band. Hiding from British taxes, Bolan moved to America in 1975, where he became addicted to alcohol and drugs. However, with the birth of his son, he overcame bad habits and believed in activity.
1976's "Futuristic Dragon" only managed to climb to # 50 on the charts. After some time, Steve Curry left the team. Dandy in the Underworld was more successful than its predecessor and the popularity of T. Rex ”began to gain momentum again. By that time, the line-up had almost completely changed: in addition to Bolan, it included bassist Herbie Flowers and drummer Tony Newman. However, Mark's further plans were not destined to come true - on September 16, 1977, a car driven by his wife crashed into a tree, as a result of which Bolan, who was in the passenger seat, died.
