demon of lust

While the UK music press were slagging off Bolan and his 1974 & 1975 official releases, he was obsessively busy in studios in the USA (Chicago & LA) working on a mountain of material.

One journalist (reviewing the 'Zip Gun' album) didn't know what a clavinet was and suggested that Gloria Jones "blows a mean clarinet!" I wonder what a 'mean clarinet' is / does?

Enough material was recorded to fill several albums. It's a mystery why such odd material was chosen as single releases when much stronger stuff was being produced. No doubt the Peruvian flake may have played a part. So, here's a joyous trawl through a catalogue of unreleased gems. It's difficult to ascertain who the musicians may be on many of these, since, post-Tanx, he'd been recording in the USA most of the time and rubbing shoulders with some of the finest. T. Rex now bore little resemblance to the original four-piece which delivered 'Hot Love' & the well-known UK hits.

'Demon of Lust' is tricky to date. It feels as if it belongs to that 'lost period' of 74/75 and is often associated by Edsel and other labels with that time. It also has an alternative, more popular title, 'Lock Into Your Love.' I prefer the former with its sleazy vocal delivery & Gore Vidal imagery ("dress you in garters made of glass"). The opening is unusual, with a funky bassline, hi-hat & snare intro, with the musicians allowed freedom to add their own flavour to the performance. Bolan picks up the bassline with a guitar motif which echoes it a couple of octaves higher. It's almost identical to the structure of Bowie's 'Stay.' But this predates that recording. If this were a Bowie track, everyone would be salivating. It's likely it's Steve Currie on bass & Davey Lutton (Eire Apparent) on the kit, but that's just a guess. The track builds nicely through the main riff until midway when some delightful delayed lead guitar transcends the entire piece for several minutes until the track evaporates. It's clearly a demo but had incredible potential. That style of track would certainly have been worth exploring, had things turned out differently. It's possible to put it alongside the early versions of 'Solid Baby' in February 1974, though it could be slightly later. It's unlikely to be part of the 1976 batch which produced 'Savage Beethoven' and 'Bust My Balls' but it doesn't stop the unscrupulous slapping anything and everything together in posthumous compilations without any attention to detail or integrity.

If the early date were correct, then Bolan was producing a staggering amount of material even during the mixing of 'A Creamed Cage in August.' On February 15th he was mixing 'Nameless Wildness' & others, while on the 22nd was recording 'Think Zinc' & 'Solid Baby.' ( 'Space Boss' was done the next day!) That explains why 'Think Zinc' has no relationship with the later 'Zip Gun' material artistically and why it was released as a single in Germany in 1974. It should have come out instead of 'Light of Love.' It also reinforces how strongly Bolan felt about ditching the Rex name. He clearly had morphed into Zinc Alloy by then. More Peruvian?

A number of versions of 'Solid Baby' were committed to tape, many similar to the final release. However, it's worth mentioning the long version here, since it sits neatly alongside 'Demon of Lust' spiritually. It kicks along in a different key from the official release, with possibly Paul Fenton on drums (he did participate in some recording during later mixes for the 74 album with Danny Thompson). Again the mid point of the track becomes a vehicle for some interesting lead guitar work which continues until everyone caves in. What's striking about these unreleased versions is the energy and dynamic among the players. They're clearly enjoying themselves too. Accusations that Marc lost his 'mojo' after 'Tanx' appear desperate attempts to conform to popular and universal misconceptions. Even retrospectively, people trot out the same old guff.

Right, best go back a little and get some order. Prior to these two belters, Marc finally got round to recording a piece he used to open the USA concerts. As fas as I'm aware, this track was never attempted anywhere else. Some people may be unaware even of its existence. 'Hope You Enjoy the Show' has a riff akin to 'Satisfaction Pony' but has lashings of overdubbed lead guitar on it. There is a chant, shared with Pat Hall & Gloria Jones, of the title. And that's it. It's quite heavy, but heavy-boring, really. It's a typical idea which doesn't get sorted. Ironically, it was used to open the one tour. It didn't augur well, since the American audience half the time were completely ignorant of Marc's current output or even genre!

Later in February came 'Sky Church Music' a reference to Hendrix & homage to one of Marc’s heroes. It's a repetitive gospel piece which outstays its welcome by several minutes, simply because it required development.....into an actual song. All the elements are there for another unusual Bolan divergent classic, with energetic performances from Pat & Gloria. Some commentators think it's like Dr. John. Again, it's a "what if?" moment. Perhaps it was slated for the Pat Hall album, for which they'd been working at that time.

In March came another potential classic, a ballad, named 'Metropolis Incarnate.' This was more of a fully-fledged song. It has a nice piano base with some dramatic twists. The verse is very melodic and the tune builds with the same momentum as 'Left Hand Luke.' It's become a favourite among collectors of the bootlegs, understandably. For some inexplicable reason, Marc went with 'Light of Love' from this session. At the same session 'Why Stay?' was recorded. This could be a Pat Hall song or a T Rex version. I've no idea and have never heard it.

In Munich various sessions took place. A country song 'Preacher' was committed to tape as was a version of 'Na Na Na' only found on fan-club cassettes in an embryonic form. 'Saturation Syncopation' or 'All Alone' as it's known in its shorter form was recorded too. It's a long sprawling mess with convoluted guitar parts. This song was to evolve considerably over the next 18 months. There was also a jam - about which I've no idea (a separate page will be dedicated to these).

In May the Casablanca sessions kicked in and during these came a very strange track. 'Do I Love Thee' sounds like some native Americans chanting, with some heavy keyboard and clavinet backing. It has an odd tempo. It was revisited a number of times and there is also an instrumental version. It appears to be pitched at the top of Marc's vocal range, but this does not deter him from attempting to reach even higher. At times the piece resembles a cat being strangled. Awesome!

As the Pat Hall sessions continued alongside the recording of the 'Zip Gun' tracks, an interesting digression occurred. There is a story that Marc got one of the roadies to ring Tony Visconti to enquire about his old 'Children of Rarn' tapes. It seems Marc was tempted to construct an electric Tyrannosaurus type sound and revisit that project. Visconti was upset that Marc hadn't rung himself and was still more than a bit miffed by their parting of the ways earlier that year. So he decided to report that he couldn't place the tapes. In fact, he couldn't give a shit where they were! So, Marc was left with just a vague memory of the tunes. Still, into MRI they went in May and recorded 'Children of Rarn' several times, with Gloria Jones putting in some memorable performances. 'Dworns' was half-remembered and some other bits were given the power guitar treatment. But there's only about twenty minutes of noodling, really. It could have been interesting.'Video Drama' arrived at these sessions and is a much more potent prospect. It has the structure of 'Sound &Vision' but the vocal in these sessions is desperate and uncertain of the song. There are several versions of this and it does appear destined to be part of one of the sci-fi projects, perhaps 'Dynamo' or 'Billy Super Duper' or even on the updated Rarn.

'One From Column 13' remains a mystery. A new version of 'Baby Boomerang' was attempted, one with some searing guitar work, but it was canned, frustratingly. There is a rumoured version of one with Gloria Jones singing. There's a short very nice ballad recorded, backed mainly by piano. This is 'Every Lady.' It has the hallmark of class. Why it was abandoned is anyone's guess. An instrumental version of 'Stand By Me' was also recorded, a track Marc and Tony Visconti had previously done years earlier.

In the summer tracks were recorded with Ike & Tina Turner at Bolic Sound. 'Sexy Ida (part 2) was definitely done as were others.

Sometime in September, during the 'Zip Gun Boogie' sessions a song called 'Love To Your Mama' was recorded. During the next three months recording intensified, if anything, which is extraordinary. In October came one of the finest unreleased tracks I've ever heard. 'Sanctified' became legendary among bootleg collectors and a vinyl LP was pressed with this as the centrepiece. Although it has backing vocals from Gloria Jones, the track seems to hail from the Slider era, with its backward guitars and slow tempo. It's a polished complete mix. Maybe the inappropriate lyric precludes a release? It's crazy that this remained unheard. A lost gem.

'I Never Told Me' Well, what's this? I don't normally refer to titles or lyrics, but this is odd. Grammatically it's impossible. Logically it's impossible. You cannot be both the subject AND object of a verb! Or can you? He's talking to his other self. Schizophrenic conversation. In the past too. As if some memory is causing some degree of internal debate. Guilt? Denial? One for the psychiatric couch. The music experiments with tempi, but is not very interesting. One of the least listenable outtakes ever.

'Love For Me' is the sound of 77 in 74. This is punk. If you played this to someone now, they wouldn't know who it was. When I first heard it, I was sure it wasn't recorded that early. Bolan did refer to himself as the Cosmic Punk in 73 but nobody got it. It sounds like The Damned two years before they existed. It's spooky. It's also a cracking track. It's a pity there's not a better version circulating, in terms of audio quality.

'Sparrow' This definitely sounds like the 'Futuristic Dragon' period. It's played with confidence and sounds rehearsed, though still in an embryonic version. It's not a great song, but it feels like it has ideas which may have led down other avenues. The audio quality of this outtake also detracts from closer scrutiny. Gloria Jones is putting in a strong performance, suggesting that this track was being nurtured in the camp. Why sparrow?

'By the Light of a Magical Moon' A real surprise this. He was revisiting older tracks quite frequently. It's not obvious what he intended to do with them. In 1977 he revamped 'Debora' for the tour and it was stunning, a punked-up version, beloved by Captain Sensible. It should have been released as a single. A Greatest Hits of Oldies, anyone? This sounds as if they'd all just returned from the pub. It's a good-time canter through the old 'A Beard Of Stars' tune and it bounces merrily along. There's stacks of energy and it's virtually complete. The one disappointment is the chorus, where he omits the glorious open F chord of the original, by curtailing the chorus to the main chords of the key. It's excellent stuff. It beggars belief that he didn't work on this kind of material for the commercial market. As usual, it gets binned. What a waste!

At the end of the year many of the songs for 'Futuristic Dragon' had also been completed, so by now he was stocking whole albums. Mad.

In MRI studios he revamped the following tracks from that album, but not with the T Rex musicians.'My Little Baby' 'New York City' 'Cry Baby' which ended up on Gloria Jones' 'Vixen' LP and 'All Alone' were recorded by.......

Ed Green (drums)
Scott Edwards (bass)
Sylvester Rivers (keyboards)
Ray Parker (guitar)
Sugar Bear (guitar)

Some line-up.