the glitter maniacs pass

It's February 1974 and Bolan has just completed a very brief UK tour (9 dates), completely avoiding the Capital.

The tour banner is the 'Truck Off' tour. At first glance it would appear to refer to the virtually-failed single 'Truck On (Tyke)' but it's more to do with the overweight Zinc bidding a 'Fuck Off' to the UK. In fact, although popular opinion suggests the single was an artistic collapse, one of the reasons for its chart-placing was the shortage of vinyl stocks in that year. Supplies didn't hit the 'target' shops in time for accurate chart-returns. You could say that's a tad unlucky. The Press put the boot in.

In March the Zinc album came out. You'd have thought Marc would have taken a breather to reboot and reconsider the fates. His band was splintering and Visconti had had enough of the nonsense. The payments were stalling somewhere, too. So, holiday? Nope. Neal Bogart was setting up a new label in the US called Casablanca Records. This was to be the stable of Kiss, Moroder & Cher, among others. Marc was commissioned to write an immediate follow-up to 'A Creamed Cage in August' for Bogart's new label. Release was to be in the autumn.

While mixing was still being polished on the Zinc album for EMI in the UK, Bolan began recording new tracks for Casablanca. The album was called 'Light of Love.' Some tracks from the Zinc sessions did make the release, probably because there was insufficient time to finish recording an entire album. Madness. These days you can take a five-year sabattical and noone blinks an eye. Then it was an album every year or six months. So 'Venus Loon,' 'Teenage Dream,' 'Explosive Mouth' and a leftover from the Zinc sessions, 'Till Dawn' are added to the Casablanca tracks for inclusion on the album. 'Till Dawn' is Visconti's last production work with Marc and is a brilliant testament to his qualities. Of course, he's uncredited. Scandalous.

Bolan is now adding ruthlessness and spite to his growing list of flaws. He is clearly now spreading himself too thin. For, on top of all this pressure, he is also producing an r'n b flavoured project for one of his backing-singers, Pat Hall. The fact that, in retrospect, it's an almost complete work and a quite polished accomplishment is some feat, even by Bolan's standards. He really doesn't get enough credit for his achievements. So, he thinks Zinc. He thinks he's become Zinc, even if EMI don't play ball and put that red diagonal line on the album, saying 'Marc Bolan & T Rex.' This makes things worse, though, because people think Marc is now separate from and bigger than the others, an act of arrogance. Moreover, the Press & all the naysayers now think the album title is 'Zinc Alloy & the Hidden Riders Of Tomorrow' and must, therefore, be a copy of 'Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars.' This conveniently ignores the real title, 'A Creamed Cage in August' putting Bolan in an unfortunate artistic place as an imitator, not innovator. Weird, considering Bowie jumped on the bandwagon and really glammed it up theatrically.

No wonder he threw himself into a new challenge and went off to the States. So, with the glue in the loo, it's in with the new sound........a kind of hybrid r 'n b, bluesy type creation, with some Motown-type pianos, huge amounts of Gloria Jones' girly backing vocals, some dirty sax and fuzzy rhythm guitar. It's an odd hybrid. It's very listenable and very creative. But it was rushed and required a producer, someone with an alternative ear. Both the USA & UK releases suffer from being patchwork quilts rather than full-blown eiderdowns! The USA release looks a compilation with an odd track-order. The UK release gets a different title 'Bolan's Zip Gun' and some new tracks. However, the single 'Zip Gun Boogie' (which ironically he promotes heavily in the US, especially live) is widely-perceived as the nadir, despite its strong guitar part at the start.

Bolan is now considered a parody in the UK, where he's not been seen for months. So what's this new stuff like? 'Well I can't sit still, so baby let's dance, with the Girl in the Thunderbolt Suit.' 'Girl in the Thunderbolt Suit' bounces along with energy and twinkly motown piano and has a very catchy chorus. And, more importantly, the glitter maniacs pass. Beneath the coke-fuelled desperation of all of this, there's still that original spark and the knowing phrase tucked under the muddle of apparent nonsense.

You ignore this version of Bolan at your peril. 'Solid Baby' is driven along by two drummers and its insistent beat is complemented by intriguing eastern-flavoured keyboards and a very neat guitar riff. There's some occasional lead guitar flourishes which tease and some beefy sax parts. It's not of that time and seems to belong in the future. It has more in common with 'Blue Monday' or Prince. It may be the precursor to the sampling & sequencing crowd. (Moroder would be on Casablanca's books). If anything, it's too short. It could have made an interesting 12inch slab, along with its even more proto-dance brother 'Think Zinc.' Remember this was done in February 1974!

'Think Zinc' has slabs of percussive rhythm guitar in unison with more sax. There's some mellotron or synth in there too. There's a weird piano-tinged chorus, but the main event is this urgent industrial-type of beat. The strange staccato guitar parts towards the end (which sound like an fx pedal which hasn't been invented) bounce around like some zombie-elastic bass. It was a bold decision to release this in Deutschland, but what an opportunity missed for the UK. Alternative mixes reveal even odder moments.

We get the unremarkable 'Light of Love,' the title-track in the USA. 'Light of Love' has some nice drumming, but it marks the beginning of some poor choices for single releases. 'Precious Star' is a sparse light catchy tune. The female backing is restrained and all the better for it. 'Token of my Love' is a heavier blues track. It would have benefited from being recorded later, after being worked up live. The album version has no lead guitar at all and is rather bland. The version at Long Beach, California, where Marc plays some blistering lead at the end is much stronger. It's like a microcosm of all that's frustrating with his work; always rushed to make way for the next project. An interesting side note: the structure of the final part of this tune is exactly the same as the chorus of Bowie's 'Win.' No debate. Of course, everyone loves 'Win.'

Bowie & Bolan spent a huge amount of time together this year, the year of the Diamond Dogs. On the song 'I Really Love You, Babe' Marc actually sings, "coz we're the Diamond Dogs." The song is full of references to Dave. And there's some very nice guitar-playing, too. 'Space Boss' is more like the older Bolan, but with hints of sci-fi in the instrumentation, especially noticeable on alternative mixes. The lyrics are bizarre, focussing on the experiences of being in a spacecraft (one which was not of this world, of course) while accelerating from takeoff! Quite.

'Till Dawn' is a Visconti masterclass of production. There are various different versions and mixes floating about and all of them confirm one thing. Bolan was better with him than not. That is not to say Bolan could not produce - he could and well, for others! It's a glorious revisiting of the C - A minor - F - G shape favoured by Marc, but is swamped in swirling strings, beautiful backing vocals (Nilsson) and a sleazy drunken delivery by Bolan. It should have been the single, instead of 'Teenage Dream.'

'Golden Belt' is one of my all-time favourite tracks. Why? It's a very clever production. The guitar parts are layered and enter the mix at different times in various octaves. It's more reminiscent of Roxy Music and the way Manzanera used to play a number of different layers. It shows a level of thought not always considered with Bolan's productions. The backing vocals are brilliant. I like the harmonica opening, an instrument not synonymous with a Rex track. The percussion and rhythm section are tight. The lyrics are excellent. It's a classic. And, guess what, it was recorded too late to be included on the US album! A classic Bolan error. Probably missed the boat by two months. The loss for Young America was the UK's gain.

But, we also got 'Zip Gun Boogie.' Ironically, Marc promoted this track heavily in the US, playing it live everywhere, extending its performance to great lengths. It has very strong guitar at the start, but descends into an organ dirge of half-boogie, half-rock. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be. It has no connection with the other tracks. Oddly, many of my mates liked it and they were Robin Trower fans! I have a suspicion that they were jamming on something similar which was probably really good and it evolved into this watered-down bilge. By releasing this as a UK single Bolan confirmed the preconceived opinions of the UK record-buying public that he was washed-up and had completely lost the plot. Nothing could be further from the truth, but he was on the other side of the globe and nobody cared.

Barbara Charone wrote a review, headed, "Who needs Yesterday's Pop Star?" She complained of Marc's masturbatory vocal delivery and handclaps giving headaches. It was grim stuff. His testicles were getting a thumping. Even reviews which were positive about the albums showed scant attention to detail - they didn't really care anymore.

Does he take a breather? Reconnect?

Nope. He starts working on his partner's (Gloria Jones) new album and recording new tracks, most of which would appear on 'Futuristic Dragon.'

This is still the autumn of 1974!
Madness.