Comments on: Hubcap Diamond Star Halo/Dandy In The Underworld

Hubcap Diamond Star Halo/Dandy In The Underworld

kimota — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:18:45 -0800

Today marks 30 years since Marc Bolan died. In the five years since this post, YouTube has come along to offer us videos of a whole slew of T. Rex songs: 20th Century Boy, Telegram Sam, Jeepster, Hot Love, Children of the Revolution, Ride A White Swan, Solid Gold Easy Action, Metal Guru, and of course Bang A Gong (Get It On). Also, Born To Boogie, Ringo Starr's documentary about T. Rex, has gone from "hard to find" to available on DVD.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:36:50 -0800

Also: Marc and David I remember seeing them appear together a couple of years before this, when Bowie the warm up act for Tyrannosaurus Rex, Bolan's previous incarnation. Bolan sucked with that fey, cross-legged elf shit, but Bowie was out promoting The Man Who Sold The World and he was great.

By: juiceCake

juiceCake — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:40:37 -0800

And of course the Bolan reference in Life on Mars.

By: about_time

about_time — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:42:26 -0800

By: Aversion Therapy

Aversion Therapy — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:57:57 -0800

Never actually seen clips of Bolan live, cool. I always loved T. Rex, they just didn't sound like ANYONE else.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 18:33:40 -0800

I always preferred his wife's stuff myself.

By: itchylick

itchylick — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 18:49:36 -0800

I always preferred his wife's stuff myself. Awesome. Had no idea the 80's version was a remake. Should have known better.

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 18:51:23 -0800

Is it just me, or is the beginning of Bang a Gong the exact same thing as the beginning of "It's Only Rock And Roll (But I Like It)? Who nicked who?

By: Henry C. Mabuse

Henry C. Mabuse — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 20:25:00 -0800

Little known fact about Bolan: he was crap.

By: SmileyChewtrain

SmileyChewtrain — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 20:46:28 -0800

No, sorry.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 20:58:21 -0800

Who nicked who? The Stones. "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" [1971; wiki] vs. "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll But I Like It" [1974; wiki]. According to Wikipedia, the riff from "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" also inspired AC/DC's "High Voltage," Oasis' "Cigarettes & Alcohol" and "Some Might Say," and Prince's "Cream" (fan video; possibly NSFW).

By: telstar

telstar — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 22:05:11 -0800

Decades-old rock debates make me HAWT!

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 06:52:07 -0800

Little known fact about Bolan: he was crap. Obvious troll is obvious. The great thing about the Edsel CD reissues of T Rex stuff is that they are all two-disc sets, with the second discs comprising alternate versions & demos. I highly recommend Rabbit Fighter (Alternate Slider) and Left Hand Luke (Alternate Tanx). With the production stripped back, you can focus on Bolan's characteristically delightful wordplay.

By: kimota

kimota — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 07:17:32 -0800

"Who nicked who?" Common ancestry: Little Queenie by Chuck Berry. More at the wikipedia page for Get It On.

By: Fupped Duck

Fupped Duck — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 08:55:46 -0800

Yutubez giveth and Prince taketh away.

By: msjen

msjen — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:15:19 -0800

I have loved T.Rex for years. The guitar intro to "20th Century Boy" is wonderfully wicked. Marc Bolan and co. got it very right with a combination of strange lyrics left over from psydelica (sp?), not so subtle sex in the beat and guitars, and wove it together in a way that no other band of their era did. Many of the 80s hair metal bands attempted to copy Bolan but lacked his deft touch. Over the years, a wide variety of my friends have come out as Bolan fans, folks one would not expect from their other musical tastes. Over the last year, I have been playing songs from Metal Guru and 20th Century Boy frequently. 35 years later the songs are a audio delight.

By: sleepy pete

sleepy pete — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:23:55 -0800

Wow, I came in here wanting to say that Marc Bolan is probably the coolest Jew since Jesus; that Animal Collective's Sung Tongs was about 50% Unicorn and 50% Brazilian artist Gilberto Gil and that Devendra Banhart has been humping Marc's folkie corpse for all it's worth; that T Rex did more for actual rock in the seventies than most other turds of the decade by essentially rewriting the same two songs over and over; that he made women and men wet their pants with a simple pout; and that he could write the greatest silly--or stupid, whatever--lyrics ever, giving so much emotion to lines like "I danced myself right out the womb" that the story of self-reliance and loneliness becomes perfectly clear (close second in this category: Ozzy). But maybe it's not worth it. Bolan sucked with that fey, cross-legged elf shit, but Bowie was out promoting The Man Who Sold The World and he was great. posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:36 PM on September 16 [ +] [ !] yeah, cuz Bowie ripping him off at every turn with less glamor and granny dresses was much cooler. /fan boyism