In 1977 Granada TV began producing and airing the MARC TV show starring Marc Bolan of T.Rex fame. The shows aired on British television and also featured such up & coming punk & new wave bands like Boomtown Rats, The Jam, Generation X as well as Hawkwind and Bolan’s good friend, David Bowie. Unfortunately the show only ran six weeks as Bolan was killed in a car wreck on September 16, 1977.
Shown here are some photos of legendary rock music journalist Jane Scott interviewing T.Rex’s Marc Bolan in 1972. T.Rex appeared in Cleveland twice that year, on February 25 at the Yorktown Theatre and on September 28 at the Allen Theatre (which I attended).
Jane Scott, along with Gloria Stavers, was one of the first women to cover rock music. She was the country’s first music critic for a major daily newspaper (Cleveland Plain Dealer), a gig she held for nearly 50 years. From the Beatles to Duran Duran, she saw and interviewed them all.
Jane Scott, who retired at age 82, passed away on July 4, 2011 at the age of 92. On July 5, 2012 the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum unveiled a life-size bronze statue of Jane. Her papers, files and memorabilia were donated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum.
Now remastered for the first time by Tony Visconti, this classic album – released in July 1972 on the back of three chart-topping T.Rex LPs – provides a perfect snapshotof the era the press dubbed ‘T. Rextasy’ and is proof of Bolan’s extraordinary and enduring appeal across the generations.
The Slider contained two UK Number 1 hit singles, Telegram Sam and Metal Guru – the latter famously regarded by Morrissey as “pop perfection”. It was the first to bear the T.Rex Wax Co imprint, a seal of approval from EMI Records, who felt Bolan sufficiently important to warrant having his own record label. On the accompanying DVD, Tony Visconti recalls the making of the album in an exclusive new 105-minute interview with Bolan biographer Mark Paytress.
The DVD also features TV footage including performances of Telegram Sam and Metal Guru from Top Of The Pops, ITV performance footage of Cadilac, Spaceball Ricochet and Telegram Sam, plus Marc’s interview with Russell Harty from 1972. Rounding off the DVD is footage of Marc Bolan and Mickey Finn visiting EMI’s pressing plant, a TV advert for The Slider and a US promotional film of Buick Mackane.
Tony Visconti has also written a special essay for the 48-page hardback coffee-table book included in the box, which also features a 6,000-word essay by Paytress, rare photos and reproductions of archive material. Also included in the set, which comes in a sturdy 12” x 12” box, is a 180g vinyl pressing of the original album, its two spin-off singles and a repro of the hugely collectable promo-only Chariot Choogle 45, all in facsimile T. Rex Wax Co paper sleeves. Rounding off the package is a 40-page book of the sheet music for every song on the album, an A2 poster, sticker, plastic carrier bag, sew-on patch and facsimiles of an original Bolan fan club letter, membership card, rosette and concert ticket.
CONTENT INCLUDES:
2 x CDs / 1 x DVD / 1 x 180gram vinyl LP / 3 x 7” singles
48 page casebound book
Liner notes by: • Tony Visconti • Mark Paytress • Marc Bolan
105 minute filmed interview with Tony Visconti
Top Of The Pops and other TV appearances
40 page book of sheet music
Poster
Plus reproductions of memorabilia and ephemera
Here is another collection of photos of Marc Bolan hanging out with some of his better known friends. In addition to appearing on stage with various bands & performers throughout his career Bolan also appeared on numerous singles and albums by other performers.
Happy Birthday, Jeepster!
David Bowie & Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan & Robert Plant
Elton, Marc, Ringo
Harry Nilsson & Marc Bolan
Keith Moon & Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan & Alice Cooper
Marc Bolan & Dave Vanian
Marc Bolan, Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney
George Harrison & Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan & Ringo Starr
This was a 1976 poster produced & issued by the Health Education Council based in London, England that utilized T.Rex’s frontman Marc Bolan in a year long anti-smoking campaign. One of Britain’s biggest stars, Bolan’s contribution was used to encourage young girls to not start smoking.
Bolan also made television appearances on behalf of the anti-smoking campaign appearing on such British programs as Nationwide and others. The Health Education Council also stressed the £150 per year cost to fund a pack-a-day smoking habit meant girls would be with less money and would be considered less attractive to the opposite sex (hence, Bolan’s ‘look’). Today, a pack of cigarettes a day in Britain costs over £2000 per year.
Back in the 60’s & 70’s, decades before the internet and instant access to information, a lot of us didn’t know when bands were putting out new albums until we heard them on the radio. Some advanced news would filter in a head of time, minimally, in places like Scene, Creem, Circus, Rolling Stone, Rock Scene, Hit Parader, Trouser Press, etc…
For those of us who bought all the magazines and tabloids (Melody Maker, New Musical Express, Sounds) we’d often get advance word that a new album was being released by the record company advertisements that were placed in the media. They were usually timed to see print just weeks prior to releases so we’d have a heads up on what was coming out.
Here once again are some random samples of various advertisements hyping new album releases from back in the day as seen in various music publications.
Click on images to enlarge!
