I didn't know anything about Glam Rock when I was a kid. I didn't know T-Rex as Glam Rock. I didn't know that Mott The Hoople, David Bowie, Gary Glitter, Slade, Roxy Music, Sweet, The Tubes or The New York Dolls were considered Glam Rock either. I didn't know the genre was mostly associated with androgynous bi-sexual secretive (stage persona only or otherwise) types that wanted you think something (anything!) that would draw attention to their act. I wasn't much for David Bowie's early shtick honestly, but his music was so good it just didn't matter. Even one my personal musical heroes, Mick Jagger, had multiple rumors circulating that he might have been bi-curious back in the day. I was never that guy myself, but it was a tad unnerving to hear about my favorite musicians (I'm talking to you Lou Reed...as if he gives a rats backside) potentially playing for or with the other team. And forget about that old Rod Stewart rumor... I guess my point is Glam/Shock Rock's infancy wasn't very shocking looking back on it, but it did produce some great records. It has always been about the music for me. If I liked the music I could overlook differentiating sexual preferences, politics or garden variety idiocy. That is what made them human. I have mentioned my childhood friend Jim in my blog in the past. He had three older siblings that all had a pretty big influence on our listening habits when we were between 14 and 18 years of age. They weren't always around, but their record collections were. It's part of the reason I lug my 1200 or so albums (I haven't bought one since 1987's Landing On Water by Neil Young) whenever I move. I just can't get past the visual and the nostalgia (let's be honest about what it is now...and that was only 22 years ago...The Times They Are A-Changin' no?). One of the records we got stuck on as young boys was T-Rex's The Slider. We had already seen 1971's Bang a Gong (Get It On) played on Dick Clark's American Bandstand and, I swear, the first time I heard this song it was a must own proposition for me. I bought Electric Warrior (the record Bang a Gong first appeared on) and The Slider a couple of years later, but first we had to listen to Jim's sister Nancy's copy of The Slider for free over a thousand times. I was just listening to it before I began to blog today. It still does it for me.
T-Rex's lead singer Marc Bolan was something else. He was a very charismatic performer and oozed sensuality as he spit out his lyrics. Some of them made you laugh ("I've got a Rolls Royce, 'cause it's good for my voice"), but humor was also part of his persona. Marc Bolan was a larger than life character. Unfortunately he died in a car crash in 1977 effectively ending T-Rex. If you still don't own Electric Warrior (1971) and The Slider (1972) and you have some early 70's David Bowie in your collection, go out and buy them. I still listen to them 35 plus years later. "Children of The Revolution" was eventually covered by Wisconsin products The Violent Femmes in 1986 on their CD The Blind Leading The Naked. The do a nice job on the cover, but the T-Rex version still rules. I've long been a fan of The Violent Femmes and have seen them a couple of times over the years. They have their own fantastic catalogue of originals, but I was immediately impressed when they chose to cover this T-Rex song. Very solid choice. Now go out and buy some Violent Femmes records.
"Children of The Revolution" was released as a single in September of 1972 and was eventually included as a bonus track on the reissued 1972 albums Ride a White Swan and The Slider as well as on the 1973 reissue of Tanx. How it didn't make the original cut on one of these records is beyond me. It's always been a favorite T-Rex track of mine. Hope you agree.
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