Whole Lotta Bolan
Box set collections can be a bit of a hit or miss with their releases. You do have to question if they are just looking to make one last profit out of an artist long gone or tinkering at the end of their careers. In this case, it is sadly the former, the enigmatic Marc Bolan. The T. Rex frontman, whose real name was Mark Field, was tragically killed in a car accident in 1977 and gave us a decade of great music which was partly responsible for the growth of rock music to become how we know it today.
It is claimed that, thanks to the hard work from Bolan expert Clive Zone, every surviving BBC recording is included here, a whopping 117 tracks in total - including over 35 previously unreleased tracks from Tyrannosaurus Rex / T. Rex tracks and 12 interviews that have never been included in any releases too.
Before going any further, it should be pointed out that we did not receive the full packaging that you will get when purchasing this box set. We only got the music so cannot comment on the presentation documentation, which I hope is quite extensive as would be nice to read about each recording, the background behind it, when in the career of Marc Bolan it took place etc., as just listening to the 6no CD's it just seems someone has just got a TDK C90 tape and made a mix tape of recordings from the radio, as us older music fans used to do in our younger days.
The box set has been put together in purely chronological order. Disc 1 covers the early years, including Marc's first band, John's Children, along with appearances between 1967 and 1968 complete with a more experimental sound. Disc 2 covers 1969 and January 1970. 1970 was clearly a busy year for Marc Bolan at the BBC, as disc 3 covers all the other visits from that year. Disc 4 covers up to early 1972 and the sound quality drastically improves, whether that is because BBC improved its recordings or made more of an effort with the bigger names. The final 2 discs finish off with recordings between 1972 and 1974.
By being in chronological order you get to follow the progression of Marc's musical development, from the more hippy influenced 1960's to first real rocky electric guitar music on Elemental Child taken from the BBC Radio One 'In Concert' show recorded 1st January 1970. Although this does throw up some slightly frustrating moments like three recordings of Elemental Child appearing over a 13 track spell. This may not be so bad if it was a short track but as it happened to be one of the more psychedelic tracks lasting between 7 to 9 minutes apiece, it does make it a bit tedious. But when you consider you are getting over 6 hours and half hours of music and interviews to enjoy, it is only a minor issue.
There are countless nice touches that have been included, way too many to list but one poignant moment would be on Disc 1, while appearing on John Peel's Top Gear show way back in 1967, where the legendary presenter chipped in with "Hope you were listening carefully to the words...well worth the effort" after they played Scenescof as Tyrannosaurus Rex. And that was one of the specialities that came from Marc Bolan - it wasn't just about the music, the lyrics were important, intelligent and poetic too. It was also nice to hear the old classic Radio One DJ's introduce tracks, oh the memories really do come flooding back to a time when the radio and Top of the Pops were king. My personal favourite has to be the light hearted interview with Tony Norman talking about performing Get It On on Top of the Pops and putting his guitar lead "Up my bum" as no point putting it in the amp.
You will have to wait until Disc 5 for some of the big named tracks like Metal Guru, Children Of The Revolution and 20th Century Boy with tracks like Hot Love and Get It On sneaking on a little earlier on Discs 3 and 4 respectively. However, one notable track is missing, surely they recorded Blockbuster at least once on these BBC sessions? These are joined by more longer and in depth interviews with at the height of his career and there are some very interesting comparisons between to the knowledge Marc Bolan has of the music industry here than way back on Disc 1.
It is slightly ironic that the real charm of this release is the older pre fame music that is on here, yet in a long (nearly 15 minutes long) interview with Johnny Moran on Disc 5 Marc Bolan is criticising a record company for releasing his older material at the same time The Slider was released, claiming that it wasn't really very good.
So there you have it, the interviews are interesting and at times can be a little tense when there is a clear bit of falling out like the interview with Nicky Horne and at times do get a rare glimpse inside Marc Bolan's mind but you are unlikely to play these over and over like the music.
I doubt you will get a better collection of Marc Bolan works anywhere ever again. Well done to Clive Zone for all the research and compiling this box set together. For those that feel 117 tracks spread over 6 cd's is just a bit too overkill for them - there will be a 2 CD "Best Of" version released at the same time on Monday 26th August. At the time of writing, the box set is looking to sell around the 50 pound mark, which has to be said, is pretty fair although as BBC licence fee payers we should get a discount - well, we did pay for the recordings after all.
The full track listing is as follows:
DISC ONE - John's Children and Tyrannosaurus Rex
John's Children - BBC Radio One – Saturday Club : TX 17-6-1968
01: Jagged Time Lapse ( 2:38 )
02: Interview with John Hewlett ( 0:53 )
03: The Perfumed Garden of Gulliver Smith ( 2:46 )
04: Daddy Rolling Stone ( 2:12 )
05: Hot Rod Mama ( 3:11 )
06: Top Gear jingle ( 0:12 )
BBC Radio One - Top Gear : Recorded 30-10-1967
07: Highways with chat ( 1:54 )
08: Dwarfish Trumpet Blues with chat ( 2:36 )
09: Scenescof with interview ( 2:18 )
10: Child Star with chat ( 3:02 )
11: Pictures of Purple People with interview ( 2:50 )
12: Hot Rod Mama with interview ( 3:00 )
BBC Radio One - Top Gear : Transmitted 24-3-1968
13: Knight with chat ( 2:30 )
14: Frowning Atahuallpa with chat (4:41 )
15: Strange Orchestras ( 1:53 )
16: Afghan Woman with chat ( 2:04 )
17: Deborah with chat ( 3:18 )
18: Mustang Ford with chat ( 3:17 )
BBC Radio One - Top Gear : Transmitted 14-7-1968
19: Stacey Grove with chat ( 1:53 )
20: One Inch Rock with chat ( 1:43 )
21: Salamanda Palaganda with chat ( 2:11 )
22: Eastern Spell with chat ( 1:35 )
23: Wind Quartets with chat ( 2:59 )
BBC Radio One - Voice of Pop : Transmitted 21-9-1968
24: Juniper Suction - Poem ( 0:31 )
25: Juniper Suction - song with interview ( 1:46 )
BBC Radio One - Top Gear : Transmitted 10-11-1968
26: The Friends with chat ( 1:23 )
27: Conseuala with chat ( 2:24 )
28: The Seal of Seasons with chat ( 1:40 )
29: Evenings Of Damask with chat ( 2:25 )
30: The Travelling Tragition ( 1:47 )
DISC TWO - Tyrannosaurus Rex
BBC Radio One - Top Gear : Transmitted 16-2-1969
01: Pewter Suitor with chat ( 1:21 )
BBC Radio One - Top Gear : Transmitted 11-5-1969
02: Interview with Brian Matthews ( 1:33 )
03: Chariots of Silk ( 2:32 )
04: Once Upon The Seas of Abyssinia with chat ( 2:29 )
05: Nijinsky Hind with chat ( 2:23 )
06: The Misty Coast of Albany with chat ( 2:27 )
07: Iscariot with chat ( 2:03 )
BBC Radio One - Night Ride : Recorded 11-6-1969
08: A Star of Youth - Poem with Interview ( 1:04 )
09: A Ship of Rhythm - Poem with Interview ( 1:36 )
10: The Winged Man With Eyes Downcast To The Moon - Poem with interview ( 0:54 )
BBC Radio One - Top Gear : Transmitted 17-11-1969
11: Interview with Brian Matthews ( 0:57 )
12: Fist Heart Mighty Dawn Dart ( 2:37 )
13: Pavilions Of Sun ( 2:52 )
14: A Day Laye ( 2:01 )
15: By The Light Of A Magical Moon ( 2:47 )
16: Wind Cheetah ( 2:33 )
BBC Radio One - In Concert – Recorded 1-1-1970 ( complete with chat )
17: Hot Rod Mama - Live ( 2:17 )
18: Deborah - Live ( 3:44 )
19: Pavilions Of Sun - Live ( 3:36 )
20: Dove - Live ( 4:27 )
21: By The Light of the Magical Moon - Live ( 3:49 )
22: Elemental Child - Live ( 7:05 )
23: The Wizard - Live ( 9:21 )
DISC THREE - T. Rex
BBC Radio One - Top Gear : Recorded 26-10-1970
01: Ride A White Swan ( 2:04 )
02: Jewel ( 3:34 )
03: Elemental Child ( 7:46 )
04: Sun Eye ( 2:01 )
BBC Radio One - Sounds of the 70s : Transmitted 16-11-1970
05: My Baby's Like a Cloud Form ( 1:25 )
06: Funk Music - Jam ( 1:46 )
BBC Radio One - Dave Lee Travis show : Recorded 9-12-1970
07: Summertime Blues ( 3:35 )
08: Jewel ( 3:21 )
09: Hot Love ( 3:10 )
BBC Radio One - In Concert : Transmitted 20-12-1970 ( complete and different )
10: Debora ( 5:36 )
11: Elemental Child ( 8:54 )
12: Woodland Bop medley with Woodland Bop / Conesuala / The King Of The Mountain Cometh / Woodland Bop ( 7:29 )
13: Ride A White Swan ( 3:10 )
14: Jewel ( 7:53 )
DISC FOUR - T.Rex
BBC Radio One - Radio One Club : Recorded 9-3-1971
01: Woodland Rock with chat ( 2:28 )
02: Beltane Walk ( 2:23 )
03: Seagull Woman – Backing Track ( 2:20 )
04: Hot Love ( 2:49 )
05: Interview with Keith Altham ( 3:53 ) – 16th April 1971
BBC Radio One - Radio One Club : Recorded 20-7-1971
06: Jeepster ( 3:11 )
07: Get It On ( 4:41 )
08: Electric Boogie with chat ( 1:55 )
BBC Radio One - Sounds of the 70s with Bob Harris : Recorded 3-8-1971
09: Bob's On - jingle
10: Sailors of The Highway
11: Girl
12: Cadilac with chat
13: Jeepster
14: Life's A Gas
15: Christmas Is A Good Time - Jingle ( 0:18 )
16: Interview with Tony Norman ( 9:44 ) - 4th December 1971
17: Telegram Sam ( 2:50 ) – Peter Powell show - 29th January 1972
18: Interview with Keith Altham ( 15:38 ) - 5th February 1972
DISC FIVE - T.Rex (all mixes done specifically for the BBC)
01: Metal Guru ( 2:08 )
02: Interview with Andrew Salkey – 13th May 1972 ( 7:01 )
03: The Slider ( 3:29 )
04: Mystic Lady ( 3:07 )
05: Rock On ( 3:18 )
06: Main Man ( 4:14 )
07: Interview with Johnny Moran - 26th August 1972 ( 14:35 )
08: Children of the Revolution - transcription September 1972 ( 2:29 )
09: Solid Gold Easy Action ( 2:06 )
10: 20th Century Boy ( 3:41 )
11: Free Angel ( 2:13 )
12: Interview with Nick Horne - 6th March 1973 ( 7:35 )
13: Rapids ( 2:47 )
14: Mad Donna ( 2:16 )
15: The Grover - David Hamilton show - June 1973 ( 3:00 )
16: Midnight ( 3:04 )
DISC SIX - T. Rex
01: Interview with Anne Nightingale - June 26th 1973 ( 4:50 )
02: Black Jack – Big Carrot ( 3:21 )
03: Truck On ( Tyke ) ( 3:11 )
04: Sitting Here ( 2:19 )
05: Teenage Dream ( 5:19 )
06: Interview with Michael Wale - January 11th 1974 ( 12:23 )
07: Light of Love ( 3:29 )
08: Explosive Mouth ( 2:32 )
09: Zip Gun Boogie ( 3:21 )
10: Space Boss ( 2:57 )
11: New York City ( 3:33 )
12: Dreamy Lady - David Hamilton Show – 23rd September 1975 ( 3:09 )
13: Do You Wanna Dance - 23rd September ( 2:34 )
14: Interview with David Hamilton for Insight ( 3:34 )
15: Interview with Anne Nightingale for Insight ( 5:49 )
16: I Love To Boogie - David Hamilton Show - 18th June 1976 ( 2:17 )
17: Celebrate Summer - David Hamilton Show - 19th August 1977 ( 2:12 )