T. Rex ‘Electric Warrior’ art work – Courtesy: UMG
On the UK album chart of October 9, 1971, Rod Stewart was topping each the singles and album charts within the UK, with “Maggie May” and Each Image Tells A Story respectively. However one other occasion of nice historic significance was taking place on that very same countdown. The album that confirmed Bolanmania, T.Rex’s Electrical Warrior, debuted at No.2. On the December 18 chart, it began a six-week run at No.1.
After altering their title from Tyrannosaurus Rex and scoring a breakthrough hit with “Ride A White Swan” the 12 months earlier than, Marc Bolan’s band had a memorable 1971 all spherical. It introduced their first two No.1 UK singles in “Hot Love” and “Get It On,” as they settled on the brand new glam-pop sound and elegance that may make Bolan into Britain’s hottest pop star of the day. The T. Rex album charted early within the 12 months, too, peaking to No.7.
Electrical Warrior, launched simply 9 months later, upped the ante to a complete new degree. Produced, like its predecessor, by Tony Visconti, it included each “Get It On” (T. Rex’s largest US hit, renamed “Bang A Gong,” with the UK title in brackets) and their subsequent UK smash, “Jeepster.”
With tracks like “Cosmic Dancer” and “Life’s A Gas” giving the work appreciable depth past the hit singles, Electrical Warrior noticed Bolan evolving from pixie poet into an actual figurehead for youngsters and album consumers alike. He was clearly having fun with the prospect to camp it up on the tv fairly a bit, too.
‘I’ve all the time been a wriggler’
“I’ve always been a wriggler. I just dig dancing,” he stated in File Mirror within the week the album charted. “It was only a bit troublesome to wriggle once I was with Peregrine [Steve Peregrine Took, his partner in Tyrannosaurus Rex] sitting cross-legged on the stage.
“I mean, I am my own fantasy. I am the ‘Cosmic Dancer’ who dances his way out of the womb and into the tomb on Electric Warrior. I’m not frightened to get up there and groove about in front of six million people on TV because it doesn’t look cool. That’s the way I would do it at home.”
Bolan’s followers concurred. After an preliminary run that noticed the album within the prime 5 for 2 months, it bounced as much as No.1 simply earlier than Christmas 1971 and stayed there for six weeks, returning for one more two weeks in February 1972.
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