These
works are COPYRIGHT and CANNOT be reproduced
without James' permission in writing
Diese Arbeiten sind COPYRIGHT und KÖNNEN nicht ohne James'permission im Schreiben reproduziert werden
Ces travaux sont COPYRIGHT et NE PEUVENT PAS être reproduits sans James'permission dans l'écriture
"
The reality of the fan's collective imagination
is an essential part of
the Marc Bolan Story."
(Mark Paytress p.268,1992).
Titles often say a lot about a book, in this case I can think of no better way of describing my affection for Marc Bolan. Pain for the fact he's no longer in this world. A world today which many fans of music conclude is agonisingly over-populated by slickly manufactured pop acts devoid of any true individuality or inspiration. And love? Well, love for what Marc gave, something that for fans is possibly beyond the realms of words. Love if you like, for the feelings he shared and the places his music has taken us.
My Marc Bolan journey began in 1991 after watching a Levi Jeans ad. I was sixteen and full of nonsense teenage angst. I'd never been into music at school. It never meant anything to me. But then I listened to '20th Century Boy', and suddenly, all of my angst disappeared. Suddenly music was important, and the music that mattered the most was T.Rex. I scoured my local second-hand record shop and bought as much T.Rex as I could. Up until that point my teenage years had been like so many others, a feeling of awkwardness and misplaced energy. I listened to Marc's music and that was the storm that changed my landscape. I realised I wasn't awkward, I realised I had a mind; I could do whatever I wanted. Within a week I was lost in the Music of T.Rex, charting new and exciting feelings. There has always been a wonderful amount of room in Marc's songs for the imagination to roam. It goes beyond any conventional process of analysing music. It's not something that can't be taught. It's quite simply a wonderful and beautiful gift. Within three years I would be crazy about music, as I picked my way through Marc's influences I discovered my own. I would take up poetry and find an 'energy outlet' (as Marc would have said!) for my own feelings and expression. In short, I would find the confidence to be me. I realised through Marc's music that feelings are not just to be explored but also to be shared.
For a long time I've wanted to write a book about Marc. As much as anything to say thank you. But as a mere fan without any first-hand experiences of Marc with only research and secondary accounts to rely on, what could I possibly add to the Marc Bolan saga? Initially, Pain And Love can be described as a fan's book, an idea that has taken shape through countless drinking sessions when debates about music often reach their most heated and emotional. Slurring through your words as you attempt to explain the relevance behind 'Let it be', or how The Stones and other bands would pull off classic album after classic album in the 1960's and 1970's.
As someone who has looked hard and deep into Marc's legacy, I've been horrified by the amount of rubbish that seems to seep from everywhere. A quick journey through some Marc Bolan sites on the Internet showed just how bizarre things had become. A significant number of Bolan sites, though well meaning, have often missed the point. It's as if 'Glam Rock' was all there was to Marc. But perhaps he's most satisfying album personally, would have been his last, 'Dandy in the Underworld'. No, it didn't set the world alight like 'Electric Warrior' or the 'The Slider'. But it was still an incredibly polished, mature sounding record. It didn't tread any great new musical ground, but it remains a great album because Marc appeared to be the most relaxed and organised he had been for a very long time. The record gleamed with maturity because Marc himself had matured. It showed that Marc had overcome many of the personnel demons that appeared to have destroyed him by the mid 1970's and any true fan would be grateful for that.
An in-depth analysis of each song attempts to give you an idea of the meaning behind Marc's lyrics, drop a few stories and theories, but most of all, give an insight into Marc's music. We hope, at the very least, to open your mind to another way of looking at Marc and his work.
A sufficient number of books have already been written about Marc Bolan. There's been countless TV specials, tributes and sympathetic rockumentries. Ex-colleagues and ex-wives have all given their versions and perspectives while critics today still struggle to figure out who Marc Bolan really was and what sort of relevance he has in the world of music and entertainment today.
Devoted fans talk about the 'truth' of the T.Rex story to the point that the memory of Marc Bolan is now being used like some sort of trophy. Some will always cherish the real person who hid behind his various incarnations; others will travel no further than 'Ride a White Swan'. Most will agree the Glam Rock era were his best years, while a small portion of diehards regard his final records as the best he ever produced.
So what can this book add that the multitude of other works has failed to produce? Is it just another viewpoint vainly trying to get beneath the surface of Bolan's work and in doing so uncover what he was going through during his dramatic rise and even more dramatic fall?
This book was written by two outsiders looking in, two people who never met him and are not even old enough to remember him being alive, a major disadvantage? Possibly. Yet historians today still feel enlightened to write about Napoleon, using little more than their own judgment and the 'facts' (mostly evidence produced by others) then the writers of this book cannot be denied the same privilege.
Bolan didn't get around to writing a book about his life, he wrote songs instead. The tape recorder and notebook were two constant companions. He wrote or recorded nearly everyday of his working life. No matter how self-destructive he became. No matter that his records weren't selling anymore. He could never destroy his gift to write songs. Consequently after his death there remained a wealth of unreleased material. Archivevists have dug deep into the vaults to find the lost bones that make up the full body of Bolan's work over the past thirty years. Countless bootleg recordings have appeared along with official reissues such as the 'Rarities' and 'Alternate' collections. It's almost certain that no stoned ramble has been left unturned. Not all of it is essential or enjoyable listening, but some tracks that slipped the net are so good it's a mystery why on earth they were never released during lifetime.
Albums in many ways were Bolan's musical diary. His songs acted as an ongoing autobiography or some bizarre soap opera. He could hide behind colourful characters like 'Metal Guru', 'The Jeepster' and 'The Groover'. Born Marc Feld the name Bolan was formed using the first and last two letters of Bob Dylan, one his early major influences. As a child he loved film and rock'n'roll stars. By the age of nine he wanted to be Elvis. He wanted to be a star. Bolan grew up absorbing the works of Dylan Thomas, Lord Byron and other colourful authors. A unique lyricist, Bolan used mischievous word play sometimes nonsensesical and surreal, he created weird mystical humorous images for us to dance to. He loved the works of the romantics, who favoured fairytale imagery in favour of realism and his songs developed his life into beautiful short stories. Many of them contained wonderful and complex lyrics combined with a catchy chorus and verses of a sing along nature. He wrote about sex in a distinctly unthreatening way. With a cheeky grin he would hide behind implication, innuendo and double entendres. He conjured up fantasy worlds of futuristic street punks like Billy Super Duper or forgotten places in history such as Beltane and The Children of Rarn. Later he would write about foxy chicks, daring dudes and the weird characters that accompanied him on his roller coaster ride through life. Alternatively his songs could be deeply personal and at the same time relevant to the listeners, who shared similar experiences, titles such as 'Life's an Elevator', 'Everyday' and 'Main Man' are prime examples of this.
It's the songs and music this book concentrates on, an analysis of his work and how it was reflective of his life. Like any work of literature, music, film or art in general, the subjects are open to various degrees of interpretation. Look at how the works of Shakespeare and Nostrodamus have been continually reassessed over the years.
Each generation is influenced by culture, society and personal perceptions that help shape a reading of the past. An Historian's views of the past are largely dependent on the evidence they have access to and the particular story they want to tell with that evidence. Hindsight is a unique thing, and the works of Notordamus and Shakespeare have been constantly re-assessed and had new meanings attached to them, to the extent that even they themselves may have wondered what the hell there were talking about. In relation to the work of Marc Bolan the same applies. Was he conscious that everything he wrote reflected so closely to his life outside music? Are the connections purely coincidence, too damn presumptuous or something else? Did Bolan as he sang in 1974's 'The Leopards featuring Gardenia and the Mighty Slug', really live his life 'inside a song'. Did he have some sort of death wish or was he some sort of modern day prophet? He always said he'd never make it past thirty as he constantly reminded friends and interviewers, even his partner until the end Gloria Jones, telling her he wouldn't live to see his son's (Rolan) second birthday. He died two weeks before his 30th birthday in a tragic car crash. When you take into account the numerous references he made to his death and automobiles in his songs, the event seems incredibly frightening, strange, hilarious or ironic in the extreme.
Again it makes for interesting reading in hindsight, but there it is in black and white. Read about the significance of the fade out on '20th Century Boy', the self-fulfilling prophecy of 'The Slider' and the full circle nature of the 'Dandy in The Underworld' album. You, the reader, shall be the judge.
James
Garrat July 2003
'Instellar
Soul' Additions by Steve Reeve.
James
Garrat is a published author and we wish to remind you again that the
copyright notices
are not for decoration.
"Futuristic Dragon" -The Album
"Life
Is Strange" - "Tanx" Track
"Baby Strange" - "Slider"
Track & 'B' Side
"Galaxy"
- "Zinc Alloy And The Hidden Riders Of Tomorrow"
"Precious
Star" "Bolan's Zip Gun" Track
