T. Rex: Not Just A Dinosaur

Although T. Rex was only active for 10 years (1969 to 1979), they produced some sweet hits. One of their most famous is "Bang A Gong [Get It On]" which is an awesome song to dance around to.

Originally called Tyrannosaurus Rex, the band was primarily formed by Marc Bolan and Steve Took and started out as a folk band. Around the time the band went electric (1970) and started producing hits, the group shortened to just T. Rex. They started the trend of glam rock, a style in which bands would wear outrageous clothing, makeup and hairstyles and often appeared androgynous (if you're having a hard time thinking of examples, think David Bowie, especially in his Ziggy Stardust days). 

In 1970, T. Rex released "Ride a White Swan," their first pop hit and by 1971, they were Top 20 in the UK.   In the same year, Electric Warrior was released with even more hits on it. A new fever was sweeping the nation, "T. Rex-tasy," the fad that paralleled Beatlemania. The line-up of the band changed a lot through the '70s with Bolan its only constant member.

The classic T. Rex line-up: Bill Legend, Mickey Finn, Marc Bolan, and Steve Currie.

The Slider was released in 1972 and was much more successful in the US than the UK. "Metal Guru" is a great song off the album. In 1973, the release of Tanx marked the end of the classic T. Rex line-up. Bill Legend quit during recording because of Bolan's growing egotism that was fueled by money, success, and alcohol.

In 1974, Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow was released and was reminiscent of the old Tyrannosaurus Rex days when the band was folkier. Soon after, drummer Mickey Finn left T. Rex. 1975 marked Bolan's attempt at going solo with his futuristic album Bolan's Zip Gun. It was gunned down by media since it copied Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, though Bolan maintained that he had been thinking of producing under the pseudonym Zinc Alloy through the '60s.

Electric Warrior - my favourite T. Rex album

T. Rex's penultimate album Futuristic Dragon was released in 1976 and did okay. The band went on TV shows and toured a lot to promote it. Bolan dropped his egomaniac ways and talked about getting back with Took and Finn. Those plans were bashed quickly after the band released their final album in early 1977, Dandy in the Underworld, what was to be their comeback album. Later that year, Bolan died in a car crash, Took died in 1980 from an overdose of morphine and shrooms, and Steve Currie died in 1981 in a car crash as well. Only Finn died from natural causes in 2003.

Though T. Rex had a short life span and an even shorter period of popularity, they still put out some great boogie music and pioneered glam rock. They're often glossed over, but T. Rex definitely stands with the greats of Rock in my books.