T-Rex – Baby Boomerang

It seems to me to dreamIs something too wildIn Max’s Kansas CityYou a belladonna child

I like joining in Jim’s Song Lyric Sunday when I can. I wanted to this weekend, and when I saw the subject (a Song that mentions your name), the answer should have been easy…Maxwell’s Silver Hammer. One problem: I don’t like it, and I only post songs I like. I searched around and found many songs that have my name, but this one I really liked. 

Now, what was Max’s Kansas City? It was a well-known nightclub, restaurant, and music venue in New York City, located at 213 Park Avenue South. It operated from 1965 to 1981 and became a central meeting hub for artists, musicians, and the counterculture. It was famous for being a meeting place for Andy Warhol’s Factory crowd, the punk rock movement, and early glam rock acts.

This song was on the album The Slider, released in 1972, and was written by Marc Bolan. It was never released as a single, but the album did really well. The album peaked at #4 in the UK, #11 in Canada, and #17 on the Billboard 200. It was their highest charting album in America and Canada. 

T. Rex was huge in the UK starting around 1970 but then declined in 1974. They did have a documentary made about them, produced and directed by Ringo Starr, called Born to Boogie. Some have credited Bolan with starting Glam Rock.

He went on to host a musical TV show called Marc, in which he hosted a mix of new and established bands and performed his own songs. Marc’s final show was recorded on September 7, 1977, with special guest David Bowie, who was a friend of Bolan. 

Baby Boomerang

Slim lined sheik facedAngel of the nightRiding like a cowboyIn the graveyard of the night

New York witch in the dungeonOf the dayI’m trying to write my novelBut all you do is play

Mince pie dog-eyeEagle on the windI’m searching through this garbageLooking for a friend

Your uncle with an alligatorChained to his legDangles you your freedomThen he offers you his bed

It seems to me to dreamIs something too wildIn Max’s Kansas CityYou a belladonna child

Riding on the highwaysOn the gateways to the southYou’re talking with your bootsAnd you’re walking with your mouth

Baby BoomerangBaby BoomerangYou never spike a personBut you always bang the whole gangThank you ma’am

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

41 thoughts on “T-Rex – Baby Boomerang”

  1. Proto T.Rex. They were ridiculously popular for a few years. Their best songs just had an incessant pop groove, sooo close to bubblegum but just shying away enough to not get offside with those who wanted things a tad heavier. Whether you were a bit more Deep Purple than Teenybop in your musical tastes you could still find yourself nodding and foot-tapping along to T.Rex; as I know.🙄

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    1. When I listen to them…I’m thinking…they should have been played like Bowie over here. You described them well…just close enough to Bubble Gum but not there so you can’t lump them in with that…the catchy part they had down pat. This song wasn’t a hit but it’s very catchy.

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  3. You know I love T Rex, and its good to hear something that wasn’t a hit! Never mind the Max lyric, which is cool, I’m now obsessed with the uncle with the alligator chained to his leg…

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  4. Pingback: T-Rex – Baby Boomerang – MobsterTiger

  6. Great choice for the theme, and so much better than your first thought. To be honest I preferred T.Rex in their earlier Tyrannosaurus Rex days, before they made it big, but Bolan always had an ear for a good tune.

    By pure coincidence, Max’s Kansas City also features in my lead song for today, but not as my name, obviously!

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  7. Baby Boomerang is a great track, from a good album. Marc Bolan at his peak still after Electric Warrior. Max in pop culture, for me the top Max is Maxwell Smart, Get Smart such a great show. In the UK Max Bygraves was a crooner/entertainer, but one quick youtube of You’re A Pink Toothbrush and Deck Of Cards should persuade you to try and forget his recording career existed…!

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  8. Don’t think I’ve heard Baby Boomerang before. I was a T-Rex fan for a while when younger (I’m still having a hard time typing ‘when I was young’ haha!) and saw them at The Roundhouse in the early seventies I think. The queue for the gig was halfway round the building and down the street! Good gig, went with a friend and I can’t remember who… well, those days…

    So… are you going to be changing your name to Max Headroom, then, if you’re looking for ‘Max’ in different things…?!

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    1. I haven’t heard it either until last night. Maxwell’s Silver Hammer was out of the question…I won’t do it lol.
      I know they were huge over there for a few years. He had a good knack for catchy melodies.
      I might as well change it!

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  11. This was my first time hearing Baby Boomerang, and I am glad you were able to find this cool song. It is not surprising to me because I can only name a few T-Rex songs, but I do think this is a really good one.

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  12. So no, “bang! bang! Max’s silver hammer came down upon our head”? Bummer! 🙂

    T. Rex had some great songs. The one track off “The Slider” I remember the best is the opener “Metal Guru” – that knocked me out, so I stopped listening thereafter – just kidding!

    On a more serious note, I don’t think I heard “Baby Boomerang” before – fun track. Also thanks for enlightening me of Max’s Kansas City!

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    1. Christian…if your name was Max…and you were asked about your silver hammer….the first time was cute…the 20th time it got old lol. \
      Oh The Slider is a great album like Electric Warrior.

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      2. I was just kidding dude lol…yea I even wrote most of it up Christian! But I thought…I don’t really like it so that would break my promise to myself.

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  13. I should feature Max’s Kansas City some day, it was almost as influential as CBGB. I didn’t know this song but it sounds pretty David Bowie-ish, which is not a big surprise.

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    1. Dave…YES…I would LOVE to know more about it. I’ve heard it mentioned by so many people. I didn’t want to deep dive into it on this one…but yes you should cover it!

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  14. My friend David in LA, who listened to everything (which meant he had to keep culling his record collection to fit it in his house) was a big T-Rex fan, starting when they were more of a magickal mystic hippie acoustic folk acoustic duo. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I listened anyway. This one, back in the American Bandstand days, I’d say “I’ll give it an 85. It’s got a nice beat and it’s easy to dance to.”

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    1. I love that phrase!
      Oh…just curious about this. Since T-Rex wasn’t big over here…did your friend David have to special order them or I wonder if you could go to a record shop back then and buy them off the shelf?
      I know with later on UK acts like The Jam…you had to special order them.

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      1. I know he subscribed to New Musical Express (a British music magazine) and followed British pop and rock closely. He spent his entire adult life working in a record store (where he spent all his free time prior to that). I know he bought a lot of imported albums (I recall they came in a loose wrap, not shrink wrap like here) but I don’t know if he ordered them or they were on the shelf in LA.

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      2. I would think he ordered them but I could be wrong. In the late seventies you had to order Clash and Jam records from the UK…I had to order a THEM album with Van Morrison from the UK.

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  15. I got into Bolan with Electric Warrior, Jeepster….there was a later album that I think came before tha car crash that had a song called Metal Guru…I can’t remember if that was as T Rex for just Marc Bolan

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  16. Wasn’t familiar with this one, but I like it. Brightens up your mood. I’m not terribly knowledgeable about this group. I should look into them more. Only know the big stuff. Would The Kinks’ “Maximum Consumption” be considered cheating?

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    1. lol… I haven’t heard that song in years! I just played it again.
      I’m getting more into them now also.

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