Tag: T-Rex

T-Rex – 20th Century Boy

I first heard this song on a car commercial. It was nice to hear something from T. Rex other than Bang a Gong. T Rex was never huge in America, but for a few years was very popular in the UK. They were one of the biggest UK Glam Rock bands.

It was released in 1973 as a non-album single. 20th Century Boy opens with a riff that could crack the sidewalk. It doesn’t crawl out of the speakers so much as leap from them. It’s all swagger, glam, and distortion turned up to 11.

The song sounds so modern with Tony Visconti’s production. It never cracked the Top 10 in the U.S., but in the UK it was a smash. The song found new life in commercials and soundtracks. It’s Bolan doing what he did best, selling you not just a song, but an attitude. He wasn’t offering truth or authenticity; he was offering escape. 

Their popularity soared in 1971-72, and a mania that was called “T. Rexstasy”. In 1972, Ringo Starr produced and directed a concert film called Born to Boogie about T Rex. This song peaked at #3 in the UK Charts in 1973 and #11 in 1991.

The band only charted 3 songs in the Billboard 100 with one top ten hit…Bang a Gong. In the UK, they scored 4 number ones and 21 top forty songs.

20th Century Boy

Friends say it’s fine
Friends say it’s good
Everybody says it’s just like Rock ‘n Roll
I move like a cat
Charge like a ram
Sting like a bee
Babe I wanna be your man

Well it’s plain to see you were meant for me
Yeah, I’m your boy, your 20th Century toy

Friends say it’s fine
Friends say it’s good
Everybody says it’s just like Rock ‘n Roll
Fly like a plane
Drive like a car
Hold out your hand
Babe I’m gonna be your man

And it’s plain to see you were meant for me
Yeah, I’m your toy, your 20th Century boy

20th Century toy, I wanna be your boy [4x]

Friends say it’s fine
Friends say it’s good
Everybody says it’s just like Rock ‘n Roll
Move like a cat
Charge like a ram
Sting like a bee
Babe I’m gonna be your man

And it’s plain to see
You were meant for me
Yeah I’m your toy
Your 20th Century boy

20th Century toy, I wanna be your boy [4x]

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

T-Rex – Hot Love

***I feel like this is an every other week announcement but lately, it has been crazy at work. I’m traveling on Sunday and won’t be back until Friday so I won’t be posting until I return. I’ll be too busy to comment back so I’ll hold off.***

Since I took a week and dedicated it to the UK a few months ago I’ve been listening to T-Rex quite a bit. The songs were commercial but very good commercial.

America missed the boat on T-Rex. The only substantial hit they had here was Bang a Gong. This song was their second release as T. Rex…it peaked at #1 in the UK, #7 in New Zealand, #47 in Canada, and #72 on the Billboard 100 in 1071. The song was a non-album single. It was written by Marc Bolan and produced by Tony Visconti who would go on to produce Bowie, Badfinger, Gentle Giant, The Moody Blues, and The Boomtown Rats among others. He also scored the orchestral arrangements for  Band on the Run by McCartney.

This was the band’s second big hit single and it gave Marc Bolan what he had always dreamed of… his first No.1 hit. Bolan was influenced by Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel and the coda repeating structure from The Beatles Hey Jude. Bolan was smart with this song, he kept the rhythm simple and didn’t deviate from that.

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

Bolan 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. I have a video of this appearance at the bottom of the post.

Bolan would die in a car wreck 9 days later on September 16, 1977.

Marc Bolan: “I know it’s like a million other songs, but I hope it’s got a little touch of me in it too.”

Hot Love

Well, she’s my woman of goldAnd she’s not very old, a-ha-haWell, she’s my woman of goldAnd she’s not very old, a-ha-haI don’t mean to be bold, a-but a-may I hold your hand?

Well, she ain’t no witchAnd I love the way she twitch, a-ha-haWell, she ain’t no witchAnd I love the way she twitch, a-ha-haI’m a laborer of love in my Persian gloves, a-ha-ha

Well, she’s faster than mostAnd she lives on the coast, a-ha-haWell, she’s faster than mostAnd she lives on the coast, a-ha-haI’m her two penny prince and I give her hot love, a-ha-haTake it out on me, mama

Aw!Aw!Oh!

Well, she ain’t no witchAnd I love the way she twitch, a-ha-haWell, she ain’t no witchAnd I love the way she twitch, a-ha-haI’m her two penny prince and I give her hot love, a-ha-ha

La la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laOoh, oh, do what you do

La la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laOoh, lay it all down

La la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laOoh

La la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laOoh, lay it all down

La la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laOoh, jetzt kommt sie doch

La la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laOoh, ba-ba-ba

La la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la laLa la la, la-la-la la (yeah)La la la, la-la-la laOoh, yeah

…

Land Of The Lost

I watched this as a kid and loved it…I also learned a new word…Chroma Key…they used that to do the special effects.

The plot was that a family…the Marshalls…Rick, Will, and Holly are out rafting apparently and suddenly they go through an open portal to a different universe. A world with dinosaurs, crystals, pylons and time doors. They find a cave to hide in after waking up in the raft to a very bad looking T-Rex looking down on them.

Yes, the special effects were bad regardless of Chroma Key or whatever…It did have two redeeming qualities… The writing and the introduction to Sleestaks and which were really cool lizard-like things that could not hit a broad side of a barn with their crossbows…and

The stories. This show used a lot of the writers from the original Star Trek… With the pylons, skylons, different crystals that controlled time, the weather and everything else. The acting could be sketchy at times but Spencer Milligan as Rick Marshall was really good.

I always wished they would remake this with modern effects with the same storylines. They actually had some good sci-fi stories in this show. People who criticize the look of the show must remember that this was a Saturday morning show….the budget was low… I still would rather watch this…bad effects and all to the awful 2009 movie of the same name…

This was made by Sid and Marty Krofft. They had some of the strangest shows for kids…they were unique, to say the least.

Wikipedia

A number of well-respected writers in the science fiction field contributed scripts to the series (mostly in the first and second seasons), including Larry Niven,[6] Theodore Sturgeon,[6][7] Ben Bova,[6] and Norman Spinrad, and a number of people involved with Star Trek, such as Dorothy “D.C.” Fontana,[6] Walter Koenig,[6][8][9] and David Gerrold.[6] Gerrold, Niven, and Fontana also contributed commentaries to the DVD of the first season.

Marshall, Will, and Holly
On a routine expedition
Met the greatest earthquake ever known.
High on the rapids
It struck their tiny raft.
And plunged them down a thousand feet below.
To the Land of the Lost.
To the Land of the Lost.
To the Land of the Lost.
land of the lost2.jpg