50 years ago: MARC BOLAN & T. REX

The only T. Rex album to be released under the name Marc Bolan & T. Rex saw the light of day 50 years ago. The album bears the not very catchy title “Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow”. Originally it should have been called “A Creamed Cage in August” and the current album title was intended as an artist’s pseudonym (as an allusion to David Bowie and “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”). As soon as the album cover was finalized, on which Marc Bolan was difficult for some to recognize, the record company decided to explicitly mention his real name. The genesis of the album, especially the mixing process, is characterized by Bolan’s massive cocaine addiction. He himself wanted to create a mixture of glam, pop, soul, funk, psychedelia and heavy metal, which he called “Spaceage Funk” or “Interstellar Supersoul”. Among other places, the recordings took place in the Musicland Studios in Munich. Marc Bolan was thus one of the first British artists to record in Germany. “Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow” certainly stands out from the rest of T. Rex ‘s discography and is one of the more unusual releases.

Listen to the album yourself: