Making a Marc

David Rudman of Port Kennedy, Western Australia, Australia remembers:

- David Rudman

I settled down on a December 1972 evening for what used to be essential viewing for anybody under the age of 30 - Top of the Pops. I wanted to see if my then favourite band, Lieutenant Pigeon, had made the charts. Up popped a band I'd never seen before, T Rex, with a curly haired singer by the name of Marc Bolan delivering a little belter entitled Solid Gold Easy Action. I'd forgotten about Pigeon within seconds.

I don't know if it was the catchy “Hey! Hey! Hey!” that grabbed me (which I remember my schoolmates aping the next day), or the glitzy stage presence, but this band boasted a fusion of 1950s rock'n'roll, 60s mysticism and 70s glam. Even John Lennon and Paul McCartney liked them. Lennon was reputed to have said that:"Marc Bolan was the only one who can succeed the Beatles.”