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attractive. Bolan is a Parisian rocker (as wirdy the Eircsjgn Theatre, of counc, bat wouldn ' t
David Bowie is London and Lou Reed New you tort of like to ice them bock down from
York ), whsch is only to say that he ' s a dainty their mnt prde potation just a tad. fet back
punk. Hb understanding of rock and roll and and make a good old fathaoned album aimed
his refined awareness of art have their directly at • ‘our " culture and " our " heroct
Individual limitations, but the fusion is with aD the teathing brilliance of Lenny Bruce
certainly alluring and potentially explosive. in hit prime?
What makes the situation frustrating is that all WcD. bunky. you can climb outta your
too often he relies on hb persona done to get headphone and jump for joy, becauic that
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him by. album is here. Whatever you may think of
Kolan ' t manipulation of rock and roll The National Lampoon as a magazine, you
history the borrowed nfft and catch have got to have this record , because it ' s far
phrases is only marginally successful. leat obvious , its aim is perfectly, bracing ! ) *,
Throwing in such references may work m lethal, and •••
Europe (where they inspire all the romantic Imagine turning on the radio and hearing a
associations that make early Stones references familiar voice talking to you as intimately as
so appealing to us), but it ' s too often just you never thought he would again: "Hi. I ' m
text- book stuff here. Occasionally they aren ' t Bob Dylan? Remember those Fabulous
even used as strategic embellishment, but as Sixties? The marches, the be-ins. the draft
vehicles to pull Bolan out of even blander card burnings ••• and best of all. the music.
situations. Well, now Apple House has collected the
Beyond the comparative success of T. finest of those songs on one album called
Rex ' s singles. Bolan has yet to really confront Golden Protest. Performed by the original
the proposition of creating a cohesive energy artists who made them famous ..."
album. The Slider (as with T. Rex albums in And then he reels off a list of song titles
the past ) kind of bumps along from track to we all remember well enough to know that
track, and only lead one to a nostalgic somebody sMould be marketing such an item.
reference that I 'm sure Bolan hadn ' t And what with Dylan going out and
anticipated: the time when albums were squandering what scraps of charisma he had
merely a vehicle to showcase a couple of left at the Stones party, upstate New York
singles. The rest of the material is nice but folk festivals and wherever he gets his picture
THE SLIDER kinds lackluster, and Bolan isn t helped much snapped these days, there ' s no reason why he
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T. REX by a terribly ordinary rhythm section and shouldn ' t agree to do it. not meaning shit
REPRISE Mickey f inn ' s non- existent percussion. If you anymore and all. And besides , he adds:
aren ' t already a T. Rex fanatic, then The "If you order now. youtl also receive a
The Fleethe Warrior hardly brought us to Slider isn ' t going to do very much about treasury of acid rock, featuring Vanilla Fudge.
our knees the way he d expected he would. making you one. Blue Cheer. Frgid Pink, the Electric
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After a string of superbly programmes ! The major problem with the kind of teen Prunes ••• H
chart- topping singles and genuine pande- idol Rolan is attempting to be is that But that ' s not alL How many of ut have
monium all across I urope. Marc Bolan made something that intense has a relatively short waited years for somebody to skewer Joan
some nice introductory noises here and then life span. (If you don ’ t believe me. ask Gloria Baez properly in the heart of her
promptly ' allowed us to forget that they had Staters. ) So maybe it ' s good that he didn't dilettantism? Somebody's finally done it, and
ever been made. This album provides some of succeed in the manner he 's hoped for - an it ' s so good, it sounds so much like her both
the reasons he was even able to make such aItmm as lazy as this one would ' ve ended it in sound and postures you ' d swear it ' s her
pretenses, but il tells us much more about quickly. He ' s left himself the room for even as you wx>nder how shell ever show her
why he failed. another chance, but he ' d better put a lot face around The People after this song about
"Bang A Gong " Laid the groundwork, but more into it the next time around. George Jackson with the chorus:
neither ' Telegram Sam " nor “Metal Guru ” Ben Edmonds
succeeded in reinforcing his position. They Pull the triggers , nsggrrt
are both substantial songs - ‘ Telegram Sam "
was a logical stylistic follow- up to " Bang A We're with you all the way
Just across the bay.
Gong," while " Melal Guru " might be closer
to Phil Spector 1972 than " Sisters 0 Sisters " John Lennon* How about an ontil- now
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but both sound infinitely better through wippressed outtake from somewhere between
home speakers than over a car radio , l or PtaUK Ono Sand and !matme. primal screams
singles, that s the conclusive kiss of death. capping a truly Pompeiian airing of pentup
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regardless of the extent
What will hurt most is that beyond these two. ptssolTs: "I should have beat the fuckin ' shit
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s <\ I | juplay »n the album. out of him (George) / Him with his fuckiu ’
there isn ' t another single * Hare Krishna m m • Genius is pain! Genius is
Counteracting Bolan ' s occasional brilliance pam' I wanted to be a fuckin fisherman but I
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is a tendency to use that brilliance as a tool can ' t because l m a fuckin' genius? ••
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for self-defeat. He 's smart, all right, but aurrggghh ••• •
sometimes a little too smart for the audience This is an album, nay. a document , that
he hopes to conquer. And in rock and roll, every clear- thinking American with s drop of
that 's like taking a very sharp razor and and
nuking a sleep incision across your concern for hb fellow man and woman, not
to mention rodents and geese, should have.
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miarty- pants wrist. While he s unquestionably
got the Furopean common market perfectly Buy it , toke il. blast it. put it on at parties,
pegged, his understanding of teen America test youi friends on the most incisive
leaves a lot to be desired. Both non- hits were NATIONAL LAMPOON RAOIO DINNER hadustcomctcr since Beyond the Valley of
singles for an established star, and Bolan can ASSORTEO BRILLIANT SICKOIDS the Mis. And ten times as chockfuU of
hardly make those kind of assumptions on BANANA/BLUE THUMB socially redeeming importance, but don ' t let
these shores. T. that put you off. I hope the creators of thb
The manufacture of the Rex IXi you ever despair, while trying to stay modern masterpiece of vitriol and outrage will
not put off the making of a sequel a single
phenomenon depends largely upon the out of earshot of the Lily Tomlins and George day.
projection of Marc Bolan as PERSONALITY, Carlins, of the dearth of any really
and hb defined personality is remarkably Swiftinanly ricioitt comedy albums? There ' s Lester Bangs
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