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Bolan Boogie – The Best Of T.Rex

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What does it sound like?:

What is the point of a Best Of collection in the era of streaming? Modern day megastars don’t bother with them any more. Just selecting two at random; Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have never released one. Instead, they have playlists on streaming sites or video collections. T.Rex, however, are a band of the seventies, when vinyl, TV and radio were the only ways to hear records and Best Ofs were a great way of collecting all the singles relatively cheaply. It’s no surprise that they are wedded to the concept, releasing no less than 28 compilations, all but four after Marc Bolan’s death. The last one was Gold in 2018, consisting of 45 tracks, most of which overlap with the 36 presented on this brand new, “definitive” collection. You can still buy a 3CD physical copy for less than a tenner. You can also stream all but two of its tracks, neither of which feature on Bolan Boogie.

This physical product is two discs, CD or vinyl, in “deluxe” gatefold packaging. You really can’t fail when Bolan’s pretty face fills the front sleeve. The music covers the whole period of T.Rex’s career and includes all twenty-two A sides, from the liberating Ride A White Swan through to the giddy Celebrate Summer. The first ten T.Rex singles are glorious, preposterous and flamboyant, the pinnacle of Pop on 45 rpm, and the rest aren’t too shabby either. The B sides are often as good as the A side. The eighteen tracks of the first CD are A sides in vague chronological order, with the remaining four on disc two, alongside choice picks of B sides and album tracks. The LPs contain just twelve tracks each, leaving room for only a few B sides. Of course, every T.Rex fan would make different selections but the catalogue has evolved over time with the likes of Cosmic Dancer, I Love To Boogie and Till Dawn climbing up the league table of most appreciated, thanks to TV adverts, Billie Elliott and covers projects. 20th Century Boy opens the set imperiously, as if it is now T.Rex’s calling card, when, in actual fact, it was the first single not to reach the top two. There is also a bit too much loyalty shown to the post 1974 material. Nevertheless, Bolan Boogie: The Best Of T.Rex lives up to its billing, especially punchy on vinyl, without any real surprises, the most welcome obscurity being There Was A Time/Raw Ramp/Electric Boogie, the B side of Get It On.

It’s unclear who this is for. Established fans will already own almost everything here and will be living happily without the rest. They’ll also possess at least one other T.Rex Greatest Hits. The sonic upgrade isn’t spectacular enough to justify purchasing by itself. It may be an attention seeking exercise, trying to encourage youngsters to dip into a stream of T.Rex. Let’s hope the PR works its magic. Absolut Vodka’s use of 20th Century Boy for its latest advert will undoubtedly help. But, who are we to question the keepers of the T.Rex flame? They’ve successfully been revamping Marc Bolan’s music for the best part of fifty years.

What does it all *mean*?

Great Pop Music lasts for ever. Who knew?

Goes well with…

A touch of makeup and a chiffon blouse.

Release Date:

1st November 2024

Might suit people who like…

Pop perfection.

25

Comments

  2. The original Bolan Boogie comp was a terrific round up of the best of the T.Rex material pre signing to EMI. The Best of T.Rex did a similar job for the earlier stuff.

    • I love T. Rex but I’ve found it difficult to find a compilation that covers the whole career. There’s far too much stuff released, and for an artist that only released six or seven albums as T. Rex, their discography is as forbidding as Hawkwind’s.

      In my experience, the original T. Rex fans are now becoming grandparents, so perhaps they’ll be using Alexa to entertain the grandkids with Jeepster and The Motivator, and the legacy will continue. Stranger things have happened.

  3. T. Rex is the unsung influence on Heavy Metal. I recently read the Denim & Leather book on the NWOBHM and it’s clear that the NWOBHM was basically what happened when 12-year olds who bought both Paranoid and Electric Warrior grew up and formed a band.

    Also, unlike Sabbath and Zeppelin, they were a big influence on Hair Metal. Chuck Klosterman has Electric Warrior down as one of the major influential records in his Fargo Rock City book. There’s a reason Slash wears that particular hat y’know.

    • Marc Bolan was also enthused and supported early Punk too. Taking The Damned on tour and giving TV time to Generation X, Eddie &The Hot Rods, and The Jam. Also got Radio Stars on TV, although that may be down to past connection with Andy Ellison.
      Marc Bolan’s influence was largely forgotten for a time, and only recently (past 10 years or so) being recognised.

  5. Mid 1985 – nearly 8 years since Marc Bolan’s passing, and I have not heard a note of T.Rex music.
    Until a TV ad for Best Of The 20th Century Boy. Paper round money went over the Our Price counter next weekend, followed by snuffling up any other albums I could find.
    The 1972 to 77 stuff had been bought up by the Fan Club and re-issued at 5 quid a pop with an extra disc of singles and B Sides.
    The failing was that they bought the rights to the music, but not the artwork. The covers using whatever garishly coloured photos they could find.

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