Marc's early life, he was destined to be a star
Born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of T. Rex.
In the late 1960s, he rose to fame as the founder and leader of the psychedelic folk band Tyrannosaurus Rex, with whom he released four critically acclaimed albums and had one minor hit "Debora". Bolan had started as an acoustic singer-writer before heading into electric music prior to the recording of T. Rex's first single "Ride a White Swan" which went to number two in the UK singles chart. Bolan's March 1971 appearance on the BBC's music show Top of the Pops, wearing glitter on the face for the UK chart topper "Hot Love", is cited as the beginning of the glam rock movement. Music critic Ken Barnes called Bolan "the man who started it all". T. Rex's 1971 album Electric Warrior, with all songs written by Bolan, has been described by AllMusic as "the album that essentially kick-started the UK glam rock craze." Producer Tony Visconti, who worked with Bolan during his heyday, stated: "What I saw in Marc Bolan had nothing to do with strings, or very high standards of artistry; what I saw in him was raw talent. I saw genius. I saw a potential rock star in Marc – right from the minute, the hour I met him." from 1973, he started marrying rock with other influences, including funk, soul, gospel, disco and R&B.
Bolan was born at Hackney Hospital and grew up at 25 Stoke Newington Common, in the borough of Hackney, east London, the son of Phyllis Winifred (née Atkins) and Simeon Feld, a lorry driver. His father was an Ashkenazi Jew of Russian and Polish ancestry, while his mother was of English descent. Moving to Wimbledon, southwest London, he fell in love with the rock and roll of Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Arthur Crudup and Chuck Berry and hung around coffee bars such as the 2i's in Soho.
Bolan was a pupil at Northwold Primary School, Upper Clapton. He appeared as an extra in an episode of the television show Orlando, dressed as a mod. At the age of nine, he was given his first guitar and began a skiffle band. While at school, he played guitar in "Susie and the Hula Hoops", a trio whose vocalist was a 12-year-old Helen Shapiro.
During lunch breaks at school, he would play his guitar in the playground to a small audience of friends. At 15, he was expelled from school for bad behaviour.
Bolan briefly joined a modelling agency and became a "John Temple Boy", appearing in a clothing catalogue for the menswear store. He was a model for the suits in their catalogues as well as for cardboard cut-outs to be displayed in shop windows.
Town magazine featured him as an early example of the mod movement in a photo spread. When asked about his sexuality during an interview in 1975, Bolan said that he was bisexual.
Next Marc's early music featuring Toby Tyler, Marc Bolan via Marc Bowland, John's Children and finally Tyrannosaurus Rex.................