13. T. RexZinc Alloy And The Hidden Riders Of Tomorrow
This is another one for the leather jacket, and it’s another one from 1974, that’s just plain luck! I was at school when this came out, there aren’t many records you get on the day its released. I still have the exact copy, and it is still in pristine condition. Most of the records I mentioned are not. It was a big deal, as it was very different to anything he’d done before. I have never read anything good about it ever, I usually don’t take notice of bad reviews, it can often mean it’s a good record, but I have never read a good review of it. There’s nothing bad on it, every track is either catchy or interesting, there are no bad melodies.
It’s very American sounding, Gloria Jones is there doing these amazing backing vocals, it’s a massive production. The song ‘Teenage Dream’, well, I thought it was going to be Number One, but it was considered a flop at the time. The album is packed with great songs and amazing lyrics, typical Bolan lyrics, but the way Jones sings, it’s almost avant-garde, she has such a huge register, incredible. I think Prince would have liked it, for sure. It’s a record that should be more popular, maybe it was more at the time, but critically it is not liked at all. It’s such a shame. It means such a lot to me and has influenced me in the way of lovely small songs, that album has lots of them, it showed me that you can do a great short song, in a classic way. I have had that record since 1974 and have never lost touch with it.
