Saturday Scene to Supersonic
Marc Bolan returned to London in the summer of 1975, in time for the birth of his son Rolan, and the beginning of Mike Mansfield’s ‘Supersonic’ series of pop shows. Supersonic had grown out of London Weekend Television’s Saturday Scene. It developed into its own programme, with a mission to be more whacky than Top of the Pops, and to feature bands regardless of their position in the Top 40. Mansfield, a veteran TV man, had been close friends with Bolan since the 1960s and featured T.Rex heavily for the next 18 months. Bolan performed a combination of re-worked old T.Rex hits and new singles; the tracks were always different recordings or mixes from the records, making these versions unique.

Dreamy Lady TX: 4 October & 18 October 1975

On 30 September 1975, his 28th birthday, Marc Bolan made his Supersonic debut, performing Dreamy Lady in a sea of bubbles. On 14 October, he was back performing the hit again, but with a striking new image: in a tight jumpsuit, his face heavily made up and crowned with a hairstyle straight out of a horror movie, eerily predicting Siouxsie Sioux’s look of the late ‘70s; for both of these takes he performs without a guitar, a rarity for a man so given to fretwork fireworks.

London Boys & Telegram Sam
TX: 21 February 1976
On 17 February 1976, T.Rex performed new versions of London Boys and Telegram Sam. For the former, Marc performed atop a revolving Perspex stage; for the latter, he emerged – a little unsteadily - from a make-believe rocket. For both he was sporting a bleached streak at the front of his hair and toting a Burns Flyte guitar.

Bolan seems to have struck a deal with the guitar manufacturers as he was also featured in the Daily Mirror, giving the guitar away in a competition. The relationship was presumably short-lived as Bolan flung the instrument from the stage at the end of London Boys.

I Love to Boogie, Funky London Childhood,
Soul of My Suit, New York City & Laser Love
TX: 28 August 1976
Mike Mansfield organised a “Superpop” concert at the Wimbledon Theatre, London SW19, for 13 July 1976. It marked the UK TV debut of AC/DC, although their performance was overshadowed by T.Rex’s five song set, and the naming of the programme as “Rollin Bolan”. They played five songs, including Funky London Childhood, which remained unreleased during Bolan’s lifetime. Eric Hall, Marc’s record plugger and general gofer, was the man in the frog outfit for New York City.

Laser Love & Ride a White Swan TX: 16 October 1976
Bolan was back in the LWT studios on 5 October for further new-and-old performances, including an update of Ride A White Swan, for which he climbed aboard a huge mechanical swan, cleverly built around a fork-lift truck.

New York City TX: 25 December 1976
A second TV special, the 1976 Supersonic Christmas Show, was recorded on 19 December at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. In the presence of HRH Princess Margaret, compered by Joanna Lumley and Russell Harty, T.Rex performed three songs, but only New York City made it to broadcast; I Love To Boogie and Soul Of My Suit were left in the can. The recording was a stop-start, stop-start affair, with Harty admonishing the audience for its rowdy behaviour, which only served to make them louder. The show ended with all the various participants, including Gary Glitter, Guys & Dolls, Twiggy and the show’s comperes, lining up for “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”.

Crimson Moon & To Know You Is To Love You TX: 12 February 1977
Back in the television studio on 1 February 1977, Bolan turned in a solo performance of Crimson Moon – recorded at 11.00 in the morning! This was followed by a rare duet with lover Gloria Jones, promoting their new version of the Teddy Bears’ classic, To Know You Is To Love You, written by one of Bolan’s great heroes, Phil Spector.

Soul Of My Suit TX: 2 April 1977
The programme reached its end on 29 March 1977. T.Rex turned in an excellent live version of Soul Of My Suit and then Marc led an all-star line up for the show’s finale, Sweet Little Rock & Roller; it included Dave Edmunds, Elkie Brooks, Gloria Jones, John Lodge, Dave Davies and Alvin Stardust. Bolan unplugged his guitar and left the stage half way through the song in order to join Mansfield in the Director’s box.

Soul of My Suit TX: 27 April 1977
Dandy in the Underworld TX: 29 June 1977
Following the demise of Supersonic, T.Rex made two appearances on the kids’ pop quiz show, Get It Together, which are also included on this DVD. They turned in another excellent version of Soul Of My Suit (26 April) and an outstanding live performance of Dandy In The Underworld (22 June 1977). Marc Bolan soon moved on to host his own Granada TV, ITV-network programme, Marc, taking with him many of the tricks he had learned in London Weekend Television’s studios.

continued in marc 3 >