There was a time, in the late ’90s – early ’00s, when hardly a month passed by without another compilation or box set of previously unreleased material from Marc Bolan and T.REX saw the light of day, as if competing with Jimi Hendrix’s rare gems, until the market felt oversaturated, and that endless slew stopped. Few years ago, though, once the glam heroes’ principal albums had been properly reissued, a flow of deluxe editions, contextualizing the classic platters and their creative periods, started, with the series next installment, titled “Whatever Happened To The Teenage Dream?” and concentrating on 1973, slated to hit the shelved on May 26th.
1973 marked the final upsurge in T. Rextasy, with “Tanx” and “Zinc Alloy And The Hidden Riders Of Tomorrow – A Creamed Cage In August” seeing soul and gospel more prominently seeping into the ensemble’s infectious glam rock, and ’45s like “20th Century Boy” and “Children Of The Revolution” demonstrating Bolan’s increased skills as a composer, if not lyricist – not for nothing the current series is also called “Songwriter” and finds “Whatever Happened To The Teenage Dream?” follow up on the last year’s “1972” set and the earlier “1970” and “1971” LPs. The one subtitled “1973” and comprised of four CDs (there are vinyl versions as well) which add single cuts to the two aforementioned albums on two discs, give the third disc to the relevant demos, and gather, on the last disc, outtakes and bits and pieces from records Marc worked on for his own band and for the singer named Sister Pat Hall yet left unfinished. In other words, it’s a great artifact for aficionados and uninitiated alike.
Whatever Happened To The Teenage Dream?
CD1 – Tanx:
1. Tenement Lady
2. Rapids
3. Mister Mister
4. Broken Hearted Blues
5. Shock Rock
6. Country Honey
7. Electric Slim And The Factory Hen
8. Mad Donna
9. Born To Boogie
10. Life Is Strange
11. The Street And Babe Shadow
12. Highway Knees
13. Left Hand Luke And The Beggar Boys
singles:
14. Children Of The Revolution
15. Jitterbug Love
16. Sunken Rags
17. Solid Gold Easy Action
18. Xmas Riff
19. 20th Century Boy
20. Free Angel
CD2 – Zinc Alloy:
1. Venus Loon
2. Sound Pit
3. Explosive Mouth
4. Galaxy
5. Change
6. Nameless Wildness
7. Teenage Dream
8. Liquid Gang
9. Carsmile Smith & The Old One
10. You’ve Got To Jive To Stay Alive – Spanish Midnight
11. Interstellar Soul
12. Painless Persuasion v. The Meathawk Immaculate
13. The Avengers (Superbad)
14. The Leopards Featuring Gardenia & The Mighty Slug
singles:
15. The Groover
16. Midnight
17. Truck On (Tyke)
18. Sitting Here
19. Satisfaction Pony
CD3 – Private Numbers:
Tanx Era:
1. Jitterbug Love
2. Electric Slim and The Factory Hen (alias You Got The Look)
3. Highway Knees
4. Mad Donna
5. Mister Mister
6. Country Honey
7. Rapids
8. Life Is Strange
9. The Street and Babe Shadow
10. Darling
11. Free Angel
12. Left Hand Luke and The Beggar Boys
Zinc Alloy Era:
13. Change
14. Galaxy
15. Carsmile Smith & The Old One
16. Spanish Midnight
17. Sitting There (Sitting Here)
18. Gardenia & The Mighty Slug
19. The Groover
20. Dance In The Midnight
21. Saturation Syncopation
22. Delanie
23. Saturday Night
24. Till Dawn
25. Stand By Me
CD4 – Look To Your Soul:
T. REX:
1. Hope You Enjoy The Show
BIG CARROT:
2. Blackjack
3. Squint Eye Mangie
T. REX – Zinc Alloy Outtakes:
4. The Avengers (Superbad)
5. Look to Your Soul
6. Down Home Lady
7. All My Love
Sister Pat Hall:
8. When I Was A Child
9. Ghetto Baby
10. Sailors Of The Highway
11. Jitterbug Love
12. High
13. City Port
14. Sunken Rags
15. Do Your Thing
16. Tell Me
T. REX:
17. Sky Church Music
18. Teenage Dream (“Top Of The Pops” version)
