T.Rex : New York City
The Top 20 "New York City" is a return to form for the ex-vegetarian Marc Bolan, whose steady diet of hamburgers and booze has had an alarming effect on his teen idol looks. Fans saw the new Bolan on a July 31, 1975 episode of Top of the Pops. Bolan's raunchy guitar is once again offset by the heavenly backing vocals of Flo and Eddie. Bolan would have just one more Top 20 hit, "I Love to Boogie", before he would be killed in a 1977 car crash two weeks shy of his 30th birthday.
As far as choosing what to release as a single, I'd say Marc lost his mojo right after 'Teenage Dream' in early 1974 and didn't rediscover it until 'I Love to Boogie' in mid-1976. He ignored 'Till Dawn' and 'Think Zinc' from 'Bolan's Zip Gun', going with the far inferior 'Light of Love' and 'Zip Gun Boogie'. Then from 'Futuristic Dragon', 'Casual Agent' or 'All Alone' would have been much stronger selections than 'New York City' and 'Dreamy Lady'. You can tell that the ifs, buts and maybes of Marc's career are things I've pondered on for perhaps too long over the past 40 years! Great to see this clip again though. Keep a little Marc in your heart!
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