MARC BOLAN LIVES IN MILWAUKEE
(Left: Marc Bolan on Acoustic Warrior in the seventies. Right: What witnesses say is Marc Bolan entering the Jet radio station in 2003; Photo by Vin Erikson. Used by permission}
{Sometime during the Spring of 2003, there were odd rumors floating around Milwaukee that the late Marc Bolan was living somewhere in the city. Being a fan of the 1970 sunshine-band T-Rex singer, I was willing to believe just about anything and traveled there in attempt to track Bolan down. Unfortunately, while walking the streets and visiting all the record stores, nobody knew what I was talking about. However, as I waited in the train station a few days later listening to my portable radio, I recorded the following footage on one of the local stations...}
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{The last seconds of a Steve Miller Band song plays}
DJ Rob:...{Songs ends. Deep jockey voice} And we're back. Rollin' into the top of the hour. We got some more classic rock comin' your way. All you boys down at Tire Warehouse workin' over time-- we gotta little Zeppelin, a little AC/DC action. Got our man Lyle fixing the hubs-- go say hi, this one's for you, bro. Before the break, you heard Betty Wright, some Procol Harum, and a little Jethro Tull with "New Day Yesterday" cruising you into the late afternoon. Takes you back hey, Vin?
Vin: Rock 'n roll.
DJ Rob: That's right, you heard it first on Milwaukee's number one choice for rock and soul-- Jet 104.7...{Relaxing} DJ Rob kickin' it here with Vin for a few more hours. Teddy'll be in later to swing ya with some oldies, including back-to-back Rolling Stone hits-- and-- your chance to see them live at Lambeau Field next month. So be sure to keep us on your dial. Lots to talk about, but first, here's Vin with the news...
Vin: Aw right, Rob. {Professionally} A bad traffic accident to report on the 94. A white van is on its side after drifting off into the medium, colliding with a few cars in what officers are now describing as a five car pile-up. Conditions have yet to been posted. All you people heading home from Highland Park this evening, do expect a delay...In other news, The 76ers defeated the New Jersey Nets last night, winning the Eastern Conference finals, where they advance to play the LA Lakers next week for game one of the Championship Finals. Coverage airs on T...N...T... {Takes a sip of something}
DJ Rob: And I wish I had a TV. {Vin laughs, Rob loosens up} Now, every Tuesday, or at least as much as we can, we like to pull in some characters off the street in a segment we call {drum roll sounds} "Strange Days" {The Doors song briefly plays as the theme}. Some of you may remember last week when we had Jeke, the homeless man, who said he once won the lottery. The week before, Ralph with his camera. Not odd people, folks, but different people-
Vin: {In a cartoon voice} We like to spice up our program, man. {Doors fade}
DJ Rob: And he's not joking. Today, Vin here was telling me, we finally got the man we've been waiting for. He's out in the hallway right now. {Slowly explaining} I ran into this guy down on the waterfront-- he was playing his guitar {laughing} to all these ducks. Canadian geese. We got to talking, and I had to admit, you know, for Milwaukee, this guy was quite stylish. I ain't sayin' we ain't a hip town, but this guy stuck out. But get this, he insisted he was Marc Bo-lan. That's right, Marc Bolan. {Faster} A lotta rumors have been goin' around about this guy, and we have him {lowering voice} right here, right now-
Vin: {Talking fast, comically} For all of you who don't know, Marc Bolan was the guitarist and singer for the seventies rock band, and I guess you could same glam band (right?), T-Rex, before perishing in an automobile accident in the late 70's.
DJ Rob: Sounds like Jeopardy {chuckling}. Now, I'm not joking, because I can't prove it to you on radio, but the guy, though he may be a little frail, is nearly identical to the Marc Bolan. Do I believe him? Am I crazy? So, I tell you what...Vin, let's bring the dude in since he's out there, and lemme judge. Go get him. {Vin gets up and opens door} Put a little talk-radio into The Jet. {Waiting} I hear him coming. {Giggling}
{Marc Bolan enters with Vin ahead of him. Creaking of metal doors}
DJ Rob: Here he comes now, people. {Looks at him and smiles} My God I love my job...Hi ya doin', man?
Marc Bolan: {Faintly; soft voice} Cool. {Sits down. Vince gives him a pair of headphones}
DJ Rob: O-kay, let's start from the beginning. We gotta a guy here-- what's your name?
Marc Bolan: {Still fitting the headphones over his hair} Uh, Marc.
DJ Rob: {Chuckling} Right...We got a guy here who says his name is Marc, and I guess he means Bolan-- looks like Marc Bolan, and I think even talks like Marc Bolan a little. Always had that Melanie-sounding voice. Right, Vin?
Vin: In all my years of show business {DJ Rob laughs}, I've seen a lot of impersonators, but this...this is the real deal. {Bolan seems to smile}
DJ Rob: Yeah, man, I mean, where'd come from? And check out- Folks, he's wearing like vintage 1973 velvet. I haven't seen that stuff for years. You even got the necklaces and all, wow. I used to wear that...with the big peace symbol.
Marc Bolan: Naw, man, it's hip, you can still get these over in London. There's these places that wash in all that sorta rot. Buy like Roger Daltrey's pants or some not.
Vin: You'll get murdered if you walk out like that.
Marc Bolan: {Shaking head, bells jingle} I've worn all these for awhile. {Clearing voice} Actually, see this vest? An' shades? I got this from Nico. You know who Nico is? {Vin and Rob seem to look at each other} I ran into her in the eighties while she was touring all around upper England-- "the drowns" we call it-- an' here I am walking down this street late at night, an' she cries out {hushing it}, "Maaarc!" Runs over an' we start talkin', an' you know, I don't even remember her too much with T-Rex, but it's cool. So she says, "Marc, you're so cold, you need my vest." Gives it to me an' then turns a few moments later an' walks away. I've seen her a few times since. Two years ago, I think.
Vin: {Chuckling} Hold up, cowboy, you said you saw Nico last year?
DJ Rob: Yeah, you know she died years ago, right?
Marc Bolan: Hmm? Naw, bugger that {laughing}, she's 'round. Big into bicycles. A lot of those cats are still kickin'. They say they're dead, but they're not. Sometimes when they say they're alive, they're really dead, you know? {Pause} Look at a bloke like Syd Barrett-- he's been dead but livin' for over thirty years!
DJ Rob: {Sarcastically and slow} Uh-huh. So uh, Elvis is alive, huh?
Marc Bolan: Uh-uh, I haven't seen him. Naw, last I heard, he died. He could've lived, tho', could've skipped out. Like died in the army, but instead he went Vegas on me. Buddy Holly, on the other hand, people say he's around, I haven't seen him, tho'. Some say he's wuz' in Canada as a chef.
DJ Rob: {As if raising his eyes} O-kay...For those of you who are just tuning in, we got a guy in our studio here who claims he is the late Marc Bolan of T-Rex, and I must say, looks everything like him, head to toe. This is why you listen to 104.7, for moments like this, folks. Now, man, what I can't figure out lookin' at you, if you're Marc Bolan, and you're alive and not dead, then why do you still look young? I mean, you're a little thinner than he was, but...
Marc Bolan: Naw...that don't matter none.
DJ Rob: No?
Marc Bolan: {Smiling} It's real cleeean, you just gotta groove the music is all. I mean, I got theez' gray streaks comin' on, tho' that's nothing. When I said I danced myself out of the womb I wasn't joking, love. I haven't aged. My six chords haven't, either. People still playin' 'em, they don't get old, do they? You two here still play my songs, right? {Quieting} There's no secret, Bob, it's just matter of...a matter of will, song, whatever. Mind if I light this up?
DJ Rob: {Surprised} Yeah, go ahead.
Marc Bolan: Mmm. See, my whole thing when I started playing when I was a kid an' as a model-- "Marc-the-model-who-cried," they used to tease me-- wuz' that I knew I wasn't gonna last. Not in a bad way, uh-uh, but- Like I'd stare out the window and watch all these old ladies sitting out on the porches-
Vin: -Where are you?
Marc Bolan: Mum's living room. An' I'd sit there staring out at them knitting, gossiping, talking about, you know, whoever went by, an' I'm like seven years old, an' right there, that's where it all happened. What I did with my music came from those old birds, that world-- feck the rest. Once that was gone, those moments, I knew there wasn't much of a place.
DJ Rob: {Seems to look at Vince} Uh-huh, I'm confused.
Marc Bolan: That's cool. {Rubbing his nose} Look, I've told this to other stations before-
Vin: You've appeared on other radio shows?
Marc Bolan: Sure, yeah, whole lot. They never believe me, tho'...Like I say, {takes a sip of something} whole point of T-Rex, right?, was to make music of happiness. Mickey Finn used to say it was like being in a salt-shaker with bells or something. An' what I was sayin' before, the idea was to have sounds that would be still loved, even if the players weren't 'round. You don't hear people goin' 'round writing poems, or plays even, 'bout T-Rex, do you? Naw, they don't that with Jim Morrison an' all 'em. They're too busy {taking in a breath} playing the T. Still livin' it. Yeah, you know, there's tribute stuff an' all that, but the music wuz' all about groovin', you guys know that. How can that die? Don't matter if I'm 'round or not.
DJ Rob: {Confused}Yeah...so what's this all have to do with old ladies?
Marc Bolan: Hmm? Oh-- Ay, I guess just an example of bein' in your own world, right mate? Isn't that what you two do? Up here playing Blondie or smot, chattering, gossiping? It no different. {Chuckling}. This ol' world, eh? {Hitting mic} I tell ya, what I do miss is my old guitar 'cos that's what T-Rex was 'bout-- those first songs you write when you get a guitar, right?
DJ Rob: {Pause} You know, Vin...I hate to say this, but I'm starting to get convinced this guy is Marc Bolan.
Vin: Yeah, and the phone lines are really blinking, too.
DJ Rob: Well, let's take one. {Exhausted} Okay, uh-- I guess I'm gonna have to call you Marc-- we're gonna put a caller on for you to talk to...Hi, caller, you're on the air, you got something to say to Marc? {Giggling}
Caller: {Nasally voice} Yeah...what the hell's going on up there? Who is this guy?
DJ Rob: Well, we got a man who says he's Marc Bolan of T-Rex. You got something to say to him?
Caller: Yeah. I say, if this guy's Marc Bolan {pausing}, then sing something.
DJ Rob: Fair enough. {Turning towards} Marc, if you're really Marc Bolan, like you say, then you should be able to perform something. Prove it to our listeners and we'll keep you on. Because believe me, guy, {chuckling} everybody thinks you're a loon.
Marc Bolan: {As if grooving his head} I can dig that, sure. But let's see, {as if looking around} I don't have a guitar, but that don't matter, I got this tambourine here. What'cha wanna hear, man?
Caller: Huh? I dunno, play something from T-Rex or whatever. I still ain't...
Marc Bolan: I can do this one I always dug {clearing throat} called "Spaceball Ricochet." It's a real autobiographical number. I wrote it actually while walking over the London Bridge one day; this bird flew into one of the cars going over, and I thought, Gawd, that's a spaceball ricochet, I could be that bird, you know? I've changed the words around over time, so {begins hitting tambourine in rhythm} it might sound a lil' weird, but we're all cool cats. {Still hitting tambourine} You know, I never really dug those albums, Electric Warrior and all 'dem. I new life as a boy, and wanted life to be young, but something you could all get a grip on-- acoustically. So it here it is...{Sings the song, no interruptions, three minutes later}...See, I changed the words 'round. Through the years they take on new meanings. They have to, 'cos what else will they be?
DJ Rob: {Rubbing hand over his mouth} Well, {sighing} I don't know what to say, Marc. You sounded I guess...like him? Caller, are you there?
Caller: {Chuckling} Yeah, that was pretty cool, man. {Static of phone} So lemme get this straight. {Static clears} You're Marc Bolan...okay. {Pause, then raising pitch} I remember when Marc Bolan died. What was it? He crashed into a tree or something?
Marc Bolan: {Softly} Right, they actually have a lil' shrine on the ol' stump now. I was there a year ago...But like what people don't understand about England in the late seventies wuz' there wuz' thousands of impersonators, like you say {to Vin}, goin' 'bout. I knew this one bloke who wuz' a Syd Barrett one-- used to go through his garbage an' all that. We had more myths. {Slowly} And-- an' here's what I think-- anybody, posh or not, from that last century, who had a chance of surviving in the 20th, died in the 70's. Right when punk wuz' comin'-- see what I'm sayin'? A...a mingling of legends. {Faster} And that's why we called ourselves Tyrannosaurus Rex, first. We were still in the sixties, right? Once the seventies came 'round, and the first groove was gone, we were like a fossil. Hence "20th Century Boy." With me, and ask anyone, there wuz' a lotta blokes imitating me, see? I met a lotta of 'em.
DJ Rob: And that's who {chuckling} was in the car?
Marc Bolan: In the limo, that's all I can think of. I wuz' crashin' at this apartment that week writing songs while watching the tube. What was it? Lissen to a lotta Henry Mancini an' lemon pie. Open up the window an' sit on the ledge, write a few songs in an hour-- write a tune about a boy walking to a mailbox, an' then a tune about a girl putting a flower in her hair for the first time-- an' another about the boy at the mailbox who was watching her. See {as if shaking head}, that's how the music went. My lyrics were never nonsense, maybe a trip or something, but they always made sense, you know? So anyway, I'm up there chillin', an' one night {taking a drag}, the tube says I'm dead. I'm say, wha'? A day later, I try an' call a few blokes to tell the truth, where I am and all. Nobody believes me, especially my mates, and they all hang up and publicity calls me back...That was it, right there.
DJ Rob: {Jockey voice} For those of you just tuning in, we have a man here claiming that he is Marc Bolan of T-Rex. {Softening, then chuckling} Interesting. Of course {pause}, we all consider you an impersonator.
Marc Bolan: Naw, man, I don't worry 'bout that none, I know who I is. I've looked the same since 1977, but because of the crash, it don't matter none to no one. See, the whole Tyrannosaurus Rex trip wuz' so big that we could only commercially survive as big as we got. But look, playin' on the street an' jivin' your lyrics wuz' no different than what we did in a song like "Dandy In The Underworld." Check out Acoustic Warrior-- lissen to those lyrics-- the songs are all nonsense, see? I'm not sure what they mean-- but people seem to. They dug it 'cos it they knew the rock 'n roll. Same reason why they knew Chuck Berry, 'cept I wanted to be like Dylan and all 'em in the sixties, an' 'cos it all kinda ended, there wuz' this sorta craziness floatin' 'bout, especially in the UK. An' that was T-Rex {tapping tambourine gently}-- a thing too big for its time, but a thing you can't ignore, right? An' better, a thing that would be extinct after its prime. Tho' most people don't know I didn't dig our electric sound that...Tony Visconti did, I still wanted 'em acoustic. An' like I was tellin' this to an audience was before goin' into "Seagull Woman" once, I think, on how it was just a momentum of things between like '69 an' on-
Vin: How 'bout your bucket-head?
Marc Bolan: {Laughing} I dunno what happened to that exactly. Lemme see {pause}. Afterwards, I didn't much attention to punk, you know? I dug a few things here and there, but that was when I was hiding over in Sweden, working at this antique shop. Real dear place, an' they'd let me crash there, too. An' kids ask me what my name wuz', right? I'd say, you know, Marc Bolan, an' they'd laugh and say like, "Hey, look who's walkin' by, it's Marc Bolan." {Sighing} So after awhile it made no difference if I were hiding or not-- somebody like me with my songs wuz'...wuz' something that was happening'-- or-- wasn't mysterious. I dunno. Can I sing another number? I got a whole bunch I've written since.
DJ Rob: Well, let's see {pause}. I'm {chuckling} having the time of my life here. So tell us, what about making the albums-- in the studios.
Marc Bolan: I can't remember a lot, it's kinda fuzzy. Bugger...Real quick, what I can remember, Paris, England, the States-- whatever it wuz' it wuz' real jittery fun stuff and a lotta wild rum. It's weird, like I can't think of faces, but I can remember smells or sounds. A lotta thick-like clothes or the way our heels would click on the floor when walkin' 'bout. Sitting at the mic an' crossin' my eyes 'till I saw a whole bunch of 'em passing' around. Gettin' the chorus all saucy to play. I should look up all those mates today.
DJ Rob: {Condescending} I'm surprised you haven't.
Marc Bolan: I knew this bloke named Tad over in Wales who believed me when I'd tell him-- said I should see what T-Rex has done since. An' that's when I shaved my head an' wasn't playin' much guitar. But see (and this is whad' I told 'em), Rex was gonna go nowhere after '77. Everythin' was comin' outta the bollocks-- you could even say we colored a time that never was, in the 70's. So like, by then {as if counting them}, you had prog-rock, punk, glam, you know? Rex was movin' into all this new production an' with no place. It'd been a disaster if we'd gone through the eighties, even tho' a lotta people say we were ten years ahead.
Vin: But didn't I hear {as if turning to Rob} that Marc Bolan wasn't popular near the end and was actually supported by punk?
Marc Bolan: That's all 'cos our number one hits burned out. Wasn't much to go after Electric Warrior, now wuz' there? Not a lot to do after you get famous on something that should be enjoyed, hmm? Naw, it was cool. Things became a lil' abstract towards the end, an' needed Bowie in there, of course, guide me out. I was gettin' into disco, tho', which is a wee ironic. The fashion in disco was particularly lovely and dear to what we did, so...
DJ Rob: Right. {Slowly} We're gonna break for a commercial soon enough, but first, I wanna ask...{said boldly} Marc, a few more things. For instance, I mean, where do you live?
Marc Bolan: Kinda everywhere, mostly. I been around the decks, as they say. I told this one radio station how in Detroit I was playin' in my own T-Rex cover-band for awhile with these guys. We made a lotta bread doin' 'at, an' everyone was wonderin' {chuckling} why we were so good, you know? We'd do like all these different versions of "Debora" and "Cosmic Dancer," an' I'd sit down with the acoustic again-- 'twas almost like playin' the halls 'cept now in small clubs. You know, get reviewed by someone, "He wuz' almost like Marc Bolan, but not as proper." Gotta good laugh outta that.
DJ Rob: {Pause} We're gonna take another phone call for this anonymous Marc Bolan. Caller, you're on the air.
Caller: {Background noise, as if from a pay-phone} Hey, hi ya' doin? I've heard about this guy who lives in Milwaukee who says he's Marc Bolan and I guess this is the guy, wow. I actually tried to find you on the street a day ago, Marc, but didn't know where to look. I run my own magazine and believe you called H-{inaudible}, but am wondering about the money and- {loud clatter and is cut off}
DJ Rob: Hello, Caller? Hellooo? {To Marc and Vin} Sounded like a train station or something. Hello? You're in luck, he said he believed you...
Marc Bolan: {After waiting} So lissen, I got this song that I just wrote in my head while sittin' here this whole time-- mind if I play it? {Bells jingle a bit}
(A Chicago intersection where Bolan was apparently last seen riding a bike)
--Carson Arnold - April 13th, 2004
copyright 2004 Carson Arnold
H(ear) is an online music column consisting of interviews, articles, and investigations written by Carson Arnold. As a freelance writer for various magazines and liner notes, living in the woods of Vermont with his family, Carson widely encourages one to submit their art, writing or any interesting piece of material that you would like to share. H(ear) is accepting both promos and demos for review or any other valuable music-related subjects. If you wish to make a comment or would like to receive H(ear) weekly by email please contact Carson at poetry@sover.net
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