There is much weeping and gnashing of teeth these days concerning the question: which were the greatest 12 months of music in the entire history of the world, ever? Popular consensus seems to be either 1969 or 1971; I’d say it’s whatever year it was when you celebrated your fifteenth birthday. Thus, spiralling down Irwin Allen’s Time Tunnel, we tumble upon T.Rex and 1972.
Basking in the success of his Electric Warrior album, released the previous year, in ’72 Marc Bolan enjoyed a brace of No.1 singles (Metal Guru and Telegram Sam); released a new LP, The Slider; headlined Wembley Empire Pool; starred in a feature film, Born To Boogie. All of which is catalogued in detail in this estimable collection.
It’s just a shame that which forms 1972’s backbone, is not one of Bolan’s finest hours. This writer speaks from experience, having been part of a Sixth Form coterie of Marc fanatics back in the day. We were confident to coolly strut around college while cradling 12-inch copies of the aforementioned in our arms; not so much. Our bitter rivals – David Bowie devotees – sensed
