THEY CALL ME
THE GROOVER
WHEN I'M ON
THE FLOOR
THE KIDS YELL FOR
MORE,MORE,MORE
Zinc Alloy
and the
Hidden Riders of Tomorrow
is an album by
English rock band
the ninth since
Tyrannosaurus Rex's debut LP.
It was released in
March 1974
on the
T. Rex record label,
distributed by EMI.
It was the first
and only album
to be released
under the moniker
"Marc Bolan & T. Rex".
Unlike many of
T. Rex's
previous albums,
it was not released
domestically in
North America;
instead,
the record company
released
the U.S.only
Light of Love
in August of the same year,
featuring three tracks
from
Zinc Alloy
while the remaining songs
would appear on
the band's next album,
Bolan's Zip Gun.
Zinc Alloy
was met with
bemusement
by the listening public.
It reportedly confused listeners
and divided the
band's fanbase
at the time,
while critical reception
was universally negative.
Critical re-evaluation
has been more favourable,
but it
remains an oddity
in the
T. Rex canon
due to its style
incorporating
funk and R&B influences.
The album peaked at
number 12
in the
UK Albums chart.
Background
In the spring of 1973,
Marc Bolan
was dissatisfied with
what he perceived as
an insufficient reception
to the single
"20th Century Boy"
which reached the
UK number 3 position
that March
and eager to
further explore
the musical directions
glimpsed on
the just-released
Tanx LP.
His two primary influences
at this time were
his new relationship
with musician
and songwriter
Gloria Jones,
and an affection
for the black music
he heard on radio
while touring the US.
In the midst of a
European tour
that March,
the band entered
Rosenberg Studios
in Copenhagen
to record new material
with producer
Tony Visconti
once more
at the helm.
Recording
The initial session at
Rosenberg Studios
on March, 20th 1973,
saw rough early versions of
"Liquid Gang",
"Superbad"
(a working title for "The Avengers"),
"The Groover",
its B-side
"Midnight"
and two outtakes,
"All My Love"
and
"Down Home Lady"
committed to tape.
On March 22nd,
two more outtakes,
"Saturation Syncopation"
and
"Delanie"
were recorded.
On April 4th
at AIR Studios
saw overdubs
and mixing
of a few
prior tracks including
"Midnight",
while April 30th at
Wally Heider Studios
in Hollywood produced
"Carsmile Smith and the Old One",
the B-side
"Satisfaction Pony",
"Blackjack"
and the outtake
"Saturday Night"
with
Gloria Jones
and Stephanie Spruill
on backing vocals.
Mixing and overdubbing
was held at
AIR back in London
on 6–7 May,
then moved to
Apple Studios on
May 11th
for working versions of "
Squint Eye Mangle"
released with
"Blackjack"
later in the year
as a single by
"Big Carrot"
and another
outtake,
"Mr. Motion".
Bolan became one of the first
English artists to record in
Germany when the
sessions moved to
Musicland Studios in
Munich between
17th and 24th June.
The band's lineup
expanded at this time,
incorporating
second guitarist
Jack Green
(according to tour manager Mick Grey,)
his participation was minimal
session player
B.J. Cole
on pedal steel,
and backing vocalists
'The Cosmic Choir',
a soul duo
composed of
Gloria Jones
and
Sister Pat Hall,
sometimes augmented by
Gloria's brother
"Big" Richard Jones.
In contemporary
interviews Bolan stated
"I'm spending a lot more time
on recordings now",
adding that he intended
to remake many
of the
Copenhagen recordings.
Approximately twenty tracks
were put down at
Musicland including
"Galaxy",
"Painless Persuasion V"
(working title "Look to Your Soul"),
"Change",
"Nameless Wildness",
"Carsmile Smith" (remake),
"Liquid Gang" (remake),
"Truck On (Tyke)",
"Interstellar Soul",
"You Got to Jive to Stay Alive",
"Spanish Midnight",
"The Avengers" (remake),
the B-side
"Sitting Here"
and outtakes
"Dance In The Midnight",
"Saturday Night" (remake),
"Hope You Enjoy The Show"
which was played at a few concerts
during this perio
and
"Plateau Skull"
(working title "Twelve Bar Blues").
The band went on
a summer tour
of America where
"Sound Pit Part 1,
"Sound Pit Part 2"
and
"Explosive Mouth"
were taped at
Sound Pit Studios
in Atlanta on
July 30th.
On August 7- 9th
at Elektra Sound Recorders
in Hollywood,
a working version of
"Teenage Dream"
and further work on
"Explosive Mouth"
were considered,
while on 28–29 August
"Till Dawn"
and
"Venus Loon"
were taped at
Electric Lady Studios
in New York.
Between all 1973 sessions
some 33 tracks
were recorded overall,
including 7
non-LP single sides
and an
additional 11 outtakes,
only one of which
("Till Dawn")
would see
release in
Bolan's lifetime.
Music
Marc's ambitions at the time
were to fuse glam,
pop,
soul,
funk,
psychedelia,
and heavy metal
into what he called on
work-in-progress session sheets "
space age funk"
and
"interstellar supersoul".
The results were a
radical change
from the classic
T. Rex sound.
Journalist
Alexis Petridis
wrote that the album
features a variety
of styles including
"the funky clavinet,
the Jerry Lee Lewis piano,
the backing vocals
of his new partner
Gloria Jones,
the strings,
the horns and the trebly,
distorted guitar
on which Bolan
would fire off extravagant,
Hendrixesque solos.
" AllMusic described
"The Avengers (Superbad)"",
"Interstellar Soul"
and
"Liquid Gang"
as
"solid James Brown drive".
Title and Album Cover
The original title of
the album was
A Creamed Cage in August
with the
artist name to be
Zinc Alloy and
the
Hidden Riders of Tomorrow,
which at the time he
insisted was a
send-up of
the two Stardusts,
Ziggy and Alvin.
The record company balked,
however, l
argely because the photo
of Bolan to be used
on the cover featured him
with a dramatically
short haircut
and nearly unrecognizable.
To ensure that record buyers
knew who it was,
the label insisted that
a red banner strip stating
"Marc Bolan & T. Rex"
appeared on the top left corner
with the title
Zinc Alloy
and the
Hidden Riders of Tomorrow
at the bottom,
now relegating
A Creamed Cage in August
to a secondary title
on the back side.
TRACKLIST
Sound Pit
Explosive Mouth
Galaxy
Change
Nameless Wildness
Teenage Dream
(Unedited Version)
Liquid Gang
Carsmile Smith & The Old One
You've Got To Jive To Stay Alive - Spanish Midnight
Interstellar Soul
Painless Persuasion V. The Meathawk Immaculate
The Avengers (Superbad)
The Leopards Featuring
Gardenia And The Mighty Slug
The Groover
Midnight
Truck On (Tyke)
I'm Dazed
Sitting Here
Satisfaction Pony
Teenage Dream
(Backing vocals removed)
Satisfaction Pony
(Backing vocals removed)
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