Marc Bolan was an enigma within an enigma.....
A man who only exsited to be a star
He wrote his own epitaph...Danced his way out of the womb and into a tomb.
36 years after his death there are still some puzzling questions and facts surrounding him and the
coincidences of his death.....
Mark Feld, born on September 30th, 1947 is better known as Marc Bolan, who was a singer and songwriter in 'Tyrannosaurus Rex', later 'T.Rex', from 1967 until his death in a car crash in 1977.
He is credited by most people as
the inventor of
Glam Rock (certainly before Bowie!).
Bolan died on 16 September 1977, two weeks before his 30th birthday. He was a passenger in a purple
Mini driven by
Gloria Jones(his girlfriend at the time) as they headed home from Mortons drinking club and restaurant in Berkeley Square. Jones lost control of the car and it struck a steel reinforced chain link Fence post and came to rest against a
sycamore tree. Bolan and Jones were less than 2 miles from arriving at their home in East Sheen.
Bolan was a lifelong fan of cars, especially American ones and wrote many songs that featured them prominently in the lyrics. I've heard that Cadillacs were among his favorites....
Despite this fact, he never actually learned how to drive one. The reason he was the passenger in the accident was because Gloria was the only one of them that could drive....
In 1964, Bolan wrote a song entitled, “The Road I’m On (Gloria)” which includes the lyric:
“The road I’m on gal won’t run me home”.
Bolan met his girlfriend Gloria Jones in 1969, (five years after he wrote the song) whom would later drive the car the night her and Bolan were in the fatal accident.
He also wrote the song "Jeepster" in 1971 wich included the lyric:
"Easy as picking foxes from a tree"
Not only did he hit a tree.....but The numberplate of Gloria Jones’s Mini was FOX 661L.
"Hubcap diamond star halo" is also a lyric mentioning cars and heaven from his song "Get it on"...also wrote in 1971
Bolan's last single was the ironic "Celebrate Summer" which had the refrain "Summer is heaven in '77". Little did he or anyone else know that the end of summer of 77, Bolan would be dead.\
I also find it strange that his last album would be called "Dandy in the Underworld" and was to feature nothing but his face on the front of it with black all around...sorta like a tribue ala Ac/dcs Back in Black....
The song Dandy in the underworld ", also semi-autobiographically chronicled his fall from grace...
"Prince of Players, Pawn of none
Born with steel reins on the heart of the Sun
Gypsy explorer of the New Jersey Heights
Exalted companion of cocaine nights
'Cos he's a Dandy in the Underworld
Dandy in the Underworld
When will he come up for air,
Will anybody ever care "
Marc also stated he didnt think he wouldnt live too long....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imz0i4X4xacAround the nine-minute mark, marc says "I dont think Ill live that long"...shortly after trying to change the subject off of death as well
While Marc was in France for the warm-up concerts of what would turn out to be his final UK tour, he spent time sitting staring at a picture for hours. The painting was
entitled 'September 16th' by René Magritte Painted in 1957
There are two paintings that are slightly differentfrom each other...
But onne thing is constant.
The phase of the moon.
The Moon is referred to as 'she' in the text below in accordance with the Celtic/Druid beliefs of our for-fathers who among other things erected Stonehenge where the Moon was 'The Goddess' who transformed each Winter Solstice into the Mother who bore the 'Sun Child' for the New Year. The 'Sun Child' grew to become the 'Sun God' with the coming Vernal Equinox on March 21st.
In both paintings, she is part way through the 'First Quarter'. In September 1977 the Moon reached her first quarter just four days after September 16th, on September 20th - the date of Marc's funeral!.
Something to ponder on....
ALSO 3 days before his death Marc and David Bowie played together on Marc's BBC series Marc...Bowie had been a long-time friend of Marc’s. When Bolan’s career faltered in the mid-Seventies, Bowie encouraged him to make a comeback. During this performance the stage turned out to be too small for the two flamboyant performers. Marc got a little too close to the edge and fell over it just as the credits started rolling, perhaps in a final sign that Bowie was destined to become the full legend in life that Marc would sadly never have the chance to be.
There also There seems to be a curse on people associated with Marc Bolan.
Both his parents died in 1991.
Hearts attacks 'claimed' the next three people: Marc's widow June Bolan (nee Child) in 1994; his manager Tony Secunda in 1995 and Tony Secunda's ex-wife Chelita Secunda in 2000. (She was the one credited for putting the glitter on Marc's face and thus starting Glam Rock).
Four people associated with Marc died in 2001: Muriel Young (Producer of the Marc Show); his manager Tony Howard; Richard Jones (Gloria Jones' brother) and Joey Ramone (personal friend).
The fate of the remaining T.Rex band members was also subject of mythology and curse.
Two other band members met untimely ends: Bassist Steve Currie also died in a car crash in 1981, while drummer Steve Peregrin Took slipped and choked on a cherry in 1980. Mickey Finn, the last remaining member, succumbed to illness in 2003
Official Born to Boogie photographer Keith Morris was 'lost at sea' in a diving accident in 2005.
One last strange thing surrounding his death is the fact nobody knows where his money is....
In the early Seventies -- when T. Rex enjoyed 10 top five singles in the British hit parade, including "Hot Love," "Get It On" and "Telegram Sam" at number one -- Bolan and his advisers set up a string of "tax-efficient" offshore companies. After his death, ownership of these companies scattered. Most are now defunct, but one, Wizard Bahamas, survives and owns the copyright to Bolan's post-1972 recordings.
In his will, drawn up in October 1973, Bolan -- real name Mark Feld -- left it up to his trustees to do as they saw fit with his estate and to select charities to benefit.
His management said, 'You've got to make a will,' but Marc was interested in music, not wills. So I believe the will was made up and Marc signed it. At the time of his death, Marc wasn't even on speaking terms with some of the people who benefited from the will.
Among those left money were Bolan's wife June; Gloria Jones, whom the will describes as his secretary; and Bolan's parents -- but not Harry-Marcs brother....
Harry Feld said: "As soon as Marc was dead, the business people talked as if he'd never existed. That's the way it has been for 20 years. We've never had the money to get it sorted out. The royalties would be phenomenal, but we can't even find out where the money is going. We've tried, but we've just been told that it's none of our business. Once, my mum even wrote to the Lord Chancellor's office but didn't get anywhere. There's no way you can get through brick walls."
By 1977, Bolan had began to suspect all was not well with the management of his finances and decided to act. But as we kno fate intervened. At 5 a.m. on Sept. 16, his purple Mini, driven by Jones, hit a tree on Barnes Common, south London, killing him and badly injuring Jones. He was two weeks short of his thirtieth birthday.
Within hours Bolan's flat was broken into and his papers, letters and receipts stolen. None has been recovered. At 9:30 that morning, four and a half hours after Bolan died, somber taxmen turned up at his office and demanded $5.2 million in unpaid tax.
Bolan's 21-year-old son, who lives in Los Angeles near his mother,has yet to receive a cent of the Bolan fortune. "It was my dad's desire to become a big star and to make the money. And I think the children and the family are entitled to their part of that existence."
Some of Bolan's money goes to charity. His original trustees nominated two beneficiaries, one being the Performing Rights Society's Members' Fund. The PRS collects and distributes royalties on behalf of copyright holders. Its fund receives around $97,800 a year from the Bolan estate that is used to support impoverished musicians and songwriters. The other beneficiary is the London-based Ravenswood Foundation, which cares for people with learning disabilities. Ravenswood would not reveal how much it receives from Bolan's estate.
Two of the original T. Rex line-up are alive, impoverished and wondering who's getting the money from record sales. Drummer Bill Legend, now 53, unemployed and living in Essex, southeast England, says: "Money would be a great help to me. It's unfair. I'd love to do something for my kids. The T.Rex phenomenon has expanded. It's a megabucks industry now. Marc's made more money since his death than when alive."
Percussionist Mickey Finn, 50, was left $16,300 in the will, but the money took years to come through. A chronic asthmatic and, like Legend, unemployed, Finn says: "I never got any performing royalties. It's a mystery. A bloody mystery."
Long live Marc Bolan
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