The Cretaceous Period Cover: 1971

Marc & Mickey – the gentle dinosaurs who ruled the earth before the glam bang!

cover and two-page feature in Pop Magazine, December 1, 1971. More pre-glitter Bolan magic added weekly.

There was in the Cretaceous period when the largest creature, Tyrannosaurus, which is over fourteen meters long, ruled the earth.

A thousand nine hundred and sixty-seven years after the New Era, it came to be that a certain Marc Bolan remembered the prehistoric creature and, together with Steve Peregrin Took, a mini-group founded: Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Marc Bolan was given a Gibson guitar by his father at the age of nine. And Marc sat down and played with the instrument that was as old as himself. But Marc was not only interested in his guitar; he already started writing poetry, and at the age of fourteen, he was working on his first book. It was supposed to be an autobiography, but Marc only came up to page 102. He gave up again and "stood there like a stupid boy, without plans, without a goal," as he remembers today.

Marc left school, hitchhiked to France, and joined a magician there, with whom he stayed for almost a year. In 1965, he returned to England, played bass guitar in a group, and tried to do it himself with rehearsal tapes, with which he played in various societies.

Bolan's first single was 'The Wizard,' the story of his meeting.

Disc found a buyer, Marc came through friends in the English TV show Ready Steady Go.

But Nothing happened. It was not until 1967 that his second record

'Hippy Gumbo,' and a little later he played the solo guitar on John's Children, a job that was actually intended for Pete Townshend, but who then preferred to stay with The Who. Marc stayed with John's Children for a quarter of a year, composed the title 'Desdemona,' and left. He met drummer Steve Took and founded Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Marc composed, wrote, sang, and played guitar. And since Steve especially liked

bongos, hand drum, and sitar played, the music of the two was particularly played by Far Eastern style elements.

Marc and Steve played in smaller clubs or even for free in Hyde Park, and despite several long-playing records, Tyrannosaurus Rex remained quite unknown.

At the end of 1969, Steve was fed up after a not exactly overwhelming American tour and left: Marc had to find a new companion.