T.Rex: "Telegram Sam" Single (1972)
- T.Rex
- Jan 21, 1972
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 23
T.Rex’s "Telegram Sam" backed with "Cadilac" and "Baby Strange", was released as a 7-inch vinyl single in the UK by EMI Records under T. Rex Wax Co. (catalog number T. REX 1) on January 21, 1972, revolutionizing the music scene for the next three years.
The song was the groups third UK number one single, remaining at the top of the charts for two weeks.
Glam Rock may have been initiated by Marc Bolan's appearance with glitter under each cheek during a performance of "Hot Love," but the release of T. Rex's "Telegram Sam" ushered in a new sound. Bowie's "Starman" was directly influenced by this release, and most bands would go on to emulate this new sound in the years that followed.
The lyrics introduce various characters such as Bobby (a natural born poet who is just outta sight), Golden Nose Slim (who knows where you've been), Jungle Faced Jake (about whom no mistake must be made), and Purple Pie Pete (whose lips are like lightning and can generate enough heat to liquefy females). Despite their allure, the singer affirms his loyalty to his "main man," the titular Sam.
The song also includes lines Marc Bolan wrote about himself: Me I funk/but I don't care/I ain't no square/with my corkscrew hair, a line later borrowed by the industrial rock band KMFDM for their song "Me I Funk". The riff is similar in style to T. Rex's global hit from the previous year, "Get It On," but in the key of A instead of E.
The single was recorded at the Rosenberg Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark, in November 1971, along with its B-sides "Cadilac" and "Baby Strange," as well as the "Metal Guru" B-side "Thunderwing".
"Telegram Sam" was the first single released by Marc Bolan's T.Rex Wax Co. label on 21 January 1972. The UK b-side included two tracks, "Cadilac" (as listed on the EMI label of the original single) and "Baby Strange," the latter also featured on the album The Slider. This single was seen as the official follow-up to "Get It On," since the previous label, Fly, had released the interim number 2 hit "Jeepster" without Marc's consent. Amid the height of T. Rextasy, it became the group's third number one hit in the UK, although it only reached number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100, which was disappointing after the top ten success of "Get It On" in America. It would be the group's last single to chart in the US.
The song was highly acclaimed by the British press. Chris Charlesworth of Melody Maker expressed excitement, noting that "Boley layers the guitar riff and the strings swirl around him with a rocking menace." Penny Valentine of Sounds observed the guitar riff's resemblance to "Get It On" but commented that it evokes "those classic rock and roll records of the past." Derek Johnson of NME praised it as a "good old-fashioned stomping rocker" that is "rhythmic, compelling, insistent, and catchy."
In 1980, the gothic rock band Bauhaus released a cover of the song as a single, which reached number 12 in New Zealand.
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