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David Bowie & Morrissey “Cosmic Dancer” 2021/1991. Parlophone Records. 7″ single, originally recorded on February 6th, 1991 in concert at the Inglewood Forum in Los Angeles. This track was available only as a bootleg up until last year when Morrissey officially released it as a digital download; the 45 rpm single just released last week on vinyl. “Cosmic Dancer” is, of course, a cover of the fabulous T. Rex song written by Marc Bolan. I love that the acoustic guitar in the performance sounds almost exactly like the intro to “Space Oddity.” Side B is Morrissey only covering The Jam’s “That’s Entertainment” re-recorded in 2020; he originally recorded “That’s Entertainment” in 1991 as the b-side to “Sing Your Life” (also on Kill Uncle). The ‘91 version of “That’s Entertainment” features Carl Smyth from Madness.

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From Allmusic “The most underrated of Tyrannosaurus Rex’s four albums, Prophets, Seers & Sages was recorded just six months after their debut and adds little to the landscapes which that set mapped out. There is the same reliance on the jarring juxtaposition of rock rhythms in a folky discipline; the same abundance of obscure, private mythologies; the same skewed look at the latest studio dynamics, fed through the convoluted wringer of the duo’s imagination – the already classic pop of the opening “Deboraarobed” is further dignified by its segue into the same performance played backwards, a fairly groundbreaking move at a time when even the Beatles were still burying such experiments deep in the mix. [“Deboraarobed” is a remix of their first single “Debora.”] But if the album itself found the duo rooted to the musical spot, still it delivered some of Marc Bolan’s most resonant songs. The nostalgia-flavored “Stacey Grove” and the contrarily high-energy “Conesuela” were as peerless as any of Bolan’s more feted compositions. Equally intriguing is the confidence which exudes from “Scenes of Dynasty,” a successor of sorts to the last album’s “Scenesof,” but presented with just percussion and some strange vocal noises to accompany Bolan’s singing – at a time when “singing” was maybe not the term a lot of listeners would employ for his vocals. The excited “one-two-three-four” count-in only adds to the dislocation, of course. Finally, the owlishly contagious “Salamanda Palaganda” offers a first-hand peek into the very mechanics of Bolan’s songwriting. Other composers stuck for a rhyme either reach for the thesaurus or abandon the lyric altogether. Bolan simply made one up, and in the process created a whole new language – half nonsense, half mystery, but wholly intoxicating. Just like the rest of the album, in fact.”

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T. Rex “The Slider” released on this date, July 21st, 1972. I’m capping off 70′s week with one of my favorite glam rock albums (I wrote about it 2 years ago but it’s so good it’s worth another run). The Slider is slinky, scuzzy and outrageously sexy, its style defining the glam rock genre. So many down-n-dirty lyrics, delivered by Marc Bolan oozing raunch sensuality: the title track “The Slider” (when he sings “And when I’m sad, I slide” the word “slide” is downright lecherous), “Ballrooms of Mars” (“You dance with your lizard boots on…You diamond browned hag, You’re a gutter-gaunt gangster”), “Chariot Choogle” (“Standing on your porch, You wear your pleasure like a torch, Hiding in the road, Like a Pasolini toad, Gonna give up all my load and go”) and the entirety of “Buick Mackane” (which ends with the lyrics “Slider slider, You’re just a sexual glider, Be my plane in the rain”). The Slider is also funny and clever: Bolan’s use of language, the vocabulary and the lyrical rhythms, creates a rich,  visible texture to the stories contained within each track. On “Telegram Sam” (which hit #1 in the UK) Bolan gives T. Rex’s manager the nickname Telegram Sam (supposedly he sent the band their tour earnings after each performance date via telegram so that the band didn’t blow the money pre-show). The other characters in the song receive tempo’d monikers: Golden Nose Slim, Purple Pie Pete, Jungle faced Jake. Bob Dylan is just Bobby and Bolan describes himself: “I ain’t no square with my corkscrew hair.”  (Dylan is name-checked again on “Ballrooms of Mars.”)

Telegram Sam Telegram Sam
You’re my main man

Golden Nose Slim Golden Nose Slim
I know’s where you ‘bin
Purple Pie Pete Purple Pie Pete
Your lips are like lightning
Girls melt in the heat

Telegram Sam
You’re my main man
Telegram Sam
You’re my main man

Bobby’s alright Bobby’s alright
He’s a natural born poet
He’s just outa sight
Jungle faced Jake
Jungle faced Jake
I say make no mistake
About Jungle faced Jake

Automatic shoes
Automatic shoes
Give me three D vision
And the California blues
Me I funk but I don’t care
I ain’t no square with my corkscrew hair

Telegram Sam Telegram Sam
I’m a howlin’ wolf

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