This is the results of a master tape which was given to Rolan by the lady who saved it showing the direction Marc was heading had he not died. Some interesting stuff, well worth a listen.

Track Listing

1. Hot George
2. Love & the Foxey Boy
3. Celebrate Summer
4. Love Drunk
5. Write Me a Song
6. Mellow Love
7. Dandy in the Underworld
8. Crimson Moon
9. To Know You Is to Love You
10. Tame My Tiger
11. Shy Boy
12. 20th Century Baby
13. Tame My Tiger [Gloria Jones Vocal]
14. Mellow Love [Alternate Version]
15. To Know You Is to Love You [Instrumental]

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19898 in Music
• Released on: 2006-09-11
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds

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Customer Reviews

collectors item
This CD was produced by serious Bolan fans for serious Bolan fans. What is presented is a nice mix of mid '77 work in progress and studio versions of some "Dandy" album songs. These mastertape quality tracks have superior clarity and though fully digital somehow retain a rich analog sound. If you are looking for new songs, greatest hits or a CD to play at parties then this is not it. But however if you wish to enter a time warp and sit behind the glass at these mellow recording sessions, get this CD pull up a chair and feel the love.

Write me a song
Though much of Marcs work from his final year is available thanks to the series of excellent T.REX Unchained releases this package puts these tracks into the context of an album. At last we know where Marc was going next and get at leats a hint of what the follow up to Dandy in the Underworld might have been like. Thanks to to the lady, an ex studio employee that kept these tapes safe over all those years, we have a glimpse of Marcs plans for future T.Rex. This disc contains both Marcs lyrical exploration of his recent past in a version of Dandy in the Underworld and a statement of intent, a manifesto for the new age of Bolan in Write me a Song. Perhaps a poppier direction as indicated in the Marc shows television series but true to Marcs vision of himself as a rock based pop performer. So though much of what is here is known to fans already The Final Cuts presents fresh takes, a clarity and sound quality not available before on even the most well known songs. We get a collection of nimble wordy rockers such as Hot George, lush balladry such as 20th Century Baby and a whole collection of glorious pop in Love & the Foxey Boy, Mellow Love and Shy Boy. T.Rex became the ultimate power pop band in 1977 and I can imagine him alongside the Buzzcocks and the Skids championing a whole new generation of artists in the followup series to Marc. So as the years fly past and another anniversary approaches just Keep a Little Marc in your Heart.

Write Me A Song
It was seven years ago when the Daily Mail published a two page spread on the discovery of these tapes and who would believe the final recording sessions Marc did would be hidden in an airing cupboard for nearly 30 years. (Fitting as they were recorded at Air Studios!) It's Doreen Bell we have to thank for saving these tapes, she worked at Air Studios in Oxford Street and after the fatal crash she visited Gloria in hospital where she wrote a message to Doreen (she couldn't speak as her pharynx was spilt) asking her to take the master tapes she and Marc had made and keep them safe saying she wanted Rolan to have them, so she hid them in her filing cabinet.

When she retired in 1985 she smuggled them to her flat in West London and then later took them to her retirement home in Weston Super-Mare. She wrote several times to Gloria asking what she should do with the tapes but never had the right address. It wasn't until she read an article about Rolan in the Daily Mail that finally she made contact with Marc's son through the newspaper. I never thought I'd say it but thank God for the tabloid press! Onto the tracks...

HOT GEORGE - One minute 47 seconds of pure Bolan boogie. At last we can hear the lyrics clearly 'Your body is a furnace - your love is a forge, so won't you tan your man - Hot George' sings Marc. Now Georgie was a female - as females go she moved fast like a jaguar - melting all life's snow'. Hot George was released as a single in 1980 with Andy Ellison on lead vocals along with Knox (the Vibrators) Paul Roland and Danielz.

LOVE & THE FOXEY BOY - Aside from the intro not too different from the version on Billy Super Duper, much better production here though.

CELEBRATE SUMMER - What sounds like a demo, a filler on this CD methinks.

LOVE DRUNK - Again not much new here. But a great number, I've always loved the hiccup!

WRITE ME A SONG - This where the CD really begins for me, a track I've been wanting to hear in all it's glory since hearing it in poor quality on a cassette tape many Crimson moons ago. Sadly the mix isn't all it could be with the handclaps hidden, unlike the mix Marc did where they are quite prominent. A great number all the same that surely would have been one of the big hits of 1978 had Marc lived.

MELLOW LOVE - Sadly this and Write Me A Song have been mixed at the wrong speed by the 2006 production team. They are just too slow, Marc's voice drawls out an the strings are a dirge. Just a little bit of tweaking in the studio and these would have been the up tempo numbers they really are. Again I could imagine this as a big hit in 1978 with Marc promoting it well on Top Of The Pops. Would he have dropped the name T-Rex by then. Surely he would of at some time, I can't imagine a succession of backing musicians being referred to as T-Rex into the 80's and 90's, can you? The alternate version (track 14) is merely a guide track with slightly different lyrics, but how many versions of this song are there? A fave of Marc's too be sure.

DANDY IN THE UNDERWORLD - The master tape for the single version of this track was lost for years, so is this it? Mixed with the album track version (at about 3 minutes the vocal volume drops and the 'cocaine' line is sang) this mash-up does work with Steve Harley's vocals clearer than the 1977 original. Nice orchestration too.

CRIMSON MOON- Can't really see why this is included. Slightly longer outro and under produced but that's it.

TO KNOW YOU IS TO LOVE YOU - Probably the main track Gloria wanted Doreen to save, this Teddy Bears cover and isn't too different to the Bolan and Jones 1977 single although Marc's voice is much higher in the mix than Gloria's or the guitar. Nice outro mind. The alternate version (track 15) is an instrumental which makes me think that there are instrumental versions of Celebrate Summer and Write Me A Song available on bootlegs, a shame their master tapes couldn't have been tracked down and included here.

TAME MY TIGER - Different ending but nothing to get exited about here 'new' wise. The alternate version (track 13) is much more interesting giving us Gloria's guide vocal and at last I can make out the lyrics. 'Mister Mister won't you try my peaches, if you chew my core I'm yours'.
SHY BOY - A 40 second false start and then into the more familiar song. Much better production again here.

20th CENTURY BABY - One of Marc's most beautiful compositions, a love song only Marc Bolan could write, sing and get away with. Fabulous.