Abstractions: Marc Bolan: Poet, Musician, Muse

I was first introduced to the man who was Marc Bolan (of Tyrannosaurus Rex fame) by an old friend a year ago. At first I was skeptical! All I could think of was my mom cleaning the house back in the mid 1980s to Marc Bolan's "Get It On" followed by a Michael Bolten power ballad. A few hits from the Solid Gold soundtrack, a Rick Astley dance number and an instrumental from the Miami Vice soundtrack would ensue, leaving me no choice but to bolt out of the house as fast as possible and run for cover! I always attributed my mother's choice of music to mainstream junk that was an easy listen while scrubbing the toilet, although my iPod cleaning playlist jams out what I consider more eclectic tastes, such as Faust, Ween, David Bowie, Joy Division, and Icelandic musician Mugison. Then I thought about how some of my favorite bands are well known for their less than innovative compositions, such as The Cure's "Friday, I'm In Love" or even the Beatles "She Loves You Ya Ya". So I decided to Google Marc Bolan and search through the hidden files! What I found in my search was a sensitive young talent with so many years of artistic expression ahead of him, yet he was unable to reach his feats due to his untimely death at age 29 on September 16th, 1977.

There were so many facets to Marc Bolan. A poet with an acoustic guitar, an aspiring film producer, a trendy fashion muse, an artist about to evolve his musical talents into the experimental genre, a sweet young man who just wanted to be heard, an original talent in his time that inspired a plethora of musicians from glam rock, to folk music, to the punk scene and even a few "other" artists in between. Some, I believe, have even mirrored his image without even knowing he had once existed. This tiny man with a deep soul and a quirky smile that lit up a room had only begun his journey into rock 'n' roll history before it was abruptly over in seconds. I would have loved to see him dream well into my lifetime. Marc would have been 62 years old this September.

Some of my favorite Marc Bolan moments: