T. Rex’s anthemic song ‘Children of the Revolution’ turns 50
Decedent, anthemic and coated in a dense layer of fuzz, T-Rex’s velvet-lined ‘Children Of The Revolution’ has been giving music fans a reason to saunter for 50 years now. The oozing number came at a time when T. Rex could do no wrong. So many years later, it remains the crowning glory of glam, perfectly encapsulating the youthful vitality of the countercultural era despite being released at a time when hippiedom appeared to be slipping towards irrelevancy.
The origins of ‘Children of The Revolution’ lie with the 1972 film Born To Boogie. The strident single was recorded at Ascot Studios specifically for the concert film and features a piano line from Elton John and a concrete, two-drum rhythm track by Ringo Starr. The song had originally been something like 12 minutes in length and was recorded in Copenhagen during sessions for T. Rex’s third studio album, The Slider. Bolan, keen to bring it to the attention of the Beatles drummer, made sure the tape box contained the note “for the attention of Ringo”.
At the time, Bolan was the golden boy of British rock. Somewhere along the way, the idealism of the 1960s had given way to recession-era gloom – ‘Children of The Revolution‘ was a reminder that hippiedom still had some fight left. The era of peace and love was dead, but Bolan saw no reason to mourn its passing, declaring a new age of steadfast revolutionary zeal – one ushered in by poets, not politicians. “People knew him as a great musician, a songwriter, a guitarist, but he was also a poet,” Ringo would later say of his collaborator. “He was always telling me that he was the number one selling poet in Britain. In fact, his poetry was as important to him as his music. He had great style and was really unlike anyone else I have ever met.”
There was always something distinctly Baudeleireian about Bolan. He was a self-made “dandy in the underworld,” a slightly sleazy bohemian clearly aware of his own beauty. Half radical, half model – Bolan was the right rockstar at the right time. ‘Children of The Revolution, which landed the number two spot on release, cemented T. Rex as the undisputed kings of Top Of The Pops and made Bolan an icon.
Today, the singer’s declaration that he drives a Roll Royce “because it’s good for my voice” certainly sounds a little paradoxical, but ‘Children of The Revolution,’ was always more about sex than it was overturning the world’s political structures. Then again, who says you can’t do both at the same time?
