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Marc Bolan (born Mark Feld;  30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English musician best known as the singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock band T.Rex, with whom he achieved commercial and critical success in the 1970s. Bolan formed T.Rex in 1967 with percussionist Steve Peregrine Took. Initially a folk duo known as Tyrannosaurus Rex, which was later abbreviated to T.Rex in 1970, the band didn't achieve any major mainstream success until the release of their number two hit single "Ride a White Swan", also in 1970, by which time Took had left the band and had been replaced by Mickey Finn. Finn's arrival marked the introduction of a more mainstream style of music for T.Rex, as well as a greater amount of creative freedom for Bolan. The group's second album as T.Rex, Electric Warrior, released on September 24, 1971, topped the charts in Bolan's native UK for several weeks upon its release, and is often credited with introducing glam rock, which went on to be one of the most popular styles of music in the early 1970s.

T.Rex's success in the early 1970s sparked a period of so-called 'T.Rextacy', particularly in the UK. During this time, usually classified as 1971 to 1973, T.Rex sold in excess of 200 million records and had a string of ten singles all reach the top five in the UK Singles Chart, including four consecutive number ones&mdash;"Hot Love", "Get It On", "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru". T.Rex's popularity began to wane around 1974, and the band failed to achieve another top ten hit after 1973's "The Groover", which reached number four; Bolan split from producer Tony Visconti, who had produced Bolan's first eight studio albums; he developed an addiction to cocaine and put on weight, which was much derided by his critics in the media; following Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow, released in 1974, which subsequently flopped in comparison with T.Rex's previous albums, none of T.Rex's albums reached the top twenty in the UK. Around late-1975, Bolan and T.Rex began to make a creative and critical comeback; their singles "New York City" and "I Love to Boogie" were big hits for the group, both reaching the number fifteen in the UK charts. This resurgence was continued by the early 1977 release of the critically acclaimed Dandy in the Underworld, which proved to be T.Rex's most commercially successful album since Zinc Alloy.

Bolan also enjoyed success in many fields outside of music. In 1969, Bolan released The Warlock of Love, which went on to be 1969's best-selling book of poetry. At the height of Bolan's fame in 1972, former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr filmed two T.Rex concerts on 18 March, 1972, at the Wembley Empire Pool, which were used in the film Born to Boogie. Born to Boogie consists of the concert footage filmed at Wembley; studio jams featuring the director Starr and Elton John with T.Rex, filmed at Apple Studios; and sketch comedy. He also hosted a six-part weekly television show in autumn 1977 produced by Muriel Young for ITV, Marc.

Early life
Mark Feld was born on 30 September, 1947, into a working class Jewish family from Hackney, London. His father, Simeon 'Sid' Feld (22 August, 1920 – 19 September, 1991), spent six weeks in the British Army before being discharged due to his poor eyesight. Afterwards, he joined the Dutch merchant navy, spending most of the Second World War on a munitions ship as a steward. He returned to Britain in 1944 and subsequently became a porter for the Ministry of Supply, where he met Phyllis Atkins (23 August, 1927 – 11 January, 1991), who had also worked at the Ministry of Supply's factory in Earl's Court. By late 1944, Phyllis had become pregnant, so, in keeping with the custom of the time, the pair married on 31 January, 1945. They then rented an accommodation in Stoke Newington, before Phyllis gave birth to her first child, Harry, on 25 June, 1945. Following the birth of Harry, Sid took up a job as a long-distance lorry driver to support his new family, meaning he spent much of the time away from his family. Phyllis's second son, Mark, was born in Hackney Hospital on 30 September, 1947. Mark Feld was named after Harry's younger brother who had been unlawfully killed on 19 August, 1946, whilst posted at an army camp in Burton Dassett after serving in the war.

Marc
Centred mostly around rock music, Bolan used Marc to showcase emerging new bands, often associated with the punk rock scene Bolan had allied himself with&mdash;such as The Jam, Generation X and The Boomtown Rats&mdash;as well as performing a combination of hits and new songs by T.Rex. Bolan died during Marc's original run, although he managed to complete filming for the series, and the final two episodes of the series were aired posthumously.

Marc proved to be a success, garnering upwards of two million viewers a week, and a potential second series was being negotiated at the time of Bolan's death. It also proved beneficial to both Bolan and his music with T.Rex; Gloria Jones claimed, "The show gave him a new lease of life and exposed his music to a new market."

Discography

 * My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows (1968)
 * Prophets, Seers & Sages – The Angels of the Ages (1968)
 * Unicorn (1969)
 * A Beard of Stars (1970)
 * T.Rex (1970)
 * Electric Warrior (1971)
 * The Slider (1972)
 * ''Tanx (1973)
 * Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow (1974)
 * Bolan's Zip Gun (1975)
 * Futuristic Dragon (1976)
 * Dandy in the Underworld (1977)