T.Rextasy: Carrying on the legacy of rock legend behind T.Rex

With his band T.Rextasy, Danielz has been performing the music of Marc Bolan for nearly 30 years... that’s more than three times as long as T.Rex ruled the UK music scene in a career cruelly cut short by a fatal car crash in 1977, when Marc was aged just 27.

But the singer/songwriter/guitarist left behind an impressive musical legacy including four chart-toppers among 10 top 10 hits. Several are pop and rock classics, including Hot Love, Get It On, Jeepster, Metal Guru, Children of the Revolution and 20th Century Boy.

His music has lived on as many bands have cited Bolan as an influence, from U2 and The Smiths to Oasis and Supergrass, and the use of his fleet-footed I Love to Boogie in the movie musical Billy Elliot introduced a new generation of fans.

T.Rextasy will be performing at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury on Saturday night, July 24.

“We don’t act as a tribute band or else it becomes like a stage show, it’s a rock ‘n’ roll gig,” says Danielz, who is himself first and foremost a Bolan fan.

He first encountered an ‘unusual voice’ warbling out of a radio while in his early teens and living in West Germany, part of a British forces family.

“This was nothing like the Beatles, the Stones or The Who, I wanted to know more about this guy.”

When he saw pictures of Bolan in his glam gear with his corkscrew hair, “it sealed the deal”.

“He looked like he may have been beamed down from outer space, with his velvet jacket and satin trousers and the glitter under his eyes.”

The record that grabbed Danielz was Jeepster. “There was something about that song, it really got me. It had everything that I wanted in my life, the essence of rock ‘n’ roll, it was all wrapped up in Jeepster.”

One night Danielz even ran out to his dad’s car, containing the only available radio, to hear Metal Guru played every hour on the hour as Radio Luxembourg had chosen it as their future hit ‘power play’. It remains his favourite T.Rex song with its wall of sound created by Bolan and producer Tony Visconti.

If you need proof that T.Rextasy is more than a tribute, Bolan and Bowie producer Visconti has joined T.Rextasy on stage to play bass on several occasions and former T.Rex keyboardist the late Dino Dines was a T-Rextasy member for a while. Cockney Rebel’s Steve Harley and Bolan fan Marc Almond have also worked with Danielz.

His band’s as accurate as possible emulation has been endorsed by many who loved, lived and worked with Bolan, including original T.Rex members Mickey Finn and Bill Legend, Marc’s wife June Bolan, his girlfriend the soul singer Gloria Jones and Marc’s son Rolan Bolan. T.Rextasy also appeared alongside and won the approval of such stomping glam rock bands as Slade and The Sweet.

“It’s nice to have that respect from people who worked with Marc,” says Danielz. “If Marc had been alive today I would never have formed T.Rextasy. The reason I formed T.Rextasy was because Marc had died and I really wanted to go out there and show people that these songs are absolutely brilliant and should be remembered for all time.

“And Marc was a great performer and I like to try and emulate what Marc did on stage. If Marc was still alive today because he had rock ‘n’ roll in his blood he would still be out there. He loved performing.”

So what can the fans expect on Saturday? “All the hits, including Debora, One Inch Rock, Hot Love, Get It On, Jeepster, Metal Guru, Telegram Sam, Children of the Revolution, Solid Gold Easy Action, 20th Century Boy, Ride A White Swan, New York City, I Love to Boogie, et cetera. It’s adrenaline pushed, it’s going to be colourful, it’s going to be bright, it’s going to be loud, it’s going to be rock ‘n’ roll. We have a breather with two or three acoustic songs, and the second half is another glam rock ‘n’ roll hour. I hope people are going to be allowed to stand up and sing along, and shout and clap.”

T.Rextasy's later dates include: Saturday, August 21, The Robin 2, Bilston; Saturday, August 28, The Assembly Rooms, Tamworth; Thursday, September 23, Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford; Saturday, November 13, Brierley Hill Civic Hall.

See theatresevern.co.uk website or call 01743 281281 for tickets.