No one can quite agree on what exactly Marc Bolan would be doing today, if hed lived. Gloria Jones was driving the Mini 1275GT early yesterday morning when it crashed into a tree on Barnes Common. . Its a very strange feeling.. He was a passenger in a mini driven by his common law wife GLORIA JONES. It was November 1975 in the offices of Tony Brainsby Publicity, shortly before the release of the Futuristic Dragon album. David was, and indeed still is, an artiste with an e at the end. Marc Bolan welcomed son Rolan Bolan with girlfriend Gloria Jones (Image: Mirrorpix) Away from the limelight, Marc was in a six year relationship with Tainted Love singer Gloria Jones from 1970, until his death in 1977. . Gloria. We need to move on now., It has been alleged that Jones was drunk at the wheel but one source who does not want to be named, but who was close to Jones at the time, refutes this: Gloria had a lot of self-control. Police said Bolan, 29, was killed when a car driven by his girlfriend, singer Gloria Jones, struck a tree in southwest London. A subscription makes a thoughtful gift for both family and friends. . Although you would never have recognised him at the scene. Jones was hospitalized for injuries. T.Rex Action Group. recalled Chris Watts, then a member of London Fire Brigade but for the past 21 years licensee of the Albion Inn, Bath Road, Worcester, when a call came to attend an accident on the South Circular. It left the road and crashed into a sycamore tree. He was right. Marc was killed instantly and Gloria was unconscious. Fallon invented the term T.Rextasy and was immortalised as purple-browed Beep in Telegram Sam. There was a rabbi reading a eulogy, and Marcs coffin was in the middle of these twin tracks, like on a railroad. I think I got close to it when I wrote the line cloak full of eagles. She told me his face looked so beautiful and he had one little mark over his eyebrow, says Tony Visconti. They said his name was Mark Feld, but you might know him better as Marc Bolan. If I knew I was telling the truth, especially about a fatal occurrence, and somebody, not by direct accusation but by countering my accurate description of events, (thereby injuring untold numbers of hearts forever), I should make it a duty in life to arrange a public meeting with them to stop it ,once and for all. Marc Bolan, T. Rex,Ed Cobb: Gloria Jones (nascida como Gloria Richetta Jones em Cincinnati, Ohio, 19 de outubro de 1945) uma cantora americana de soul e gospel [1]. It didnt mean anything. his presence in the music industry can still be felt through his works and contributions to the field even after nearly four decades of his demise They had a baby, and this year, Marc Bolan began to make a come-back. For the last couple of years Ive been researching and writing a book which covers the last few months of Marcs life. i have watched a TON of interviews with her, and you would think there was a third person in the car driving. Sadly, Marc was killed on impact. Four years earlier, Bolan had headlined the venue himself. His mind seemed to be travelling in a million different directions at the same time. You might have seen me on Top Of The Pops. It was absolutely brilliant. Her rendition of "Dock of the Bay" appears as a bonus track on T.Rex's album Bolan's Zip Gun. Is there anybody with the influence, the means, and most importantly the will !, reading this, whos willing to do so, please. GLORIA, or as i refer to her, the woman who killed marc bolan, was drunk, and had cocaine in her system. Search instead in Creative? If Paul McCartney had died and John Lennon had lived, what wouldve happened then? with a fistful of bowie money, she took rolan and headed to cali. Marc bolan was my idol. Motown. In June 1973 he proclaimed: Glam rock is dead. In spring 1974 he quit Britain to binge on cocaine and booze, and, in thrall to his new love, American singer Gloria Jones, try his hand as a soul-music producer in the States. But with his days as the teen-scream Guru Of Glitter well behind him, with the great ship T.Rextasy lost off the misty coast of Albany, he needed the press. There was no one there apart from me. We were working on this rock opera called The Children Of Rarn, and I was dying to get back to him and do that one properly. Its a tragic loss. I came up with something stock. Six months later T. Rex bassist Steve Currie was killed in a road accident in Portugal. It cant last, he told me in 1972, when the hit parade was studded with his records. I still think that, regardless of what anybody writes in the papers, its good to have the space, he continued. But it was an occasion Ill never forget. A little before five oclock the car left the road at Queens Ride, Barnes Common, and crashed into a tree. I saw genius', Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. I was a big fan and read at the time he was thrown from the car on impact. David Bowie and Rod Stewart were in attendance, as were Steve Harley and members of The Damned. In truth, Bolan had gone through a very problematic period of time. Marc Bolan AKA Mark Feld Born: 30-Sep-1947 Birthplace: London, England [1] Died: 16-Sep-1977 Location of death: London, England Cause of death: Accident - Automobile Remains . Oh yeah, and there was a No.2 single that year as well: Jeepster. Bolan was killed immediately. Find Gloria Jones stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. There was an amazing trade in pillows silk-screened with his face. By spring 1976 Bowie had re-energised himself as the ber-suave Thin White Duke and was playing six sold-out shows at the aforementioned Empire Pool on his Station To Station tour. Marc wanted to live forever. BA1 1UA. On September 16, 1977, Marc was on his way home from a club in Berkeley Square with Gloria Jones. You are right. Together, they had a son, Rolan Bolan (b. To the best of Classic Rocks knowledge, Jones has never spoken publicly about the smash. Bolan and his girlfriend Gloria Jones were out clubbing when she crashed their car into a tree. Did I detect some slight nervousness, a little apprehension behind those lenses? so sad when some one goes before their time..if only if only if only. Gloria Jones lost her husband and father of her child, from a pure accident that any of us, even good drivers, could make. His former manager, Tony Secunda, said the son of a Hackney porter whose real name was Mark Feld had always feared he would die in a car crash. After being friendly glam-rock adversaries, the pairs careers veered off in radically different paths. Jones was seriously injured; Bolan died. I went to 3 of the performances of 2012s 20th Century Boy The Musical at the Coventry Belgrade Theatre the first two and the last one and I absolutely loved the whole cast, including George Maguire, who played The Man Himself but sadly he might not be quite right on film, being so tall. Marc was never cut out. This is the story of his final hours, You see, my idea of rocknroll is that subterranean homesick blues feel, said Marc Bolan. The couple's son Rolan Bolan settled in Los Angeles and became a musician and model for clothing brand Tommy Hilfiger. Police said Bolan, 29, was killed when a car driven by his girlfriend, singer Gloria. Exactly..Gloria was in a coma when Marc died and didnt come around until after his funeral..so there are some obvious lies here! The T Rex star was killed instantly when his car hit a tree in south London. He was only now attempting to reassert his mercurial talents, and re-establish his popularity. Ive just come across all this. He loved kids and he loved kids TV shows. His death haunts so many of us to this day.But how low down for this guy to fabricate such a tale,when there are so many documented accounts of the crash site. This is not just about one moment in the past; its about decades of deceit; decades of wasting everyones time with pathetic lies ; a former public official or the brother of a music personality either defaming their public office, or associating-by-their-relationto them another performers, (their sisters), career, in boring, maudlin tales of woe. For you to say its unfortunate that she didnt also die and take pleasure in her being ripped-off from Marcs inheritance is just appalling and you should be ashamed of yourself. The couple were on the way to Bolan's home in Richmond after a night out at a Mayfair restaurant. I wonder what would have happened if I had gone back but of course I can never know. And maybe acting, too., Steve Harley: The world was a mirror to him. He was the cosmic punk again.. They helped time to pass on the long, and unsuccessful US tours. All of what he says is complete nonsense. Soon after joining T. Rex, Jones and Bolan became romantically involved. Seven years earlier I had become smitten by a certain single that had just been released . Jones was driving. Despite Bolans bravado, Futuristic Dragon only reached a feeble No.50 in the UK album chart. ": How porn, poop and chicken coops derailed Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy, Every issue delivered direct to your door. As the scene rotted, male prostitution gnawed its edges, but in its dedicated pursuit of style an image that could outstare the world the Mod world groomed many a future star. Marc was back on form. He thrived on it., Marc was grateful to have a second chance, says Tony Visconti. Ended up here as I visited this site today as I was in Barnes and my cousin used to live in the house directly behind the crash site double nostalgia. He went on stage and Ill never forget what he said: Hi. What pees me off in this day and age is you never hear any Bolan records played on radio stations. Marc loved it all. But the extremely pretty young Marc Bolan had already enjoyed the fruits of that kind of triumph, and found them inadequate. I only ever interviewed him once. Or find some other hero. Manchester Square was what they called an RTA station and our appliance was carrying specialist rescue equipment.. The singer had transcended the underbelly of glam rock and had become a fully-fledged pop star, even helming his own television show and becoming a huge household name. Thats what I like, thats what Ive always wanted to do. I went back home to Wales. From his early passion for pop music, as a young East End kid, the young Mark Feld grew naturally into that most flamboyantly introspective of the moods of the 1960s the cult of the young Mods. Image supplied by Memory Lane Prints. Its wheels had been balanced and a tyre had been replaced. I say this with no criticism and no malice, but Marc was a fully paid-up member of the Fantasy Island Club. I played the first Tyrannosaurus Rex album recently and then I wrote about 10 songs in the same style, just to show myself that I could still do it, The high woods filled with the bones of broken gods. I wrote that the other day, its a lovely line, isnt it, I mean, how can I honestly sit down and think that in the past Ive been compared to David Cassidy? Neither of the people involved had been wearing a seat belt. #ltjones #marcbolanINSTAGRAM: L_T_Jones But there were drugs mostly cocaine. , Also how could Gloria be standing next to the car? If, people want racism to go away, then it needs to be taken seriously, not thrown around like calling everyone who disagrees with you one. Why do people continue to diminish the word racist? "He would never drive a car, he was always scared - Marc never had a driving licence, he refused to learn," he said. It absolutely HAS to be a beautiful man failing Nye or Alex, a chap similar to both but in his 20s would be ideal. When he came of age he was made aware of his claim to the Off sure Bolan Trust , I went to dinner with one of the lawyers of the trust and questioned, in trust for for who they agreed In Prncipe that Marc son should inherit, but as a child out of wedlock, he was held back , but the courts have now recognized Rolan and Im pleased for Marc about that . So very sad. I couldnt even believe hed died., I was sitting out in my garden. As our interview progressed, it took on a jumbled, disorganised, almost stream of consciousness quality. The managing director of EMI, Bob Mercer, phoned me up. Marc had died at . I didnt understand but now of course I learned that he had a form of dyslexia. And in spite of tours and heavy promotion, Bolan never made the breakthrough into the American market. Thank you Steve for confirming that. When David started singing he and Marc forged a great friendship, recalls Jones today. Hed got rid of his drug habit, hed gone through his arrogant stage, he was almost humble. Bolans mind was brimful of new projects, some completed, several half-finished but most of which never saw the light of day. And there was booze. Bolan died on 16 September 1977, two weeks before his 30th birthday. What T. Rex conquered in their decade long . she has said in interviews that they had been driving for 45 minutes, but the bar was only a mile from where they lived. her injuries (i want to say unfortunately, but i wont) were not life-threatening. Already people had started leaving notes and messages. K.A.L.M.I.Y.H. Hed just make things up. The leader of . At the height of T.Rexs popularity in 1971 Bolan had had two No.1 singles (Hot Love and Get It On) and a No.1 album, Electric Warrior, an all-time classic full of cosmic boogie, slinky sex, unmitigated raunch and rounded off by bucketloads of pixie charisma. Jones broke her jaw in the accident. Hello. Its nice to no the full and true story of what happed that morning I was 21 at the time and my dad told me as I got up to go to work I could not stop crying for ages. Whatever happened to my teenage dream ? She was very badly and seriously injured. At that moment Marcs mother just shrieked: My boy! I started crying and everyone lost it.. My point with this book is to expose the much repeated erroneous reports and false statements surrounding the last few months of Marc Bolans life and to hopefully draw a line under things once and for all. I adored him and his crazy madness.. The tour was a supposedly low-key one, hence the undersized attendance. Following . Someone here is a fantasist; a liar; or, has some private motive: possibly attention-seeking. Thanks for reading this. Richmond, United Kingdom (GB) Marc Bolan (born Mark Feld; 1947 - 1977) was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. And then, much to Bolans delight, he was offered a TV series all of his own, simply titled Marc. She pulled him back to normality. Now Ive levelled out. To see him on stage playing his guitar, laughing and singing now that was rocknroll, yknow? For very little girls, who had just outgrown their teddy bears, Marc Bolan became a replacement. Bond Street. I dont think Ive any idea. 1975). All in all very sad that people need to lie after the event all in all it would seem that Marc was a fairly decent sort of person. The Old Rectory at Weston-under- Penyard, near Ross on Wye belonged to the Hereford Diocese and was put up for sale because it was too expensive to maintain as a clergy house. Neither one was wearing a seat belt,and she was not notified of his death until after the funeral. What a load of tosh. By the end of 1973 he was drinking a bottle a day. It was a long time ago. At least, that was the plan. Her sole Motown effort , a lost masterstroke of the era, is a dazzling showcase for a . Surrealistic rocknroll. About the time Hackney-born Marc Bolan was enjoying his first major hit, Ride a White Swan, in early 1971, Chris Watts from Shepherds Bush joined London Fire Brigade, passing out top of his intake. 1986: Kinross Miners 'killed where they stood', 1968: Post Office backs first class service. For 25 years, the tree on Barnes Common, into which the purple Mini, which Jones was driving, crashed on September 16, 1977, killing Bolan instantly, has been an unlikely shrine, draped with. BP Fallon visited the crash site in Barnes personally. And I dont necessarily mean Watts. Sadly but thankfully rarely, ex service members will later say they attended high profile incidents just to gain attention. Bolans June 1976 single, I Love To Boogie, was more of a simplistic chant than a cast-iron classic. Clarifying certain points and dealing with police and coroner in particular, has been a very slow procedure with many legal hoops to jump through ( or find a way around). Fashion was a part of the phenomenon, so were the new, cool discos of Swinging London. Well her brother and her Career along with the song writing should not of left her destitute but I dont know the in and outs of why she claims to have been very poor as a bonus David Bowie put in place in education facility for Marcs son. Lots of factors were present that wouldnt help. Assuming we are all on This site as fans of Marc , best we dont claw over Gloria , she has worked on a giving charity project , and she claims to be very poor when Marc passed away . Bang on. 1964 (pre Marc Bolan) I was 18 he was 16/17 Still, that didnt stop Melody Maker describing Marc as a faded old tart in a live review. I cant think, I dont have anything to say. and then she became a TV producer. The bad years had taken little toll of his looks, but he would have been 30 next year. Gloria was talented in her own right, penning Tainted Love she and Marcs son ended up with nothing.though there are rumours that the trust fund is finally ready to pay out. so how easy was he lifted out ? And I, in turn, embraced better make relished that the chance to talk to my schoolboy (its that word again) idol. the wheel nuts were loose, pressures wrong, slow puncture , gloria went to repair, but dont think mechanic liked her , any way the car hit concrete post and was propelled into , tying a fox in a tree, as Marc had predicted.. Did they even have seatbelts in that year and model? Then Ride A White Swan [Bolans 1970 hit single] happened and suddenly I was very sellable. T. Rex was the flagship in glam rock. He started to evolve toward the end of his life, but it was too late. I found myself chatting her up. Rock singer MARC BOLAN, 29, was killed early this morning in a car crash. In the 1970s she was a keyboardist and vocalist in Marc Bolan's glam rock band T.Rex. Think the conspiracy theories might be getting a bit stretched. My Electric Warrior character was meant to be a sort of Conan, actually, except that he didnt follow the conventional boring barbarian pattern, Bolan rambled on, going round and round in ever-decreasing circles. Stay safe and drive responsibly, I should add Rolan is close to him Mum and as Marc would say , thats nice ,I like that , it very sweet , I know the day when I listen the first Time your beautful voise and I lost my heart and my soul on YOU Gloria Jones' biggest claim to fame came by accident. So we could blame the car , the tyre shop Gloria went to , the rain , Marcs himself declared his early death , and some lyrics in his songs match the accident . Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). The couple began their set at 3am and then slept Easter Monday off at the family homes of the clubs disc jockeys Rod Gilchrist and Paul Jennings. The couple's 20-month-old son was not in the car when they crashed at 0400 BST on the way to Mr Bolan's home in Richmond after a night out at a Mayfair restaurant. James Ellis -. Something is not right here. He had been reduced to playing Londons Lyceum Ballroom on his Futuristic Dragon tour in front of just 1,000 people. A big robotic arm appeared out of a crack just in front of the coffin and moved it along the rails. My tour manager and I were on the first plane to England. Indeed, many of the burgeoning bands of the day such as Generation X and The Jam guested on Marc. Lets put it this way, he was badly knocked about.. He used to write wonderful stories, but I dont know what happened to them. He loved life. Fire service Records showed that there was no warehouse fire on that date. We didnt meet again. I was close to Mark towards the end of How can one person, then, from what Im given to understand, publically lie and not be held to account ? 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