100 Greatest Songs of the 70’s #25 T.Rex – Hot Love

Released: 1971

Sex has always been a key constituent of pop’s DNA – it’s forebear was called rock n’ roll for a reason – and although sometimes it’s use is accidental, for Marc Bolan that was certainly not the case. As Tyrannosaurus Rex the band he formed in 1967 produced four albums of hippie swirl to a gradually warming audience, eventually headlining the first Glastonbury festival in 1970.

Then came the sex. Bolan shortened the name, revamped both the band, recruiting drummer Bill Legend and the bassist Steve Currie, and then his look, making the most of what he had by donning make up and changing out his wardrobe. His timing was everything, the softening of hard rock to boogie creating glam and along with Bowie these new faces blurred the lines between gender and sexuality, with boys and girls alike digging it.

Hot Love was the first T.Rex single which Legend drummed on, but more significantly broke out the minimalist swing which would give Bolan the platform to peacock so successfully. The hysteria it helped to inspire would be given it’s own label, T-Rextasy, and once again lust was top of the charts.