📰BBC Top Gear Session – Article: Mar. 1968

Tyrannosaurus Rex record a six‑track session for John Peel’s Top Gear at BBC Studio 1, Piccadilly, capturing the duo at their earliest and most mystical.

Recorded on March 11, 1968 and broadcast across two Top Gear programmes, these performances showcase Marc Bolan and Steve Peregrin Took at their most intimate — acoustic, incantatory, and steeped in early T. Rex mythology.

📰 Key Highlights

• Recorded March 11, 1968, BBC Studio 1, 201 Piccadilly, London

• First broadcast on 24 March 1968 (tracks 1‑13 & 1‑14)

• Second broadcast on 5 May 1968 (tracks 1‑15 to 1‑18)

• Features six early Tyrannosaurus Rex songs, several with Peel‑era spoken chat

• Captures the duo’s pre‑electric, pre‑glam sound

• A rare document of Bolan’s formative songwriting and Took’s percussive textures

📰 Overview

In early 1968, Tyrannosaurus Rex were still an underground duo — Marc Bolan on acoustic guitar and vocals, Steve Peregrin Took on bongos, pixiephone, and assorted percussion. Their appearance on John Peel’s Top Gear was crucial: Peel championed them relentlessly, helping transform the pair from Ladbroke Grove mystics into cult favourites.

This BBC session, recorded on March 11, 968, is one of the earliest surviving professional recordings of the group. It captures the hypnotic, incantatory style that defined their first two albums and reveals Bolan’s lyrical world before the electric transformation into T. Rex.

📰 Source Details

Publication / Venue: BBC Radio 1 – Top Gear

Date: Recorded 11 March 1968

Issue / Format: Radio session (six tracks)

Provenance Notes: Based on BBC transcription logs and broadcast documentation.

📰 The Story

The session was recorded at BBC Studio 1, 201 Piccadilly, a room known for its warm acoustics and suitability for small‑ensemble performances. Bolan and Took delivered six songs, several interspersed with Peel’s conversational introductions and Bolan’s own whimsical asides.

Tracks recorded:

• 1‑13 – “Knight” (with chat) – 2:26

  A compact, rhythmic performance with Bolan’s voice in its early tremulous style.

  
  

• 1‑14 – “Frowning Atahuallpa” (with chat) – 4:41

  One of the duo’s most atmospheric early pieces, expanded with Peel‑era commentary.

  
  

• 1‑15 – “Strange Orchestras” – 1:53

  A short, mystical vignette typical of Bolan’s 1968 songwriting.

  
  

• 1‑16 – “Afghan Woman” (with chat) – 2:04

  A delicate performance with Took’s percussion adding subtle colour.

  
  

• 1‑17 – “Deborah” (with chat) – 3:13

  A key early Bolan composition, later re‑recorded for their debut album.

  
  

• 1‑18 – “Mustang Ford” (with chat) – 3:17

  A rare early version of one of Bolan’s most enduring pre‑T. Rex songs.

The first two tracks were broadcast on 24 March 1968, while the remaining four aired on May 5, 1968, reflecting Peel’s habit of spreading sessions across multiple programmes.

These recordings capture the duo’s chemistry at its peak: Took’s inventive percussion and Bolan’s mystical lyricism intertwine in a way that would soon evolve but never be replicated.

📰 Visual Archive

Tyrannosaurus Rex’s BBC Top Gear session, recorded 11 March 1968 and broadcast across March and May 1968.

📰 Related Material

Explore the tags below for connected posts and themes.

📰 Closing Notes

This session stands as one of the most important early documents of Marc Bolan’s artistic evolution — a moment when Tyrannosaurus Rex were still a mystical folk duo, yet already unmistakably themselves.

#TyrannosaurusRex #MarcBolan #StevePeregrinTook #TopGear #JohnPeel #BBC1968 #FolkPsychedelia

📰 Sources

• BBC transcription logs

• Top Gear broadcast documentation

• Tyrannosaurus Rex session histories

📝 Copyright Notice

All BBC recordings, photographs, and text excerpts referenced in this entry remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Chronicle entry is a transformative, non‑commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference.