📰 From Bolan Boogie to Gutter Rock – Feature : Oct. 1972

A raw, unflinching two-page interview with Steve Took pulls back the curtain on his fractured relationship with Marc Bolan and the harsh realities of life after leaving T. Rex.

The piece is laced with bitterness, regret, and dark humour as Took reflects on the glam explosion he helped spark but was largely written out of.

This October 1972 NME feature gives voice to one of glam rock’s most overlooked figures at the exact moment T. Rextasy was at its peak, offering a stark counter-narrative to the glittering Bolan myth.

🗞 New Musical Express

📅 Date: October 14, 1972

⏱ Length: 7 min read

📰 Key Highlights

• Steve Took speaks candidly about his split from Marc Bolan and early T. Rex

• Bitter reflections on Bolan’s ego, the band’s rapid success, and Took’s marginalisation

• Details of Took’s current struggles, musical direction, and attempts at reinvention

• Strong criticism of the glam scene and the “plastic” nature of its stardom

• Charles Shaar Murray’s sharp, empathetic interviewing style

📰 Overview

In mid-October 1972, NME published a major two-page interview with Steve Took, the original percussionist and co-founder of Tyrannosaurus Rex who had been pushed out as the band became T. Rex. The feature stands as one of the most honest and uncomfortable accounts from inside the glam rock bubble at its commercial height.

📰 Source Details

Publication / Venue: New Musical Express (NME)

Date: October 14, 1972

Format: Two-page interview feature

Provenance Notes: Verified directly from the preserved magazine spread; classic early-1970s NME layout with bold headline and prominent photograph of Took.

📰 The Story

Steve Took speaks with remarkable candour about the early days of Tyrannosaurus Rex, the creative partnership with Bolan, and how success changed everything. He describes feeling sidelined as Bolan embraced the full glam image and commercial machinery, claiming the spotlight became increasingly one-sided. Took is frank about the personal and financial fallout, his battles with addiction, and his attempts to rebuild a career on his own terms.

The interview also touches on the broader glam scene, which Took views with a mixture of amusement and disdain. He contrasts the “boogie” era with his own more acoustic, poetic roots, and expresses frustration at being reduced to a footnote in the T. Rex story. Charles Shaar Murray’s questioning allows Took to paint a complex picture — part victim, part survivor, part unreliable narrator.

📰 Visual Archive

Large black-and-white photograph of Steve Took looking directly at the camera with a serious, slightly defiant expression. The image is placed prominently alongside dense columns of text, with the dramatic headline “From Bolan Boogie to Gutter Rock” running across the top of the spread.

Caption: Steve Took interviewed in NME, October 14, 1972.

📰 Related Material

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📰 Closing Notes

This raw 1972 NME interview with Steve Took remains one of the most revealing documents from the heart of the glam era. It gives a voice to the man who helped invent the sound and image of T. Rex but was largely erased from its glittering success story, offering a sobering counterpoint to the official Bolan legend.

#SteveTook #TRex #MarcBolan #NME #1972 #GlamRock

📝 Copyright Notice

All magazine scans, photographs, and original 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. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.