20th Century Boy. Original Photographs of Marc Bolan

Brighton: [Self-published], 2006. SIGNED by the photographer. From Ian Dickson's 'Collector's Series'; a range of handmade box sets, each title containing seven hand-printed images in signed mounts; offered in Standard, Digital or DeLuxe (best) edition. '20th Century Boy' comprises six silver gelatine prints and one colour digital print of Glam-Rock legend Marc Bolan live on stage; this is the superior De Luxe edition which uses fibre-based prints (instead of resin-coated), in hinged archival mounts (instead of standard mounts). Each print is signed by the photographer on the mount. This is copy no.4 of an unspecified edition number (perhaps fewer than 10 examples), the series now having been discontinued by the publisher due to production costs and time constraints. The mounted photographs are contained in archival quality polyester sleeves with a frame dimension of 11 x 14 inches. Housed in an illustrated clamshell box (charmingly home-made by Dickson himself) with a numbered certificate affixed to the underside of the lid. The highly individual cover art is by famed cartoonist/illustrator Ray Lowry and a short but entertaining biography of the photographer 'Hired Gun' (also with Lowry-designed cover) completes the attractive package. A fine copy. Chameleon songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan, like his friend and contemporary David Bowie, went through various personas and images, but is best remembered as a pioneer of the Glam-rock era of the early-mid '70s. His music career, like Bowie, began in the mid-sixties, as a troubadour folk singer under the guise 'Toby Tyler'. he then joined the cult proto-punk band 'John's Children' in early '67, who were a notorious live act but sold few records. He and their drummer Steve Peregrin Took created Tyrannosaurus Rex, a psychedelic-folk rock acoustic duo, playing Bolan's deceptively melodic songs—complete with J. R. R. Tolkien-influenced lyrics. This edition of Tyrannosaurus Rex released three albums and four singles, flirting with the charts, and getting airplay from Radio 1 DJ John Peel. A highlight of this era was playing at the first free Hyde Park concert in 1968. Mickey Finn then replaced Took after their first American tour when Bolan wanted to chnge direction- A rock'n'roller at heart (at first he played skiffle and worshipped Gene Vincent and Chuck Berry), Bolan began bringing amplified guitar lines into the duo's music, buying a vintage Gibson Les Paul guitar for an authentic sound (the same guitar later featured the 'T.Rex' LP sleeve, 1970). Suitably equipped, he let the electric influences come forward even further on 'A Beard of Stars', the final album to be credited to Tyrannosaurus Rex. It closed with a song, "Elemental Child", featuring a long electric guitar break influenced by Jimi Hendrix. Next, with producer Tony Visconti, Bolan wrote and recorded "Ride A White Swan", dominated by a rolling, backbeat and fuzzy, spiky electric guitar, the name was edited to 'T.rex' and the single became an overnight success and largely (and, in many ways, unwittingly) invented the style that would become glam rock and helped restore a brash and exciting feel, when rock bands had grown increasingly self-important. With his corkscrew hair and boyish good looks, Bolan's emergence heralded the start of a new era of British music which could be appreciated by both serious rock fans and pop-loving kids. The band grew to a quartet, with added bass and drums, and T.Rextasy took hold, with their simple, catchy, boogie- based rock producing a string of classic singles such as 'Get It On', 'Telegram Sam', 'Metal Guru', 'Children Of The Revolution', '20th Century Boy' and 'The Groover'. Ian Dickson has been photographing rock stars since 1972 and his work has appeared in Disc, Record Mirror, New Musical Express, Sounds, Vox, Mojo, Q, Rolling Stone and elsewhere. His first exhibition was in London in 1992 and several successful European shows followed. In 1994, a selection of his work was shown at the MTV Awards in Berlin, at the Brit Awards at Alexandra Palace, and at the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo and Copenhagen. A feature on his portfolio was published in the March 1995 issue of Q magazine and in August that year, he was recognised by the 'Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum' who included his famous Rod Stewart 'pyjama' portrait; this was followed by an Eric Clapton and a Muddy Waters portrait, added in February 2000.