Dandy in the Underworld
Encyclopedia
Dandy in the Underworld is the twelfth and final studio album by British rock band T. Rex. It was released on March 11, 1977 and reached a chart peak in the UK of #26. It was the band's highest-charting album since 1974's Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow
. After three commercially weak albums, Dandy in the Underworld was regarded by many T. Rex fans as a comeback for the band. However, it would prove to be the band's final album, as Marc Bolan
was to die in a car crash in September 1977. The album was praised for the strength of the songwriting and Bolan's vocal performances.
The title track was released as a single but failed to chart. "I Love to Boogie" and "The Soul of My Suit" did achieve chart placings in the UK.
and T. Rex were on a UK tour, supported by The Damned. The album and tour were notable for marking a return to form for the band. Dandy in the Underworld gathered the most consistently positive reviews for any T. Rex album in five years. Having fallen from critical and commercial favour, the band had endured some fiercely hostile press, but NME
, which had been amongst the most negative, noted of the album: "very listenable, well arranged immaculately played."
The sessions had started in Los Angeles
in August 1976 and carried on until the end of the year, in UK studios.
Recording engineer Jennifer Maidman writes:
"I worked on two tracks on this album, along with a number of other songs including a later single "Laser Love". The track "I Love to Boogie" was recorded and mixed in a single day at Decibel Studios in Stoke Newington, London N16. The studio was very small and funky, Marc liked it because it reminded him of the old Sun Studio
in Memphis where a lot of early rock and roll records were made. The single was mastered from what was originally intended to be a rough mix which Marc took home. It was mixed in about fifteen minutes by myself and Marc, I just threw up the faders, there were no computers in those days, and we went "Ok that'll do". Mick O'Halloran, Marc's roadie was going "Hurry up, we've got to leave now", I think Marc had an appointment or something, You can hear that the guitar solo is a bit on the quiet side and the tape echo on the voice varies, it's about right by the end. We got Dino's Fender Rhodes piano to distort a bit by cranking up the input on the desk, crude but quick and effective. Try doing that on a modern digital desk! Anyway, Marc liked the mix so much that it was released just as it was, much to my surprise, but it still sounds good thirty years later. The master mix was also done at 7.5 inches per second as I recall, rather than the usual 15 ips. This was so that Marc could play it on his reel to reel at home that night. This, along with the fact that the multitrack was an Ampex two inch 16 track machine rather than the 24 track which was more common by then, helps to give the track it's beefy sound. The other song on the album we did at Decibel was "Universe", which was subsequently overdubbed and mixed at Air studios by Mike Stavrou I think. These were also the last tracks that Marc did with the old rhythm section of Steve Currie and Davy Lutton before Tony Newman and Herbie Flowers came on board."
Dandy in the Underworld was launched at London's leading punk rock
venue, The Roxy
. Only the title track was released from the album as a single, in a remixed and re-recorded version with the 'offending' lyrics "Exalted companion of cocaine
nights" being changed to "T. Rex nights". The track "Visions of Domino" was a re-recording of the previous single "Funky London Childhood". A final single, "Celebrate Summer", was released in August, ironically (as events turned out) being backed by a previous track from the Futuristic Dragon
album, "Ride My Wheels".
.
1994 CD reissue (Edsel EDCD395)
Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow
Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow – A Creamed Cage in August is the ninth studio album by Marc Bolan & T. Rex, released in February 1974. When originally released the initial pressings were a multi-layered triple gatefold sleeve, a latticework image of the current cover featuring...
. After three commercially weak albums, Dandy in the Underworld was regarded by many T. Rex fans as a comeback for the band. However, it would prove to be the band's final album, as Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
was to die in a car crash in September 1977. The album was praised for the strength of the songwriting and Bolan's vocal performances.
The title track was released as a single but failed to chart. "I Love to Boogie" and "The Soul of My Suit" did achieve chart placings in the UK.
Background
At the time of the album's release, Marc BolanMarc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
and T. Rex were on a UK tour, supported by The Damned. The album and tour were notable for marking a return to form for the band. Dandy in the Underworld gathered the most consistently positive reviews for any T. Rex album in five years. Having fallen from critical and commercial favour, the band had endured some fiercely hostile press, but NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, which had been amongst the most negative, noted of the album: "very listenable, well arranged immaculately played."
The sessions had started in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in August 1976 and carried on until the end of the year, in UK studios.
Recording engineer Jennifer Maidman writes:
"I worked on two tracks on this album, along with a number of other songs including a later single "Laser Love". The track "I Love to Boogie" was recorded and mixed in a single day at Decibel Studios in Stoke Newington, London N16. The studio was very small and funky, Marc liked it because it reminded him of the old Sun Studio
Sun Studio
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business...
in Memphis where a lot of early rock and roll records were made. The single was mastered from what was originally intended to be a rough mix which Marc took home. It was mixed in about fifteen minutes by myself and Marc, I just threw up the faders, there were no computers in those days, and we went "Ok that'll do". Mick O'Halloran, Marc's roadie was going "Hurry up, we've got to leave now", I think Marc had an appointment or something, You can hear that the guitar solo is a bit on the quiet side and the tape echo on the voice varies, it's about right by the end. We got Dino's Fender Rhodes piano to distort a bit by cranking up the input on the desk, crude but quick and effective. Try doing that on a modern digital desk! Anyway, Marc liked the mix so much that it was released just as it was, much to my surprise, but it still sounds good thirty years later. The master mix was also done at 7.5 inches per second as I recall, rather than the usual 15 ips. This was so that Marc could play it on his reel to reel at home that night. This, along with the fact that the multitrack was an Ampex two inch 16 track machine rather than the 24 track which was more common by then, helps to give the track it's beefy sound. The other song on the album we did at Decibel was "Universe", which was subsequently overdubbed and mixed at Air studios by Mike Stavrou I think. These were also the last tracks that Marc did with the old rhythm section of Steve Currie and Davy Lutton before Tony Newman and Herbie Flowers came on board."
Dandy in the Underworld was launched at London's leading punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
venue, The Roxy
The Roxy
The Roxy was a fashionable nightclub on Neal Street in London's Covent Garden, known for hosting the flowering British punk music scene in its infancy.-Brief history:...
. Only the title track was released from the album as a single, in a remixed and re-recorded version with the 'offending' lyrics "Exalted companion of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
nights" being changed to "T. Rex nights". The track "Visions of Domino" was a re-recording of the previous single "Funky London Childhood". A final single, "Celebrate Summer", was released in August, ironically (as events turned out) being backed by a previous track from the Futuristic Dragon
Futuristic Dragon
Futuristic Dragon is the eleventh studio album by T. Rex, released in 1976. Preceded by two UK Top 40 hits, "New York City" and "Dreamy Lady" , Futuristic Dragon was released in January, reaching #50. It was T. Rex's first album to register in the charts since Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of...
album, "Ride My Wheels".
Reissues
Dandy in the Underworld was remastered for CD by Edsel Records in 1994 as part of their extensive T. Rex reissue campaign. A number of bonus tracks were added (see below). A companion release, entitled Prince of Players (The Alternate Dandy in the Underworld) was released in 1998 which contained alternative versions and studio rough mixes of the main album and bonus tracks. A combined album digipak (MEDCD720) was released in 2002.Track listing
All songs written and composed by Marc BolanMarc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
.
- "Dandy in the Underworld" – 4:33
- "Crimson Moon" – 3:22
- "Universe" – 2:43
- "I'm a Fool For You Girl" – 2:16
- "I Love to Boogie" – 2:14
- "Visions of Domino" – 2:23
- "Jason B. Sad" – 3:22
- "Groove a Little" – 3:24
- "The Soul of My Suit" – 2:37
- "Hang Ups" – 3:28
- "Pain and Love" – 3:41
- "Teen Riot Structure" – 3:33
1994 CD reissue (Edsel EDCD395)
- "To Know You Is to Love You" (To Know Him Is to Love HimTo Know Him Is to Love Him"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone. It was first recorded by his first vocal group, the only one of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1958...
) - 2:43 - "City Port" - 2:41
- "Dandy in the Underworld" (Single Version) - 3:49
- "Tame My Tiger" - 2:30
- "Celebrate Summer" - 2:36
Prince of Players (The Alternate Dandy in the Underworld) (EDCD 523)
- "Dandy in the Underworld" (Live) – 3:58
- "Crimson Moon" – 3:10
- "I'm a Fool For You Girl" – 2:17
- "I Love to Boogie" – 2:11
- "Funky London Childhood" – 2:29
- "Jason B. Sad" – 3:26
- "Groove a Little" (Live) – 3:25
- "The Soul of My Suit" – 4:16
- "Hang Ups" (Live) – 4:59
- "Pain and Love" – 3:49
- "Teen Riot Structure" – 3:38
- "To Know You Is to Love You" (To Know Him Is to Love Him) - 3:41
- "City Port" (1973) - 2:55
- "Tame My Tiger" - 2:46
- "Celebrate Summer" - 2:20
- "I Love to Boogie" - 2:05
- "Soul of My Suit" - 2:41
- "Pain and Love" - 1:31
- "Teen Riot Structure" - 2:42
- "Celebrate Summer" - 2:49
- "Weird Strings" - 5:33
- The live versions were previously released on the 1997 Edsel album Live 1977 (EDCD 530).
Personnel
- Marc BolanMarc BolanMarc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
: vocals, guitars, bass, percussion, maracas, tambourine - Steve HarleySteve HarleySteve Harley is an English singer and songwriter, best known for his work with the 1970s rock group Cockney Rebel, with whom he still occasionally tours .-Biography:As a child, Harley suffered from polio, spending four years in hospital up to the...
: backing vocals - Alfalpha: Nick Laird-ClowesNick Laird-ClowesNick Laird-Clowes is a musician, most famous for his membership as the lead singer and one of the principal songwriters for the band called The Dream Academy...
, Andy Harley, Sam Harley: backing vocals - Gloria JonesGloria JonesGloria Richetta Jones is an American singer and songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She recorded the 1964 northern soul song, "Tainted Love", later a hit for the British synth-pop duo, Soft Cell. She was the girlfriend of glam rock artist Marc Bolan of the band T...
and Colin Jacas: backing vocals - Dino DinesDino DinesDino Dines was a keyboardist best known for his work with T. Rex. He also worked with The Apostolic Intervention, The Keef Hartley Band, P.P. Arnold and The Hollies. Dino died of a heart attack in 2004.-External links:*...
: keyboards - Tony NewmanTony Newman (drummer)Richard Anthony 'Tony' Newman is an English rock drummer. He was at various times a member of the bands Sounds Incorporated, May Blitz, Three Man Army and T...
: drums - Herbie FlowersHerbie FlowersHerbie Flowers is an English musician specialising in bass guitar, double-bass and tuba. He is noted as a member of Blue Mink, T...
: bass - Scott Edwards: bass
- Paul HumphreysPaul HumphreysPaul Humphreys is a British musician.-Life and career:He is best known as a member of synth pop group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark , which he founded with Andy McCluskey in 1978.He grew up on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England, during which time he developed his interest in German...
: drums - Miller AndersonMiller Anderson (musician)Miller Anderson is a UK based blues guitarist and singer.Apart from pursuing his own solo career, he was a member of the Keef Hartley Band. Other groups Anderson has been associated with are; the Spencer Davis Group, Broken Glass, The Dukes, Savoy Brown, T.Rex and Chicken Shack...
: guitars - Steve CurrieSteve CurrieSteve Currie was born in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, England. He was best known as the bass player and long term member of the English glam rock band T.Rex....
: bass guitar - Davy Lutton: drums
- Chris Mercer: saxophone
- Bud Beadle: sax/flute
- J.B. Long: violin