"Metal Guru" is a song by the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band T.Rex, written by 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...

. It was the band's fourth (and final) number one on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 when it topped the chart for four weeks in May-June 1972. It was also included on the album The Slider

The Slider

The Slider is the seventh studio album by British glam rock band T. Rex, released on July 21, 1972. Produced by Tony Visconti, it was the band's second record released with their new glam rock style opposed to the band's previous folk oriented music....

in 1972.

Despite coming only ten months after the success of "Get It On", it failed to chart in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The song reached #45 in Canada in July 1972.

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...

 himself described the song's apparent religious references as this:

"Is a festival of life song. I relate 'Metal Guru' to all Gods around. I believe in a God, but I have no religion. With 'Metal Guru', it's like someone special, it must be a Godhead. I thought how God would be, he'd be all alone without a telephone. I don't answer the phone any more. I have codes where people ring me at certain times."

Track listing

United Kingdom (EMI)

1. "Metal Guru"
2. "Thunderwing"
3. "Lady"

Germany (Ariola)

1. "Metal Guru" (2:25)
2. "Lady" (2:12)

France (Columbia)

1. "Metal Guru" (3:45)
2. "Lady" (3:50)

Personnel

• 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...
  
  : vocals, guitar
• Mickey Finn
  Mickey Finn
  Mickey Finn may refer to:* Mickey Finn , a drug-laced drink* Mickey Finn , a long-running comic strip* Micky Finn , a fictional character and pseudonym of the 19th century writer Ernest Jarrold...
  
  : percussion, vocals
• Steve Currie
  Steve Currie
  Steve 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
• Bill Legend
  Bill Legend
  Bill Legend was the drummer for glam rock band T.Rex during their most successful period....
  
  : drums

• Howard Kaylan
  Howard Kaylan
  Howard Kaylan is an American rock and roll musician, best known as a founding member and lead singer of the 1960s band, The Turtles, and "Eddie" of 1970's rock band Flo & Eddie.-Early days:...
  
  , Mark Volman
  Mark Volman
  Mark Volman is an American rock and roll singer, best known as a founding member of the 1960s band The Turtles. At times during his career he has used the pseudonym "The Phlorescent Leech"...
  
  : backing vocals
• Tony Visconti
  Tony Visconti
  Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
  
  : string arrangements

• Produced by Tony Visconti

Cover versions

In 2005, rock band Rooney

Rooney (band)

Rooney is an American rock band from Los Angeles, currently self-produced and formerly signed to Geffen Records. The band is now composed of Robert Schwartzman , Louie Stephens , Taylor Locke , Ned Brower , and Brandon Schwartzel...

 covered the song for the Herbie: Fully Loaded

Herbie: Fully Loaded

Herbie: Fully Loaded is a 2005 American comedy film directed by Angela Robinson and produced by Robert Simonds for Walt Disney Pictures. It stars Lindsay Lohan as the youngest member of an automobile-racing family, Michael Keaton as her father, Matt Dillon as a competing racer, Breckin Meyer as...

 soundtrack.

Metal Guru was covered and recorded by Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

n new wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 band Električni orgazam

Električni Orgazam

Električni Orgazam is a Serbian rock band from Belgrade. Originally starting as a combination of New Wave, punk rock and post-punk, the band later slowly changed their style, becoming a mainstream rock act.- New Wave years :...

 as a B-side for the band's fourth single Locomotion

The Loco-Motion

"The Loco-Motion" is a 1962 pop song written by American songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King. The song is notable for appearing in the American Top 5 three times – each time in a different decade: for Little Eva in 1962 ; for Grand Funk Railroad in 1974 ; and for Kylie Minogue in 1988 "The...

 from their cover album Les Chansones Populaires

Les Chansones Populaires

-Personnel:*Grof — bass guitar*Piko — drums*Ljubomir Jovanović — guitar*Srđan Gojković — guitar, lead vocals*Ljubomir Đukić — piano, synthesizer, vocals...

 released in 1983. Srđan Gojković Gile provided the lead vocals for the track. There are no recorded live versions of the song.

The band The Smiths

The Smiths

The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...

 based their song Panic on Metal Guru.

American Indie Rock band Louis XIV (band)

Louis XIV (band)

Louis XIV was an American rock band from San Diego, California.-Beginnings: :Lead singer/guitarist Jason Hill, guitarist Brian Karscig, and drummer Mark Maigaard formed the group in April 2003 while living in Paris, France. Bassist James Armbrust soon joined after.Louis XIV, the band's first album,...

 were also heavily influenced by this song for the composition of A Letter to Dominique, which is from their second album The Best Little Secrets Are Kept

The Best Little Secrets Are Kept

The Best Little Secrets Are Kept is the second album by Louis XIV. It was released on March 21, 2005 internationally and a day later in the United States...

.