Not many tribute acts can boast having shared an original band member and owning the real master tapes – and dungarees.
Ahead of T. Rextasy’s New Wimbledon Theatre gig next month, where three generations of rock n roll fans are expected, their singer tells Lucrezia Alfonsi what the band dedicated to Marc Bolan means to him.
Formed back in 1992, today T. Rextasy is the only official T. Rex tribute band.
Singer and founder Danielz said: “I grew up listening to T. Rex and Marc Bolan and when I got to a stage I was being let down with my own original music I decided to form T. Rextasy.
“There wasn’t a tribute scene back then, so I just went out there, played the music I loved and I still love now.”
It has given him the opportunity to tour the world and meet people he admires, including David Bowie.
Danielz said Marc Bolan doesn’t have the credibility he should. “Marc Bolan was the first person in the ’70s to be glam rock; he was an innovator,” he said. “Bands like The Sweet and Slade followed him into that glam rock scene.
“Marc wrote the songs, he discovered his own image, he went out there and did everything on his own, so there was no manufacturing in T. Rex at all.”
Metal Guru, produced in the 1970s by David Bowie’s producer Tony Visconti, has a special meaning for Danielz.
“Metal Guru was an amazing tune, lyrics were totally unique and all that was captured in under three minutes on a piece of black vinyl, which is an amazing thing for me,” he said.
Thanks to his experience in T.Rextasy, Danielz said he became a good friend to Marc Bolan and Tony Visconti, who told him that when he first saw the band live he was surprised that on stage T. Rextasy sounded just like T. Rex.
T. Rextasy even had a member of T. Rex playing in the band – the original keyboard player Dino Dines – who sadly died in 2004.
According to Danielz, T. Rextasy are carrying out Marc Bolan’s legacy in a respectful way, without passing as copycats.
They are happy to be endorsed by Marc Bolan’s record company and for having had the opportunity of knowing people who were close to Marc.
Danielz even collects memorabilia from T.Rex. He said: “In the Christmas edition of Top of the Pops in 1972, Marc was wearing a pair of blue lame dungarees when singing Metal Guru and I have those dungarees.
“But I also own shoes, T-shirts he owned, original poetry and the most amazing thing is that I own a lot of his master tapes and the latter are very special as they need to be kept at a special temperature so they don’t disintegrate.”
Danielz said: “We give a real T. Rex rock n roll gig, all ages can come, it doesn’t matter if you’re 10 years old or 70 years old, we tend to attract three generations of people and they all get into it.
“Come along, have a great time and listen to some real pure live T. Rex rock n roll.”
T. Rextasy play at New Wimbledon Theatre on Sunday February 4, tickets from £23.
