Solid Gold Easy Action

""Solid Gold Easy Action""
German picture sleeve by Ariola label
Single by T.Rex
from the album Great Hits (1972)
A-side"Solid Gold Easy Action"
B-side"Born To Boogie"
Released1 December 1972
GenreGlam rock[1]
Length2:14
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Marc Bolan
Producer(s)Tony Visconti
T.Rex singles chronology
"Children of the Revolution"
(1972) 		""Solid Gold Easy Action""
(1972) 		"20th Century Boy"
(1973)

"Solid Gold Easy Action" is a song by T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan. It was released as a single on 1 December 1972[2] and reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart.[3][4] The song did not feature on an original studio album but was included on the 1972 Great Hits compilation album issued by EMI Records, as well as most CD reissues of Tanx. It was beaten to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart by "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" by Little Jimmy Osmond (one week).

Lyrical content and recording

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Kerrang! magazine founder Geoff Barton, wrote in an article for Classic Rock magazine that the first two lines of the song, "Life is the same and it always will be / Easy as picking foxes from a tree", appeared to predict Marc Bolan's own death in 1977. The number plate of the car Bolan was in during the fatal collision with a tree was FOX 661L.[5] This is one of many supposed 'prophesies' surrounding Marc Bolan's death.[6]

A working version of the song known as "Fast Blues Easy Action" was recorded on 2 August 1972, with the final take put down at Strawberry Studios, Chateau d'Herouville in France between 21-25 October. A special mix of the recording was used for the group's appearance on Top of the Pops, with Bolan writing "for show only-live vocal-girl low low strings-please track loud" on the tape box.[7] "Sold Gold Easy Action" was the first T. Rex single since "Ride A White Swan" not to feature Flo & Eddie on backing vocals, with two female vocalists named Sue and Sunny used instead. This, plus the ultrafast tempo of the song, were noted by Bolan in a contemporary interview as attempts to disrupt the normal T. Rex formula.[7]

Reception

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Like the previous single "Children of the Revolution", "Solid Gold Easy Action" stalled at number 2 on the UK chart as Bolan's popularity began to show the first signs of a mild slip. It was also less well received critically, with Danny Holloway of NME noting that the "main riff violates the speed limit" but otherwise "consists of cliches reworked to sound their own". Peter Jones of Record Mirror wrote that the song had a "shoulder shrugging approach which is a bit boring" yet conceded that "Marc has a dead-centre knack of knowing what is commercial..."[7]

Other versions

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  • The song was covered by Department S, with backing vocals provided by Thunderthighs[8] as the B-side to the original Demon (D 1003) issue of the "Is Vic There?" single in 1980. Bananarama originally recorded the backing vocals[9] but these were replaced by Thunderthighs on the released version.[8]
  • It was covered by The Fratellis in 2007 for the soundtrack of the film Hot Fuzz.[10]
  • Kim Wilde performed the song live during the second leg of her Perfect Girl tour in November 2007.[11]
  • In 2015 the song was used in an Asda advert in the UK.[12]
  • A portion of the song was featured in the third episode of The Good Guys.
  • The song was also included in the movie The Dirt, based on the life and career of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe.[13]
  • Two lines from the song are included at the end of "Top Twenty" by The Undertones.

Track listing

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  1. "Solid Gold Easy Action"
  2. "Born to Boogie"

There is a 12-second un-credited spoken intro on the b-side, titled "Xmas Message", which was later called "Xmas Riff" when it was included in the Rhino Singles compilation.[14]

Personnel

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Chart performance

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Chart (1972–1973) Peak
position
Australia (Go-Set Top 40)[15] 39
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[16] 13
France (SNEP)[17] 68
Germany (GfK)[18] 6
Ireland (IRMA)[19] 4
Norway (VG-lista)[20] 5
UK Singles (OCC)[4] 2

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 822. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8. (Bolan) started writing manic chant-along glam-rock hits such as "Metal Guru," "20th Century Boy," "Solid Gold Easy Action," and "Children of the Revolution."
  2. ^ "T. Rex - Solid Gold Easy Action", 45cat.com, retrieved 6 September 2022
  3. ^ Rice, Tim; Roberts, David (2001), Guinness Book of British Hit Singles, Guinness World Records, p. 435, ISBN 0-85112-156-X
  4. ^ a b "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  5. ^ Barton, Geoff (22 June 2012), 1977: Did Marc Bolan predict his own death?, Classic Rock, archived from the original on 25 June 2012, retrieved 30 May 2013
  6. ^ Gallucci, Michael (29 January 2013), Marc Bolan – Famous Musicians Who Correctly Predicted Their Own Death, Ultimate Classic Rock, retrieved 30 August 2014
  7. ^ a b c McLenahan, Cliff (2019). Marc Bolan: 1947-1977 A Chronology. Helter Skelter Books.
  8. ^ a b Kutner, Jon (26 June 2016). "SINGLE OF THE WEEK - Is Vic There? (Department S)". Jonkutner.com. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  9. ^ Bananarama Aie A Mwana, Bananarama UK, archived from the original on 7 July 2011, retrieved 14 January 2011
  10. ^ Phares, Heather. Hot Fuzz – Cherry Tree at AllMusic
  11. ^ Solid Gold Easy Action, Wilde Life, retrieved 14 January 2011
  12. ^ "Spirit Global". Spirit Music Group. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  13. ^ Lifton, Dave; Wilkening, Matthew (22 June 2012), The Stories Behind the Non-Motley Crue Songs in 'The Dirt', Ultimate Classic Rock, retrieved 3 April 2019
  14. ^ "The T-Rex Wax Co. Singles A's And B's 1972-77 sleeve notes". Rhino Records. Always previously described as "Xmas Message", we've recently discovered (on a handwritten white label demo) that Bolan referred to this short, seasonal spoken-word piece as "Xmas Riff". So that's what this super funk message to his fans now becomes.
  15. ^ "Solid gold easy action in Australian Chart". Poparchives.com.au. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  16. ^ "T. REX – SOLID GOLD - EASY ACTION" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  17. ^ "Solid gold easy action in French Chart" (in French). Dominic DURAND / InfoDisc. 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 19 March 2005. Retrieved 18 July 2013. Select "T. Rex" from the artist drop-down menu
  18. ^ "T. Rex – Solid Gold – Easy Action" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  19. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Solid Gold Easy Action". Irish Singles Chart.
  20. ^ "T. REX – SOLID GOLD - EASY ACTION". VG-lista.
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