"Solid Gold Easy Action" is a song by

T. Rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' liv ...

, written by

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted into ...

. It was released as a single on 1 December 1972 and reached No. 2 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The song did not feature on an original studio album but was included on the 1972 ''Great Hits'' compilation album issued by

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

. It was beaten to No. 1 in the

by "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" by Little Jimmy Osmond (1 week).

Lyrical content

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication '' Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

magazine founder

Geoff Barton Geoff Barton (born July 1955) is a British journalist who founded the heavy metal magazine ''Kerrang!'' and was an editor of ''Sounds'' music magazine. He joined ''Sounds'' at the age of 19 after completing a journalism course at the London Col ...

, wrote in an article for

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

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 licence plate of the car Bolan was in during the fatal collision with a tree was FOX 661L. This is one of many supposed 'prophesies' surrounding Marc Bolan's death.

Other versions

* The song was covered by Department S, with backing vocals provided by Thunderthighs as the B-side to the original Demon (D 1003) issue of the " Is Vic There?" single in 1980.

Bananarama Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. The ...

originally recorded the backing vocals but these were replaced by Thunderthighs on the released version. * It was covered by

The Fratellis The Fratellis are a Scottish rock band from Glasgow, formed in 2005. The band consists of three unrelated members, who perform under pseudonyms: lead vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli, bassist Barry Fratelli, and drummer Mince Fratelli. Their ...

in 2007 for the soundtrack of the film ''

Hot Fuzz ''Hot Fuzz'' is a 2007 action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Starring Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton, and Jim Broadbent, the film centres on two police officers investigating a series of mysterious ...

''. *

Kim Wilde Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer, DJ and television presenter. She first saw success in 1981 with her debut single " Kids in America", which peaked at No. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award ...

performed the song live during the second leg of her '' Perfect Girl'' tour in November 2007. * In 2015 the song was used in an

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...

advert in the UK. * A portion of the song was featured in the third episode of "

The Good Guys (2010 TV series) ''The Good Guys'' is an American action-comedy series about an old-school cop and a modern-day detective that premiered with a preview episode on Fox on May 19, 2010, and began airing regularly on June 7 of that year. The series stars Bradley ...

". * The song was also included in the movie ''

The Dirt ''The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band'' () is a collaborative autobiography of Mötley Crüe by the band – Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, Vince Neil and Nikki Sixx – and ''New York Times'' writer Neil Strauss. First publi ...

'', based on the life and career of the heavy metal band

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albu ...

Track listing

#"Solid Gold Easy Action" #"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 A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

''Singles'' compilation.

Personnel

– lead vocals, guitar * Mickey Finn – congas, *

Steve Currie Steve Currie (19 May 1947 – 28 April 1981) was an English musician who was best known as the bass player and a long-term member of the English glam rock band T. Rex. While working for the local Tax office, Currie played with local Grimsb ...

– bass guitar *

Bill Legend Bill Legend (born William Arthur Fifield, 8 May 1944, Barking, Essex, England) is an English musician and former drummer for glam rock band T. Rex during their most successful period. Biography One of three children, Legend worked as a commer ...

– Drums * Sue and Sunny – Backing Vocals *

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of many ...

– producer, string arrangement, backing vocals

Chart performance

References

External links

* * *
Lyrics
at LyricWiki {{Authority control 1972 singles T. Rex (band) songs Songs written by Marc Bolan Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti