>> TYRANNOSAURUS REX :: MY PEOPLE WERE FAIR AND HAD SKY IN THEIR HAIR... BUT NOW THEY'RE CONTENT TO WEAR STARS ON THEIR BROWS

...was the loquacious title of the first album, both for Tyrannosaurus Rex and myself. By the time we made the album, Marc and Steve had been around to my flat in Earl's Court several times. We rehearsed every song, and even the overdubs, repeatedly because we had a lot of stuff to record in four days. Marc had also written a very catchy ditty called "Debora", and played it live several times on John Peel's radio show. This song was usually the finale when they performed at gigs. It was simple, but could easily go on for 15 minutes. Marc would spontaneously break into "Debora" at my flat for guests who had never heard the song (sometimes this could be a rather tedious experience for the listener).

There was an air of mysticism about Marc. He had a magic kind of charisma that commanded respect. No one could possibly confront him at first. I wouldn't dream of making any changes in his "bopping elf" music -- I saw my job as just recording it faithfully. So this first album was basically Marc and Steve playing their live set, plus the overdubs. I trusted an excellent engineer of those times, Gerald Chevin, to get the most impact possible out of a group which consisted of acoustic guitar and percussion but had no drums or bass -- prerequisites for rock! But the rock spirit was always suggested in Marc's acoustic playing on these early albums. He would've gone electric earlier, if he'd had enough money to buy a Les Paul.

The fifty pounds for artwork went a long way. David Bowie introduced me to his commercial artist friend, George Underwood. George is the guy that punched Bowie out and gave him two different colored eyes. George is a visual genius. I loved what I saw in his portfolio (mainly sci-fi book covers), and gave him a tape and a set of lyrics. He listened intently and came up with the amazing phantasmagorical work of art that became the cover.

"Debora" was a minor hit single. but the album did well on the various charts and we sold over 20,000 copies. John Peel even came to the sessions and read Marc's poetry in the middle of "Frowning Attahualpha".

My first album was a little hit, even though DJs made fun of the band's name and Marc's voice. The success mildly embarrassed Denny Cordell and he wanted to drop them.