>> T. REX :: T. REX / THE BEST OF T. REX

Our musical forays exploded with this one. I had always written T.Rex in my appointment book when I had a Tyrannosaurus Rex session and Marc always reprimanded me for using the shorthand form of the name. I wasn't surprised when he changed the name of the group to T.Rex. It had pizzazz. We needed a dose of that.

We were getting very proficient in the studio. The sounds were great, and we used real strings for the first time. Marc was very trepidatious about using anything new, and he carefully monitored my string writing for other people I produced. We discussed strings many times and agreed that although they can easily sound twee and corny, they could also sound really cool like they do on "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" by the Shirelles. So I was cut loose on a few titles for these sessions, namely "A Day Lay", "Beltane Walk", and a track that changed our lives forever: "Ride A White Swan". Marc had also met Flo and Eddie, (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan), who were the singers in the Turtles, and were currently in Frank Zappa's band. Mark and Howard were true madmen in those days, making me both laugh and fear for my sanity when we worked on their initial recording for T.Rex, "Seagull Woman."

The Best of T.Rex was our first-ever compilation album, which was a necessity after having a hit with "Ride A White Swan."

"Ride A White Swan" was our umpteenth single. The only thing we did differently was to add those strings -- and what a difference that made, even thought there wasn't a drum kit on that recording. We were still finishing T.Rex when the weekly chart positions started to be phoned in from our enthusiastic record company. When it hit number two, Marc, June, Mickey and I went to our favorite vegetarian restaurant, Cranks, near Carnaby Street, to celebrate. We all dug in our pockets to pay for ourselves. It would be the last time we would have such deep, empty pockets.