Marc Bolan died on September 16, 1977 in a car accident
September, 1977. At the end of the show, Bolan and Bowie performed the recently released "'Heroes'" and were signing off with an instrumental when Bolan fell off stage, much to Bowie's amusement.
Excerpt from faroutmagazin.com
According to legend — or, at least, Rolling Stone — the two met as painters for a manager's office while hustling at the bottom of the music industry. After introducing himself as "King Mod," Bolan promptly pointed out to Bowie that "Your shoes are crap." Later, as Bolan became mildly famous and Bowie's career had yet to go anywhere, Bolan invited Bowie to tour with his band, Tyrannosaurus Rex (later, simply T-Rex), as... a mime: "What could make it even sweeter for Bolan? Bowie got booed." Still, the two remained friends with Bowie name-checking Bolan in "All the Young Dudes" and used him as a tongue-in-cheek subject for "Lady Stardust": "People stared at the makeup on his face / Laughed at his long black hair, his animal grace." (Grunge.com)
The pair, widely lauded as the fathers of Glam rock, if not modern rock and roll as we know it, first met back in 1964 when young David Jones was on the same roster of manager Leslie Conn, as the young Mark Feld. Conn had put the pair of prospects to work on painting an office for him.
When he returned from lunch he found the pair missing and only half the walls painted. It was the beginning of a beautiful and mischievous relationship. They littered Carnaby Street with their hopes and dreams of becoming pop stars. It was an intoxicating mix.
Despite high hopes, the pair spent most of the sixties in rags but the seventies would see the pair on top together if only for a hideously short while. The two of them trading ideas and songs with the same affection as brothers swapping football stickers.
Bowie‘s song for Bolan ‘Lady Stardust’ which was not only depicting a space-age traveller but Bolan himself and with it Bowie laid the precursor to his own alien rock star Ziggy Stardust.
As the rise and fall of Glam rock came and went Bolan found himself in serious trouble. He had lost the vigour and verve which had made him a star, he was back to gigantic album titles, LPs which didn’t chart and off-record the star lived on a diet of cocaine and brandy.
As the glitter stopped falling from the sky, the party had moved on and Bolan had lost his sparkle. Bowie, on the other hand, was flying high (in so many ways) on the success of numerous progressive albums, breaking America and generally being received as a King among men wherever he went.
As their successes grew, their rivalry continued. When Bowie's classic hits "Starman," "John I'm Only Dancing," and "The Jean Genie" reached the No. 10, 12, and 2 spots on the charts respectively, Bolan hit back with two No. 1s with "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru" and his own No. 2s with "Children of the Revolution" and "Solid Gold Easy Action."
Just a week later, Bolan and his girlfriend, Gloria Jones, went out for a night of drinking. At 5 in the morning, Jones crashed Bolan’s Mini GT into a tree on Barnes Common, striking the tree with enough force to kill Bolan almost instantly. He would never see is 30th birthday and never make that all important record.
