Big Ideas Child in a Million Extraordinary Children Extraordinary People
Greatest Ever Interesting Documentaries Multiple Sclerosis RICL Stranger than Fiction
Planet Dinosaur Origins of Us Orbit Frozen Planet

---

In the early 70s, the days when real men looked, thought, and drank just like their dads, were dying out. Even the straight back and sides was disappearing from pubs and schoolyards. Perfectly ordinary young men wanted something different, a bit more sparkle in their lives. And one pop star above all seemed to capture this new spirit of showing off.

10 minutes before T. Rex's front man, Marc Bolan, was due to appear on an early show, his personal assistant, Chelita, sprinkled some glitter on his cheeks. Now, Bolan and Lita claimed she had done it as a joke, but for thousands of thrill-starved youngsters, hunting for the next big thing, Bolan's new look was a revelation. And at T. Rex's very next gig, Bolan was greeted by the sight of hundreds of be-glittered fans.

Marc Bolan

In the first years of the 70s, nobody could match T. Rex's appeal to British teenagers. Lennon and McCartney anointed T. Rex as the Beatles true successors. And Bolan himself seemed to be the ultimate pin-up. Girls loved him, but what was really striking was the image he presented to teenage boys.

Site Navigation

The Seventies Housing Ladder Edward Heath Package Holiday Marc Bolan & T. Rex Ziggy Stardust Ugandan Refugees Miners' Strike 1972

---

Royal Wedding Oil Crisis Credit Nation Miners' Strike 1974 Green Party Mary Whitehouse Labour Election Northern Ireland

---

Discrimination Act Equal Pay Football Hooliganism British Leyland Social Collapse Monetary Collapse The Sex Pistols

---

Richard Branson Hyson Green Grange Hill North Sea Oil The Specials Harold Hill Nurses Strike Back to the Brink

Marc Bolan wasn't just another middle-class hippie with an Oxbridge third, he was a lorry driver's son from Hackney with an eye for the ladies. And what he represented was the single biggest change in masculine identity for a generation.

Bolan's dramatic look, all feathers, flares and hair, was a sensation. While not everyone could be quite as coiffed as Bolan, they could have a go. And before we knew it, blokes didn't have a haircut, they had a hairstyle. To the Dean of grumpy old men, Rigsby of Rising Damp, all the free-flowing locks were a national disgrace.

But the revolution wasn't confined to hair, young men were experimenting with their whole look, flirting with glamour and colour.

Nobody symbolised this better than Britain's most vividly attired man of the early 70s, Peter Wyngarde, better known as TVs rakish adventurer, Jason King. Disturbingly, all the explosive outfits he wore on screen were from his own personal collection.

For people who could still remember the general strike, the Blitz, and the Battle of Britain, for the people whose memories were full of tin baths, short hair, and the stiff upper lip, the likes of Marc Bolan and Jason King came as a terrible shock.