The Real Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame: T.Rex and Jethro Tull

Johnny Marr: The first record I ever bought was Jeepster. I didn’t know what it was or sounded like, but it had the picture of Marc Bolan and Micky Finn on it and I thought they looked beautiful. So I bought it. Luckily for me I loved it.

What sets them apart from other big acts of the seventies is genuine glamour, and there was a femininity in the sound that was unusual and brilliant. Bolan’s love of the fifties hook was on the money, and Tony Visconti’s production was a magic ingredient. The classic T.Rex style and records stand up with the very best rock’n’roll.

Their influence is there to hear in a whole generation of bands who came of age at the time.

Jethro Tull

When it comes to the really big bands of the 70s, was there ever a more unlikely bunch than Jethro Tull? Examine the evidence: codpieces, flute solos, circuses, impenetrable songs about God and fictional child geniuses… But Tull also happened to be brilliant, forging folk, hard rock and classical elements into a delicious proggy stew.

Punters on both sides of the Atlantic agreed too, making them one of the major draws on the arena circuit and selling more than 60 million albums worldwide. And you know you’ve really made it when The Simpsons come calling.

Above all, Tull had one of the most striking leaders in rock in Ian Anderson, who took as much delight in sending himself up as he did the English class system and organised religion. And all while standing on one leg.

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