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How a swaggering Jewish kid from East London became (albeit briefly) Britain's greatest rock star and poet

JL;DR SUMMARY Marc Bolan, the legendary frontman of T. Rex, emerged from East London as a Jewish pop icon who defined Glam Rock with his androgynous style and poetic, psychedelic lyrics. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish MusicianGlam RockEast LondonDavid BowieMusic DocumentaryMarc BolanT. RexHal Willner1970s RockPoetic Lyrics

Places mentioned

London, England, United Kingdom
"A hard-hustling Jewish kid from East London who willed himself into becoming (for a time, at least) Britains biggest pop star and its best-selling poet, Marc Bolan cut a fascinating, charismatic and contradictory figure."
Makeni, Northern, Sierra Leone
"The brief glimpse we get of young students singing a chorus of Children of the Revolution at the Marc Bolan School of Music and Film in Makeni, Sierra Leone yes, its a real thing feels fresher and far more subversive than anything delivered by the more famous names in AngelHeaded Hipster."
New York City, New York, United States
"(Bowies fiery performance of 20th Century Boy, filmed when he joined British band Placebo onstage at their 1999 show in New York City, runs rings around anything on the Willner-produced album.)"

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Retrieved 2025-08-08 05:30:46 UTC
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