T. Rex’s Glittering Gospel: Metal Guru Shines Like a Star – A Joyful Ode to a Cosmic Savior Wrapped in Glam Rock Gleam
In May 1972, T. Rex unleashed “Metal Guru”, a single that roared to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, holding the throne for four weeks and selling over a million copies to claim gold status, though it never cracked the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Released on T. REX Wax Co. via EMI, it was the lead spark from the album The Slider, which hit number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and number 17 stateside a testament to Marc Bolan’s reign as glam’s golden boy. For those of us who lived it twirling the dial on a bedside radio or crowding ‘round a TV for Top of the Pops it was a burst of pure magic, a sound that draped our world in sequins and swagger. Now, in 2025, as I sit with the years stacked like old 45s, “Metal Guru” jangles back a radiant relic of a time when music was a wild, wondrous ride, and Bolan was our pied piper, leading us into the glittered unknown.
The story of “Metal Guru” is pure Bolan brilliance. Written and recorded in early ’72 at Château d’Hérouville in France where Bowie would soon craft Pin Ups it was a quickfire gem, born from Marc Bolan’s mystic muse and laid down with producer Tony Visconti in a haze of inspiration. Fresh off Electric Warrior’s triumph, Bolan was at his peak, his curls bouncing as he strummed that Les Paul, dreaming up a “rock ‘n’ roll savior” amid the chateau’s creaky walls. The track’s got Bill Legend’s pounding drums, Mickey Finn’s bongos, and Flo & Eddie’s celestial harmonies a Turtles duo who’d become Bolan’s vocal angels plus a string section that swoops like a comet’s tail. Released as glam ruled and the ‘70s shimmered, it was T. Rex’s last UK chart-topper, a crown jewel before the slow fade that followed.
The meaning of “Metal Guru” is a gleeful riddle it’s Bolan playing prophet, hailing a “metal guru” who’s “all alone without a telephone,” a savior who’s “gonna bring my baby home.” Is it rock itself? A lover? A cosmic jester? He never said, and that’s the charm it’s a hymn to something bigger, delivered with a wink and a boogie. “Metal Guru is it you,” Marc chants, and for those of us who danced to it in ’72, it was the sound of summer nights under fairy lights, of platform boots stomping in sync, of a world where we could believe in heroes real or imagined who’d whisk us away. It’s not heavy or deep it’s light, a burst of joy that lifts you up and spins you ‘round, a song that made us feel like we were flying, even if just for three minutes.
T. Rex were glam’s beating heart, and “Metal Guru” following “Telegram Sam” was Bolan’s peak, a hit that outsold rivals and cemented his myth before his 1977 crash cut it short. I can still see it the 45 spinning at a mate’s flat, the TV glowing with Bolan’s satin strut, the way we’d shout the chorus like a prayer. For older souls now, it’s a bridge to 1972 of glitter-dusted cheeks and AM dreams, of a time when music was our salvation, and Marc Bolan was its shining star. “Metal Guru” gleams undimmed a funky, fabulous blast from a past where every riff felt like a promise, and we were all believers in its glow.