"Metal Guru" is a song by the British rock band T. Rex, written by

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...

. It was the band's fourth (and final) number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

when it topped the chart for four weeks from May–June 1972. It was also included on the album ''

The Slider ''The Slider'' is the seventh studio album by English rock band T. Rex, and the third since abbreviating their name from Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was released on 21 July 1972 by record labels EMI and Reprise. Two number-one singles, "Telegram Sam ...

'' in 1972. Despite coming only ten months after the success of " Get It On", it failed to chart in the United States. The song reached No. 45 in Canada in July 1972. Bolan himself described the song's apparent religious references as this: In 2008, ''

Freaky Trigger ''Freaky Trigger'' is an Internet publication and e-zine that focuses on popular culture with topics varying from music to cinema. It was founded by the music critic Tom Ewing in 1999 and features Pete Baran and Mark Sinker as editors. From 2000 ...

'' placed "Metal Guru" at number 37 in their list of "The Top 100 Songs of All Time".

Track listing

United Kingdom (EMI) # "Metal Guru" # "Thunderwing" # "Lady" Germany and Spain (Ariola) # "Metal Guru" (2:25) # "Lady" (2:12) France (Columbia) # "Metal Guru" (3:45) # "Lady" (3:50)

Personnel

– vocals, guitar * Mickey Finn – percussion, vocals * Steve Currie – bass *

Bill Legend Bill Legend (born William Arthur Fifield, 8 May 1944, Barking, London, Barking, Essex, England) is an English musician and former drummer for glam rock band T. Rex (band), T. Rex during their most successful period. Biography One of three chil ...

– drums *

Howard Kaylan Howard Kaylan (born Howard Lawrence Kaplan, June 22, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member and lead singer of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, and, along with bandmate and friend Mark Volman, a member of th ...

Mark Volman Mark Randall Volman (born April 19, 1947) is an American vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, and, along with his bandmate and friend Howard Kaylan, a member of the 1970s rock duo ...

– backing vocals *

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

– string arrangements *Produced by Tony Visconti

Chart performance

Year-end charts

Cover versions

*In 2005, rock band

Rooney Rooney may refer to: People *Wayne Rooney, English football manager and former player *Rooney family, of the Pittsburgh Steelers American football franchise *Rooney (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Rooney (given nam ...

covered the song for the Herbie: Fully Loaded soundtrack. *"Metal Guru" was covered and recorded by Serbian new wave band

Električni Orgazam Električni Orgazam ( sr-cyr, Електрични Оргазам, lit=Electric Orgasm, translit=) is a Serbian rock band from Belgrade. Originally starting as a combination of new wave, punk rock and post-punk, the band later slowly changed th ...

as a B-side for the band's fourth single "

Locomotion Locomotion means the act or ability of something to transport or move itself from place to place. Locomotion may refer to: Motion * Motion (physics) * Robot locomotion, of man-made devices By environment * Aquatic locomotion * Flight * Locomo ...

" from their cover album ''

Les Chansones Populaires ''Les Chansones Populaires'' ( French for ''Popular Songs'') is the third studio album by the Serbian/ Yugoslavian new wave band Električni Orgazam. It was released in 1983 by Jugoton. The album contains nine covers of popular English language s ...

'', released in 1983. Srđan Gojković Gile provided the lead vocals for the track. There are no recorded live versions of the song. *

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

based their song "

Panic Panic is a sudden sensation of fear, which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight-or-flight reactio ...

" on "Metal Guru". *American indie rock band

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

were heavily influenced by this song when writing "A Letter to Dominique" from ''

The Best Little Secrets Are Kept ''The Best Little Secrets Are Kept'' is the second album by Louis XIV. It was released on March 21, 2005 (see 2005 in music) internationally and a day later in the United States. The album is named after a line from their song "Pledge of Allegian ...

''.

References