Mickey Finn's T-Rex are a band formed in 1997 by former T. Rex members Mickey Finn, Jack Green, and drummer Paul Fenton. They have been regularly touring worldwide since their formation, despite Finn's death in 2003.

History

Formation

In September 1997, former T. Rex members Mickey Finn, Jack Green, and drummer Paul Fenton were invited by Mick Gray (a.k.a. Marmalade), former T.Rex tour manager, to The Marc Bolan Anniversary Concert to celebrate Marc's 50th birthday, taking place at the

Cambridge Corn Exchange Cambridge Corn Exchange is a concert venue located in Cambridge, England with a capacity up to 1,681 people. Construction The site, on the corner of Wheeler Street and Corn Exchange Street, was earmarked for a new Corn Exchange in 1868 to repla ...

, where Gray was manager. Prior to this, Gray had taken former road manager Mick O'Halloran to visit Mickey Finn at his home (Gray and Finn had remained good friends through the years) to persuade him to attend the Cambridge bash. This idea was Gray's brainchild to celebrate Bolan's 50th birthday. Other artists appearing included

John's Children John's Children were a 1960s Mod (subculture), mod rock band from Leatherhead, England that briefly featured future T. Rex (band), T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan. John's Children were known for their outrageous live performances and were booted off ...

and Rolan Bolan with T.Rextasy being the house band and paid £1,500 for the privilege by the organiser. Drummer

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 ...

was invited to appear, but did not appear on the night due to ongoing personal problems. Finn, Fenton, and Green were overwhelmed with the support at that gig, so they decided to form Mickey Finn's T. Rex. The line-up was Finn (

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

), Fenton (drums), Green (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and vocals), Dave Major (

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

), and Tony Allday (bass guitar). One year later, Rob Benson, a lifelong fan of T. Rex, went to see the reformed band in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

's Chicago Rock cafe. He met the band afterward and was asked to send an audition tape after claiming to be able to sing like Marc Bolan. The band's manager Barry Newby decided that the voice was essential to the T. Rex sound and, after hearing Rob's tape, invited him to a further audition; soon he was asked to be lead vocalist. The band renamed themselves Mickey Finn's T-Rex, and acquired the legal trademark rights for the "T-Rex" bandname. In 1999, guitarist Jack Green (who had played in T.Rex in 1973-1974) left and was replaced by founding member of Smokie

Alan Silson Smokie (originally spelt Smokey) are an English rock band from Bradford, Yorkshire. The band found success at home and abroad after teaming up with Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. They have had a number of line-up changes and were still actively ...

Early touring and albums

With a more complete sound, the band started a tour of Germany in 1999. Shortly afterwards they embarked on a full-scale tour of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In 2002, the band released an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

called ''

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

'' and a live

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

titled ''Back In Business''. In January 2008 the band released ''Classic Hits'' on Spectra Records, who they had recently signed with.

Finn's death

Mickey Finn died in January 2003. The future of the band became unsure, but they decided to continue without him, believing it to be Mickey's wish. The band changed their name to T. Rex (A Celebration of Marc and Mickey). In July 2008, the band reverted to Mickey Finn's T-Rex, with the blessing from Mickey's family for using his name. They also replaced Silson with Graham Oliver.

Recent events

The band continues to tour Europe, with a much heavier sound than T. Rex had originally. They play classic T. Rex songs from the 1970s. The only member now in the group that had any connection to T. Rex is drummer Paul Fenton. Teri Sullivan joined the band on 1 August as a background vocalist. In 2008, a petition of around 1000 signatures signed by

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Roy Wood Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a n ...

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 ...

, and

called for Paul Fenton to change the band's name to something other than "T. Rex (A Celebration of Marc and Mickey)" in order to make it clear that it was a tribute act, not the actual T. Rex. It has been wrongly claimed by a redundant hoax website that Bill toured Australia and Germany with a band using the name Bill Legend's T-Rex. Rob Benson left the band in January 2010. Jay Spargo became lead singer in May 2010.

Band members

Bold names indicate those who performed with T. Rex with

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 ...

. ;Current members * Paul Fenton – drums (1997–present) *Tony Allday – bass guitar (1997–present) *Dave Major – keyboards, vocals (1997–present) *Linda Dawson – backing vocals (2002–present) *

Graham Oliver Graham Oliver (born 6 July 1952) is an English guitarist who was born in Mexborough, South Yorkshire. He was a founder member in the heavy metal band Saxon from 1976 to 1995. Career Oliver was a budding guitarist while working in a factory i ...

– guitars (2003–present) *Jay Spargo – lead vocals (2010–present) ;Former members * Mickey Finn – bongos, congas, drums, vocals (1997–2003; his death) * Jack Green – guitars, lead vocals (1997–1999) * Rob Benson – lead vocals (1998–2010) *

– guitars (1999–2003) ;Timeline

Discography

* ''

'' (2002) * ''A Celebration of Marc and Mickey - Classic Hits'' (2008)

References

External links

Mickey Finn's T-Rex official web site
{{Authority control English rock music groups