"Teenage Dream" is a 1974 single by Marc Bolan and T. Rex, taken from the album '' Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow''.

Background and recording

After releasing records under the 'T. Rex' name since 1970, "Teenage Dream" was the first release to be credited to 'Marc Bolan and T. Rex'Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 112 "Teenage Dream" was co-produced by

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 Bolan, and featured Lonnie Jordan of War on piano. It was released as a single in February 1974, and spent five weeks in the

UK top 40 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 ...

, peaking at number 13.Teenage Dream
, Chart Stats, retrieved 26 July 2010 Biographer Mark Paytress called it Bolan's "coming out record", saying that it was "so drenched in melodramatic resignation that it was less a lament than a lordly glimpse through the iron bars of an increasingly detached existence".Paytress, Mark (2002) ''Bolan: The Rise and Fall of a 20th Century Superstar'', Omnibus Press, , p. 262 The song was described by

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

as "a virtual mini-opera", with "soaring strings, wailing guitars, towering chorales, and a genuinely foreboding sense of drama".Thompson, Dave " Teenage Dream,

, retrieved 27 July 2010 Ken Barnes of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', however, wrote in a 1974 article that the song "suffers from pointless, jumbled lyrics and self-conscious Dylan-styled intonations and drags on for far too long." Bolan himself regarded "Teenage Dream" as the best lyric he had written. It was also chosen by Bolan's former partner Gloria Jones as her favourite Bolan lyric.Ellis, James (2002)
Gloria Jones
, ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

'', 16 September 2002, retrieved 26 July 2010 He wrote and recorded the song while on tour in the United States in August 1973. It was one of the last tracks written for the ''Zinc Alloy'' album and these sessions were the last time Bolan recorded with Visconti.Erlewine, Stephen Thomas "

T. Rex Biography T is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet. (For the same letterform in the Cyrillic and Greek alphabets, see Te and Tau respectively). T may also refer to: Codes and units * T, Tera- as in one trillion * T, the symbol for "True" in lo ...

, retrieved 26 July 2010 The original single and album releases end with a fade out at 5 minutes. Several more recent releases include an additional part that the band recorded in 1973, extending the song for another 45 seconds. This extended version was first released in the 1980s, when the Official Marc Bolan Fan Club had the albums originally released on the "T. Rex Wax Co." label – including ''Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow'' – reissued on the newly founded "Marc on Wax" label.

Other releases

Some early UK pressings of this single are credited just to "Marc Bolan". The song was released as a single in France and Germany with "Mad Donna" as the B-side. In Italy it was released with "Venus Loon" on the B-side. The Japanese single on the Odeon label featured "Satisfaction Pony" on the reverse. In the US, "Teenage Dream" was included on the album ''

Light of Love ''Light of Love'' is a US-only album released by British rock band T. Rex in 1974. It is composed of 3 tracks previously released in the UK on the album ''Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow'', together with 8 songs recorded in the Sp ...

''."Sounds of the Times", ''Milkwaukee Journal'', 4 September 1974, p. 2 A version of the song was recorded for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, and this was released on the album ''The BBC Recordings 1970–1976'' in 2007.Jansen, Skip " ''BBC Recordings 1970–1976'' Review,

, retrieved 27 July 2010 "Teenage Dream" featured on the soundtrack of the 2010 film '' Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'' and the intro of the song was used briefly in the movie.

Track listing

;UK/Japanese single: #"Teenage Dream" – 4:57 #"Satisfaction Pony" – 3.26 ;French/German single: #"Teenage Dream" – 5:00 #"Mad Donna" – 2:17 ;Italian single: #"Teenage Dream" #"Venus Loon"

Cover versions

"Teenage Dream" was recorded and released as a single in 1994 by

Darryl Read Darryl Michael Roy Read (19 September 1951 – 23 June 2013) was a British singer, guitarist, drummer, actor, poet and writer. In the late 1960s, Read was a member of Crushed Butler, considered by some to be amongst the forerunners of proto punk ...

, with T.Rex drummer Bill Legend repeating his performance from the original. Reissued in 2009, the single had a promotional video filmed at the Roundhouse, London with T. Rex fans. It was also recorded by former T. Rex drummer Mickey Finn on his 2002 album ''

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 ...

''. In a 2007 concert to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Bolan's death, "Teenage Dream" was performed by

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He ...

.Sinclair, David (2007)
Marc Bolan: the celebration
, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 17 September 2007, retrieved 26 July 2010

References

{{Authority control 1974 singles T. Rex (band) songs Songs written by Marc Bolan Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti 1974 songs EMI Records singles