"Children of the Revolution" is a song by 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 in ...

. It was a UK No. 2 hit single in September 1972. The song broke their sequence of four official single releases all reaching No. 1 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 ...

(" Hot Love", " Get It On", " Telegram Sam", " Metal Guru"). It did not receive a regular album release.

Recording

"Children of the Revolution"

"Children of the Revolution" was first recorded at Ascot Sound Studios for the film '' Born to Boogie'', and featured Elton John on piano and Ringo Starr on a second drum kit. A longer version of the song, at over twelve minutes in length, was recorded on 31 March 1972 at Copenhagen's Rosenberg Studios during sessions for the band's third 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 Sa ...

''.

Flo & Eddie Flo & Eddie is a comedy rock duo consisting of Mark Volman (Flo, short for Phlorescent Leech) and Howard Kaylan (Eddie). The two were the original founding members of the Top 40 mid-to late 1960s rock and pop group The Turtles. After the Turt ...

, formerly of

the Turtles ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, contribute backing vocals to this version of the release. The tape box contained the note that the jam was "for the attention of Ringo". The recording of the single version of the song began during the sessions for the '' Tanx'' album in August 1972. The track was mixed at Air Studios in mid August before being release on 8 September.

"Jitterbug Love"

"Jitterbug Love" was initially recorded on 2 August 1972 at the

Château d'Hérouville The Château d'Hérouville is a French 18th century château located in the village of Hérouville, in the Val d'Oise département of France, near Paris. The château was built in 1740 by "Gaudot", an architect of the school of Rome, from the r ...

in France, however only the drum track recorded at this session made it to the final release. Additional instrumentation was added at Air Studios on 11 August 1972.

"Sunken Rags"

"Sunken Rags" was recorded during the last of the sessions for ''

'' at Rosenberg Studios, Copenhagen in March 1972.

Cover versions

In 1986,

Violent Femmes Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza (joined 200 ...

released the version of the single from their Album, "The Blind Leading The Naked"

The Blind Leading the Naked ''The Blind Leading the Naked'' is the third album by Violent Femmes. It was produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and released in 1986. The title is a play on the figure of speech "the blind leading the blind." ''The Blind Leading the N ...

In 1989, Greater Manchester artist

Baby Ford Peter Ford, better known as Baby Ford, is a British electronic music record producer, known particularly for his contributions to the birth of acid house. He has also released material under aliases with Mark Broom (Casino Classix, El Mal, Solcy ...

released an acid house version on the Rhythm King record label. This cover was a No. 53 hit in the

in 1989. In 2001, Bono handled lead vocals on a version for Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge and accompanying soundtrack. In June 2020, it was announced that Kesha would record a cover of the song along with Marc Bolan's son, Rolan, on backing vocals. The

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

containing the recording, ''Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex'', was released in September 2020.

Legacy

Outside Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art

Dinaw Mengestu's 2017 novel '' The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears'' was originally published in the UK as ''Children of the Revolution'', and includes lyrics from the song within the story. In 2014, Sonic Youth vocalist and guitarist

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Mo ...

named "Children of the Revolution" as one of his 25 favourite songs.

Chart performance

T. Rex version

Baby Ford version

References

{{authority control 1972 singles 1972 songs EMI Records singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Reprise Records singles Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti Songs written for films Songs written by Marc Bolan T. Rex (band) songs Scorpions (band) songs Violent Femmes songs