Billy Super Duper
Studio album by
Marc Bolan & T. Rex
Released1982
Recorded1972 and 1975 at Chateau d'Herouvile, France; 1977 at Decibel Studios, London; 1982 at Crescent Studios, Bath, England
GenreGlam rock
LabelMarc on Wax
ProducerJohn Bramley, Shan Bramley, Marc Bolan
T. Rex chronology
Dandy in the Underworld
(1977)		 Billy Super Duper
(1982)
Marc Bolan chronology
You Scare Me to Death
(1981)		 Billy Super Duper
(1982)		 Dance in the Midnight
(1983)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Billy Super Duper is the thirteenth and final studio album by English glam rock band T. Rex and Marc Bolan's second posthumous album release. Released in 1982 by record label Marc on Wax, it was the first LP of entirely new and unheard material released after Marc Bolan's death in 1977 as the previous posthumous release, You Scare Me to Death consisted of augmented versions of demos first released in 1974. Billy Super Duper consists of studio outtakes and home demos recorded by the band between 1972 and 1977, with arrangements produced by John and Shan Bramley (the heads of the Marc Bolan Fanclub at the time). The album was intended to "complete" the demos and bring them up to date with contemporary music.

Release

Billy Super Duper was released in 1982 by record label Marc on Wax. It did not chart in the United Kingdom.[2]

The concept behind the album was to release songs that would be on Bolan's next album, which was to be titled Jack Daniels had he survived; however, several songs were recorded for the aborted 1975 concept album Billy Super Duper, and the title track led to the album taking this name. The album bears little resemblance to Bolan's intended rock opera and is missing several key tracks that were recorded for the album and were readily available to the producers.

This album is the only way of hearing the song "Billy Super Duper" and the versions of "Depth Charge" and "Write Me a Song", which were never released in their unedited format. This led to many rumours being speculated about the fate of these tracks, including speculation that the producers permanently erased Bolan's guitar tracks or damaged the original tapes whilst editing them; in particular, the song "Billy Super Duper", which was originally fifteen minutes long, exists on this release at less than a third of its original length.

Track listing

Side A
No.TitleRecording location(s) and date(s)Length
1."Billy Super Duper"Chateau d'Herouville, 19 May 19753:39
2."Shy Boy"Decibel Studios, April 19772:36
3."Depth Charge"Chateau d'Herouville, 19 May 1975
Crescent Studios, March 1982 (guitar overdubs)		3:58
4."Love Drunk"Decibel Studios, April 19772:41
5."Buick MacKane & the Babe Shadow"Chateau d'Herouville, 10 March 19723:24
Side B
No.TitleRecording location(s) and date(s)Length
1."21st Century Stance"Early 1977
Crescent Studios, March 1982 (bass, guitar and drum overdubs)		2:35
2."Foxy Boy"Decibel Studios, April 19772:15
3."Hot George"Decibel Studios, April 1977
Crescent Studios, March 1982 (saxophone overdub)		2:21
4."Mellow Love"Decibel Studios, April 1977
Crescent Studios, March 1982 (string overdub)		3:15
5."20th Century Baby"Decibel Studios, April 19772:19
6."Write Me a Song (Supertuff)"Unknown, 1976
Crescent Studios, March 1982 (bass, guitar and drum overdubs)		3:08
7."Billy Super Duper (Reprise)" 0:40

Personnel

1982 overdubs
  • Pete Allerhand – second guitar on "Depth Charge"
  • Stuart Gordon – bass and drums on tracks 6 and 11, strings on "Mellow Love"
  • Manny Elias – drums on tracks 6 and 11

References

  1. ↑ Thompson, Dave. "Billy Super Duper – T. Rex | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
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