Metal Guru

Recorded in March 1972 during sessions for The Slider at Strawberry Studios in the Château d'Hérouville, France, with later guitar, string and backing-vocal overdubs completed in London. Marc Bolan performed lead vocals and guitar with Mickey Finn, Steve Currie, Bill Legend, Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, while Tony Visconti produced and arranged the strings. Released in May 1972, the single became T. Rex's fourth and final UK number one and remained at the top for four weeks. Its dense guitars, strings and massed backing vocals captured the height of the band's commercial success. The song remains one of T. Rex's signature recordings and a defining British single of the early 1970s. Its structure and sound influenced later artists, including the Smiths on Panic, and it has been repeatedly covered.