T. Rex (A Celebration of Marc and Mickey)
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| T. Rex (A Celebration of Marc and Mickey) Formerly: Mickey Finn's T. Rex |
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| Origin | Cambridge, England |
| Genre(s) | Glam Rock Classic Rock |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Label(s) | Angel Air Records |
| Members | |
| Rob Benson Alan Silson Graham Oliver Dave Major Tony Allday Paul Fenton Teri Sullivan |
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| Former members | |
| Mickey Finn (deceased) | |
T. Rex (A Celebration of Marc and Mickey) is a T. Rex tribute band formed in 1997 by former T. Rex member Mickey Finn. The band was originally known as Mickey Finn's T. Rex but changed their name in 2003 after the death of founding member Mickey Finn.
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[edit] History
[edit] Formation
In September 1997 Mickey Finn and Paul Fenton were invited by tribute band T.Rextasy to perform, along with Rolan Bolan, at the Cambridge Corn Exchange to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Marc Bolan's death. While Fenton was never an official member of T.Rex during the 1970s he did contribute drumming on many of their albums and later tours. Finn and Fenton were overwhelmed with the support for the rock band at that gig, so they decided to reform T.Rex. The original line-up of the band was Mickey Finn (congas), Paul Fenton (drums) Jack Green (guitar and vocals), Dave Major (keyboards), Tony Allday (bass). Rob Benson, a lifelong Fan of T.Rex, went to see the reformed band in Northampton's Chicago Rock cafe in 1998. He met the band afterwards and was asked to send an audition tape after claiming to be able to sing like Marc Bolan. The band decided that 'the voice' was essential to the T. Rex sound and, after hearing Rob's tape, invited him to a further audition. He was then asked to be lead vocalist. Guitarist Jack Green (who played with Bolan) left and was replaced in 1999 by founder member of Smokie Alan Silson. The current guitarist is ex-Saxon member Graham Oliver.
[edit] 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. In 2002 the band released an album called Renaissance and a live DVD titled Back In Business.
[edit] Finn's Death
Mickey Finn died in January, 2003. The future of the band was then unsure but they decided to continue on without him partly as it was Mickey's family's wish. They changed their name to T. Rex (A Celebration of Marc and Mickey). They also hired Graham Oliver as a second guitarist.
[edit] Members
[edit] Rob Benson
Robert Benson, the lead singer of the band, had never sung professionally and had only ever performed in front of small pub audiences. His first gig with Micky Finn's T.rex was in front of 30 thousand German fans. He has been a fan of Marc Bolan since he was 10 years old and is said to be honoured to be able to sing his favourite song's to audiences. The band did not want a Marc Bolan look-alike and Rob was not interested in becoming a copy of Bolan on or off stage, like some other tribute band singers. Visually Rob is purely himself if somewhat 'Glammed up'. However, his voice is said to be very alike to that of Marc's, making the band's live performances one of the closest experiences you can get to the 70's T. Rex gigs.
[edit] Recent Events
The band continues to tour Europe today, playing all of the classic T. Rex songs from the 1970s. The only member now in the group that had any connection to T. Rex is Paul Fenton. The band have the support of TAG who are the legal guardians of the shrine at the site of Marc Bolan's death in London. The band is very well known and respected in parts of Europe though controversy surrounds them in Britain. Some die-hard T. Rex fans believe that they should not use the name T. Rex (despite the addition of 'a celebration of Marc and Mickey' to the name) which the band legally owns. Teri Sullivan joined the band on August 1 as a background vocalist.
[edit] External links
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