Solid Gold Easy Action

"Solid Gold Easy Action" is a song by T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan. It was released as a single in 1972 and reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart.[2][3] The song did not feature on an original studio album but was included on the 1972 Great Hits compilation album issued by EMI Records.

""Solid Gold Easy Action""
German picture sleeve by Ariola label
Single by T.Rex
from the album Great Hits (1972)
A-side"Solid Gold Easy Action"
B-side"Born To Boogie"
ReleasedDecember 1972
GenreGlam rock[1]
Length2:14
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Marc Bolan
Producer(s)Tony Visconti
T.Rex singles chronology
"Children of the Revolution"
(1972)		 ""Solid Gold Easy Action""
(1972)		 "20th Century Boy"
(1973)

Lyrical content

While the song's musical style lies rooted in the Rock and roll of the 1950s, its lyrics are surrealistic and a typical example of Bolan's nonsense poetry. This song, like many of Bolan's hit singles, uses words such as "satisfaction" and "action", whilst mentioning predators such as foxes and tigers to give the song an undertone of sexuality. Combined with the rhythm and fast guitar strumming pattern on the song, Bolan creates an image of teenage sexual frustration that reflected the trends in contemporary popular culture. The break in the latter half of the song further emphasises this; "I know you're shrewd and she's a dude / But all I want is easy action" implying that the singer wants to have sex with the subject regardless of their gender and what others think about it.

Kerrang! magazine founder Geoff Barton, wrote in an article for Classic Rock magazine that the first two lines of the song, "Life is the same and it always will be / Easy as picking foxes from a tree", appeared to predict Marc Bolan's own death in 1977. The license plate of the car Bolan was in during the fatal collision with a tree was FOX 661L.[4] This is one of many supposed 'prophesies' surrounding Marc Bolan's death.[5]

Other versions

The song was covered by Department S, with backing vocals provided by Bananarama, as the b-side to the single "Is Vic There?" in 1981.[6] It was covered by The Fratellis in 2007 for the soundtrack of the film Hot Fuzz.[7] Kim Wilde performed the song live during the second leg of her Perfect Girl tour in November 2007.[8] In 2015 the song was used in an Asda advert in the UK.[9] A portion of the song was featured in the third episode of "The Good Guys (2010 TV series)". The song was also included in the movie The Dirt, based on the life and career of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe.[10]

Track listing
  1. "Solid Gold Easy Action"
  2. "Born to Boogie"

There is a 12-second un-credited spoken intro on the b-side, titled "Xmas Message", which was later called "Xmas Riff" when it was included in the Rhino Singles compilation.[11]

Personnel

Chart performance
Chart (1972–1973) Peak
position
Australia (Go-Set Top 40)[12] 39
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[13] 13
France (SNEP)[14] 68
Germany (Official German Charts)[15] 6
Ireland (IRMA)[16] 4
Norway (VG-lista)[17] 5
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[3] 2

See also
  • Bolan's Rock Shrine

References
  1. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 822. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8. (Bolan) started writing manic chant-along glam-rock hits such as "Metal Guru," "20th Century Boy," "Solid Gold Easy Action," and "Children of the Revolution."
  2. Rice, Tim; Roberts, David (2001), Guinness Book of British Hit Singles, Guinness World Records, p. 435, ISBN 0-85112-156-X
  3. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  4. Barton, Geoff (22 June 2012), 1977: Did Marc Bolan predict his own death?, Classic Rock, archived from the original on 25 June 2012, retrieved 30 May 2013
  5. Gallucci, Michael (29 January 2013), Marc Bolan – Famous Musicians Who Correctly Predicted Their Own Death, Ultimate Classic Rock, retrieved 30 August 2014
  6. Bananarama Aie A Mwana, Bananarama UK, archived from the original on 7 July 2011, retrieved 14 January 2011
  7. Phares, Heather. Hot Fuzz – Cherry Tree at AllMusic
  8. Solid Gold Easy Action, Wilde Life, retrieved 14 January 2011
  9. "Spirit Global". Spirit Music Group. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  10. Lifton, Dave; Wilkening, Matthew (22 June 2012), The Stories Behind the Non-Motley Crue Songs in 'The Dirt', Ultimate Classic Rock, retrieved 3 April 2019
  11. "The T-Rex Wax Co. Singles A's And B's 1972-77 sleeve notes". Rhino Records. Always previously described as "Xmas Message", we've recently discovered (on a handwritten white label demo) that Bolan referred to this short, seasonal spoken-word piece as "Xmas Riff". So that's what this super funk message to his fans now becomes.
  12. "Solid gold easy action in Australian Chart". Poparchives.com.au. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  13. "Austriancharts.at – T. REX – SOLID GOLD - EASY ACTION" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  14. "Solid gold easy action in French Chart" (in French). Dominic DURAND / InfoDisc. 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 19 March 2005. Retrieved 18 July 2013. Select "T. Rex" from the artist drop-down menu
  15. "Offiziellecharts.de – T. Rex – Solid Gold – Easy Action". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  16. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Solid Gold Easy Action". Irish Singles Chart.
  17. "Norwegiancharts.com – T. REX – SOLID GOLD - EASY ACTION". VG-lista.
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