Cat and Marc

Cat Stevens, a huge rock star in the 1970's, formally became a Muslim in December 1977 and then changed his name to Yusuf Islam. His story is intriguing to me because he was a man that was at the height of his success and walked away from it all. He sold all his memorabilia, entered into an arranged marriage, and began practicing his Islamic faith full time. He pops in and out of the news every now and again, such as in the eighties when he came out in support for the death sentence ordered by the Ayatollah Khomeini against novelist Salman Rushdie for writing the book The Satanic Verses. Many people were displeased and stop playing his Cat Stevens' songs on classic radio and 10,000 Maniacs pulled their cover of "Peace Train" off of their In My Tribe album. Yusuf Islam made news again recently when he was stopped from boarding a plane because authorities were worried about him being a terrorist; the guards had no idea that he used to be Cat Stevens, they had stopped him only using their narrow-minded racial profiling tactics.

In an age when almost everyone plays air guitar as a child and dreams about being on stage in front of thousands of screaming fans, it is rare to see an artist voluntarily walk away from abundant prosperity in order to follow down a path of principles and morals. Many artists, despite the stress and battles with guilt, continue to try and last through the musical machine, but are often spit out, disarrayed and broken, like Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Michael Hutchence, and Marc Bolan.

Marc Bolan, also a huge rock star in the 1970's, had a life that interwined with Cat Stevens' in some respects: both were British rock stars, both knew each other, and both had experienced an almost spiritual transition in 1977. Bolan, a small, curly-haired, elfish figure, found himself on top of the world in 1971. He had transcended from the acoustic, bongo tunes of Tyrannosaurus Rex to the electric boogie of the revamped T. Rex. Despite not igniting the hearts of Americans with his music, Bolan found that the British fans had deemed T. Rex as the next Beatles after the massively successful single "Hot Love." T. Rextasy began to sweep across Europe and one Beatle, Ringo Starr, even joined forces with Bolan to capture the magic of their 1971 success in the film Born to Boogie.

After the earth-shattering phenomenon of Electric Warrior and the ending of Bolan's friendship with John Peel, T. Rex released their next album The Slider. The band's reputation, like the title of their new album, began to slide. Marc Bolan, once an avid vegetarian, poet, and Tolkien buff, drifted into the world of alcoholism, drugs, and egotism. His weight began to balloon up, his marriage to June Child (once Pink Floyd's secretary) ended, and members of the band began to quit including his bongo-banging sidekick Mickey Finn. As he struggled through the mid-seventies, Bolan found himself trying to reinvent the greatness he once had. He had a child, Rolan, in 1975 with his girlfriend Gloria Jones (the first to record "Tainted Love") and began to clean up his life. He started taking care of himself and began working to promote the newly emerging punk scene in Britain. On his final tour in 1977, Bolan had even invited The Damned to tour as his opening act.

In the summer of 1977 Marc Bolan released his last single "Celebrate Summer," which contained the eerie refrain, "Summer is heaven in 77," and Bolan began starring in his own television show called Marc. He helped showcase up and coming new talent like The Boomtown Rats (Bob Geldof) and Generation X (Billy Idol). In one outtake from the show, Bolan is on stage playing with his friend, and sometimes nemesis, David Bowie and falls off of the stage in the middle of the song "Standing Next to You." Marc, who ended each show with the phrase, "Keep a little Marc in your heart," would be dead exactly one week after the taping of the Bowie show.

On September 16, 1977, two weeks before his 30th birthday, Marc Bolan was killed in a late night auto crash when Gloria Jones crashed their purple Mini into a tree on a dangerous road in England. Marc, although he had an affinity for cars, never did drive and even had a premonition that he would one day die in a car crash. His premonition came true. Upon word of his death, people raced to his home and broke in stealing memorabilia, papers, and anything they could lay their hands on. Gloria Jones, still in the hospital with her jaw wired shut, had no idea her home was being ransacked. Although their son received some money from the estate, Jones does not receive any of Bolan's royalties. It has been a rather dark mystery as to who is receiving the money being made from Marc's music. Royalties are still being sent to an offshore account and being claimed by an unknown source.

Despite their ups and downs in the musical world, Cats Stevens and Marc Bolan still find their music alive and well in the covering of their songs by some of the most famous acts in the world today, like Sheryl Crow and Morrissey, and their work being featured in movie soundtracks and television commercials. 1977 found the death of one and the rebirth of another. Their stories reveal the pitfalls of excess and fame, and show the truth of the old gypsy curse: "May you get what you want and want what you get."