Telegram Sam

"Telegram Sam" was allegedly written by Bolan about his manager Tony Secunda (Telegram Sam = Tony Secunda) who was his 'main man' in respect to being Bolan's manager and narcotics supplier.Bolan - The Rise and Fall of a 20th Century Superstar - Mark Paytress{{page needed|date=May 2024}}

The lyrics feature numerous figures such as Bobby (a natural born poet who is just outta sight), Golden Nose Slim (who knows where you been), Jungle Faced Jake (about whom no mistake must be made) and Purple Pie Pete (whose lips are like lightning and capable of generating a heat power sufficient to liquefy females). Despite their charms, the singer expresses his loyalty to his "main man", the titular Sam.

The song also contains these lines Marc Bolan wrote to refer to himself: Me I funk/but I don't care/I ain't no square/with my corkscrew hair, a line which industrial rock band KMFDM would later borrow for their song "Me I Funk".{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} The riff is similar in character to T. Rex's worldwide hit from the previous year, "Get It On" but in the key of A rather than E.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

The single was recorded at the Rosenberg Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark in November 1971 along with its b-sides "Cadilac" and "Baby Strange" as well as the "Metal Guru" b-side "Thunderwing".{{cite book |last=McLenahan |first=Cliff|title=Marc Bolan: 1947-1977 A Chronology|year=2019 |publisher=Helter Skelter Books}}

"Telegram Sam" was the first single to be issued by Marc Bolan's own T.Rex Wax Co. label, released on 21 January 1972. The UK b-side featured two songs, "Cadilac" (as printed on the EMI label of the original single) and "Baby Strange", the latter also included in the album The Slider. The single was considered the official follow up to "Get It On", as previous record label Fly had released the intervening number 2 hit "Jeepster" without Marc's permission. With T. Rextasy in full swing it became the group's third number one in their home country although it lagged at number 67 in the Billboard Hot 100, a disappointment after the American top ten success of "Get It On". It would be the group's last charted single in the US.

The song was received with high praise in the British press, where Chris Charlesworth of Melody Maker enthused that "Boley piles on the guitar riff and the strings top around him, rocking menace." Penny Valentine of Sounds, while noting the guitar riff as similar to "Get It On", nonetheless remarked that it reminds of "those good time real rock and roll records of the past". Derek Johnson of NME gushed that it was a "good old fashioned stomping rocker" that is "beaty, compelling, insistent, and catchy".

In 1980, the song was covered by the gothic rock band Bauhaus as a single, which peaked at number 12 in New Zealand.{{cite web|url= https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Bauhaus&titel=Telegram+Sam&cat=s |title= Telegram Sam in New Zealand Chart |author= Hung Medien |access-date= 18 July 2013}}

• Marc Bolan: lead vocals, guitar
• Steve Currie: bass guitar
• Mickey Finn: congas
• Bill Legend: drums
• Howard Kaylan: backing vocals
• Mark Volman: backing vocals
• Tony Visconti: backing vocals

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{{Infobox song

| name = Telegram Sam

| cover = bauhaus_telegram_sam.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Bauhaus

| album =

| released = 1 December 1980

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

• Post-punk
• pop rock{{cite book|title= Listening to the Music the Machines Make: Inventing Electronic Pop 1978-1983|first=Richard|last=Evans|date= August 6, 2024|chapter= 1980.3|page= 234|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-1-915841-45-2

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EID8zgEACAAJ}}

| length = 2:08

| label = 4AD

| writer = Marc Bolan

| producer =

| prev_title = Terror Couple Kill Colonel

| prev_year = 1980

| next_title = Kick in the Eye

| next_year = 1981

}}

"Telegram Sam" is the fourth single released by British gothic rock band Bauhaus. It was released in 7" and 12" format, the latter featuring a cover of John Cale's "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores" as an extra track.

;7"

Side A:

1. "Telegram Sam" - 2:08

Side B:

1. "Crowds" - 3:13

;12"

Side A:

1. "Telegram Sam" - 2:08

Side B:

1. "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores" - 5:31
2. "Crowds" - 3:13

• The Bauhaus version was used in "What's the Big Deal About Bauhaus?", a 1998 episode of The Ongoing History of New Music.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

{{Reflist}}

{{T. Rex}}

{{Bauhaus}}

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Category:Bauhaus (band) songs

Category:1980 singles

Category:4AD singles

Category:1972 singles

Category:UK singles chart number-one singles

Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles

Category:T. Rex (band) songs

Category:Songs written by Marc Bolan

Category:Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti

Category:Fly Records singles

Category:Reprise Records singles

Category:1972 songs