After the extensive 'Futuristic Dragon' UK tour of February/March 1976, Gloria Jones left the band to re-start her solo career with her first single being the Bolan produced cover version of T Rex's 'Get It On' in April 1976. T Rex continued with Bolan being supported by long term bass player Steve Currie, Dino Dines on keyboards and Davey Lutton on drums.

After the relative failure of the single 'Londoy Boys' (released Feb. 1976), T Rex achieved a major success with the release of the single 'I Love To Boogie' in June 1976. The single reached number 13 and stayed in the singles charts for 9 weeks. Although he is not on the released single, guitarist Miller Anderson joined the band in June 1976 and appears on both of the Top Of The Pops live in the studio performances.

The follow-up single to 'I Love To Boogie' was 'Laser Love' released in September 1976. Although T Rex had a high profile performance on Top Of The Pops the song stalled at 41 in the UK singles chart. In September 1976, Davey Lutton was allegedly sacked from the band with Steve Currie, who was a close friend of Davey's, deciding to quit the band (1).

Dino Dines and Miller Anderson stayed in the band and Bolan recruited the highly experienced session musicians Herbie Flowers on bass, and on Herbie's recommendation, Tony Newman on drums. Flowers and Newman had previously worked together on David Bowie's 'Diamond Dogs' album and as part of Bowie's touring band which featured on the 'David Live' double album.

References:
(1) Marc Bolan 1947 - 1977 A Chronology, Cliff McLenehan (pub. 2002)

Miller Anderson, Herbie Flowers, Marc Bolan, Tony Newman, Dino Dines

Miller Anderson – second guitar

Miller in 1977

References:
(1) Marc Bolan 1947 - 1977 A Chronology, Cliff McLenehan (pub. 2002)

Dino Dines – keyboards

Dino in 1976 (bottom right)

Dino Dines was born Peter Leslie Dines on the 17th December 1944 in Hertford and died of heart attack on the 28th January 2004. He was 32 years old at the time of the Dandy tour. He joined T Rex in November 1974 on the recommendation of roadie Mick O’Halloran (1) and appeared on eleven of the twelve tracks on the Dandy in the Underworld album - more than any other member of T Rex. Along with the Dandy album, Dino played keyboards on the two previous T Rex albums, Bolan’s Zip Gun and Futuristic Dragon.

Prior to joinging T Rex, Dino had featured in the Keef Hartley Band (which Miller Anderson later joined). A few years later he joined the Miller Anderson band and then featured in ‘Hemlock’, again alongside Miller. Dino was a well respectred keyboard player and had also worked with P P Arnold and The Hollies. Just before joining T Rex in 1974 it appears that Dino came close to becoming part of the David Bowie touring band that featured both Herbie Flowers and Tony Newman (2). Before his untimely death Dino made a number of appearances with the T Rex tribute band T Rextasy.

References:
(1) Q&A session with Till Dawn www.tilldawn.net
(2) The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars by Jeremy Simmonds (p513)
Wikipedia link Dino Dines

Other musicians on the 'Dandy in the Underworld' album

Although the Dandy album is primarily Marc with Dino Dines, Herbie Flowers and Tony Newman there are contributions from a number of other musicians. The previous version of T Rex with Dines, Steve Currie and Davey Lutton appear on 3 tracks, including T Rex's last major hit single 'I Love To Boogie' Perhaps the most surprising musician to feature is Paul Fenton (drums) given the fact that he had not been a member of T Rex for over two years.

There are four members of Gonzalez featured on the Dandy album with the obvious link to T Rex being via Gloria Jones who, at the time, was both writing and producing the band along with her brother, Richard.

Scott Edwards (bass) and Paul Humphrey (drums) were two established musicans who featured on Gloria's 'Vixen' (1976) and 'Windstorm'(1978) albums. They both play on the track 'I'm A Fool For You, Girl', which was most likely recorded in October 1976 at a time when Steve Currie and Davey Lutton had left the band but before Herbie Flowers and Tony Newman had joined. Interestingly, it is the only song on the album not to feature Dino Dines on keyboards.

Steve Currie

Steve was born on the 20th May 1947 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire and died on the 28th April 1981 in a car crash near his home in Portugal. He joined the newly re-named T Rex in November 1970 and left around September 1976. He played bass guitar on three of the Dandy tracks, most notably, 'I Love To Boogie'. He later joined the Chris Spedding group.

Wikipedia link:
Steve Currie

Davey Lutton

William David Lutton joined T Rex as a drummer in 1973 and remained with the band until autumn 1976. Prior to joining T Rex he had featured in the Northern Ireland band Eire Apparent which released an album produced by Jimi Hendrix. Along with Steve Currie and Tony Newman, he features on the 1979 Chris Spedding album Guitar Graffiti. He later joined the USA based group Trance Mission in the early 1980's. Davey plays drums on three of the Dandy tracks.

Gloria Jones

Gloria was born on the 19th October 1945 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. She was Marc's girlfriend from around 1973 and is the mother of Marc's only child, Rolan Seymour Feld (Rolan Bolan), born on the 26th September 1975. Gloria had a reasonable amount of success as a singer and songwriter before joining T Rex in 1973. Although she did not write it, Gloria released the original version of 'Tainted Love' in 1964. She left T Rex in 1976 but sings backing vocals on two tracks on the Dandy album.

Wikipedia link:
Gloria Jones

Paul Fenton

Paul was born on the 4th July 1946 in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Along with Davey Lutton he joined T Rex in 1973 as a replacement for Bill Legend. He plays drums on the Dandy track 'Visions of Domino'.

Wikipedia link:
Paul Fenton

Steve Harley

Steve was born in Deptford, south London on the 27th February 1951. Along with his group Cockney Rebel, Steve had considerable success in the 1970's and had a number one hit with Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me). He was a close friend of Marc and Goria's and featured singing backing vocals on the title track 'Dandy in the Underworld'.

Wikipedia link:
Steve Harley

Alfalpha

Alfalpha were Nick Laird-Clowes (who later featured in The Dream Academy) together with brothers Andy and Sam Harley. They sing backing vocals on 'Crimson Moon' and 'The Soul of My Suit' and were later to appear on the MARC shows.

Scott Edwards

An established musician who appeared on Gloria Jones' 'Vixen' and 'Windstorm' albums and previously played in the Stevie Wonder band. He plays bass on 'I'm A Fool For You Girl', the only song on the album not to feature any T Rex members other than Marc.

Colin Jacas

A member of Gonzalez where he played saxophone and sung backing vocals. Sings 'additional vocals', along with Gloria Jones, on 'Universe'.

Wikipedia link:
Gonzalez

Chris Mercer

A member of Gonzalez where he played saxophone. Former member of Juicy Lucy and Stealers Wheel. Appears on three of the Dandy tracks. Currently resides in the USA.

Wikipedia link:
Gonzalez

J. Long

Plays violin on 'I'm A Fool For You, Girl' which is reminiscent of early Cockney Rebel.

Steve Gregory

A member of Gonzalez at the time, he plays flute on 'I'm A Fool For You Girl'. Along with Bud Beadle, was a former member of Ginger Baker's Airforce.

Wikipedia link:
Gonzalez

Paul Humphrey

An established session musician who also appeared on Gloria Jones' 'Vixen' and 'Windstorm' albums. He plays drums on 'I'm A Fool For You Girl', the only song on the album not to feature any T Rex members other than Marc.

Bud Beadle

Born 27th March 1947, Bud was a saxophone player in Gonzalez. He had been a member of Ginger Baker's Airforce prior to joining Gonzalez and later joined Incognito, a successful jazz funk band. Appears on two of the Dandy tracks.

Wikipedia link:
Gonzalez

Herbie Flowers – bass guitar

Herbie in 1977

Herbie Flowers was born Brian Keith Flowers on the 19th May 1938 in Isleworth, Middlesex and was 38 years old at the time of the Dandy tour. Both Herbie and Tony Newman joined T Rex around September 1976 after the departure of long term bass player Steve Currie and drummer Davey Lutton. Herbie and Tony Newman had previously worked together in the David Bowie group and featured on the 'Diamond Dogs' and 'David Live' albums. The new T Rex line up made their debut TV performance on the Top of the Pops show on the 7th October 1976 when they mimed to the latest T Rex single ‘Laser Love’.

When Herbie joined T Rex he had already established himself as one of the best session musicians in the world. He had worked with numerous artists and groups including Blue Mink, Elton John, David Bowie, Frank Sinatra, David Essex, Cat Stevens, Sky and The Beatles. He wrote the single ‘Grandad’ for Clive Dunn which was a novelty hit in 1971 and kept T Rex’s ‘Ride A White Swan’ off the number one spot in the singles chart. He played the now iconic bass line on Lou Reed’s ‘Walk On The Wild Side’ song and contributed heavily to the Transformer album.

Having been drafted into the Royal Air Force, Flowers chose service in the RAF Central Band as an alternative to combat training. He was taught the tuba, an instrument of singularly little utility in rock music, and spent nine years in uniform as a bandsman. After his release from the air force in the early '60s, he passed through the lineups of several Dixieland jazz outfits, not knowing a lot about music but needing to make a living. His discovery of modern jazz, however, led him to take up the double-bass and abandon Dixieland jazz. In 1965, Flowers got a gig playing in a band aboard the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth which allowed him to visit New York where, for the first time, he heard an electric bass in action in a jazz context. He abandoned the acoustic bass first chance he got, purchasing a solid-body electric instrument.

Herbie answered a number of questions about his involvement with T Rex in a Q&A session for Till Dawn in 2006 Herbie Flowers Q&A.

References:
Wikipedia link Herbie Flowers

Tony Newman – drums

Tony in 1977

Tony Newman was born Richard Anthony Newman on the 17th March 1943. He had his 34th birthday on the day of the Birmingham Odeon concert. Tony joined T Rex around September 1976 on the recommendation of Herbie Flowers after the departure of drummer Davey Lutton. Herbie and Tony Newman had previously worked together in the David Bowie group and featured on the Diamond Dogs and David Live albums. The new T Rex line up made their debut TV performance on the Top of the Pops show on the 7th October 1976 when they mimed to the latest T Rex single ‘Laser Love’.

Tony had previously been in a number of bands such as Sounds Incorporated (who were one of the support acts for The Beatles live performance at Shea Stadium in 1965), May Blitz and Three Man Army and had worked with numerous artists as diverse as Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Donovan, Mick Ronson, Gene Vincent and Crystal Gale.

Tony now lives in the USA and still makes a living from session work when not touring with The Everly Brothers.

Tony answered a number of questions about his involvement with T Rex in a Q&A session for Till Dawn Tony Newman Q&A.

References:
Wikipedia link Tony Newman