J-Man and Keith: 20th Century Boy

Back from a short vacation, I’m ready to rock with “Reading Between the Grooves.” Since today is my father’s birthday, I’ve picked a song that was used in Verizon’s Father’s Day commercial from last month.

Sounding a great deal like T-Rex’s 1973 original recording of “20th Century Boy,” the cover by J-Man and Keith captures the soul of Marc Bolan. The cut was released just weeks before Father’s Day in May 2014.

Original Recording from T-Rex

The original T-Rex recording was originally issued only as a single and did not appear on CD until 1994 when it was added as a bonus track to the 1973 album “Tanx.” The single did quite well in Europe; however, I cannot find any documentation that it was released as such in the US. If it was, it failed to chart.