Fist Heart Mighty Dawn Dart

Dear Daniel,

Cider with Roadies, Pies and Prejudice. The first record Stuart Maconie ever bought was not a record, it was a tape. And it was called "The Best of T-Rex", but it wasn't: it was a compilation of Tyrannosaurus Rex songs. There are only two people who have ever suggested they enjoy Tyrannosaurus Rex to the point of adoration, John Peel and Devandra Banhart. This clip helpfully illustrates both, what with Peel being interviewed by what appears to be 80s madcap children TV inventor Wilf Lunn and then a turn by Marc Bolan, apparently covering one of Devendra Banhart's more uptempo numbers from from 40 years in the future...



I saw Devendra play at the Leeds festival some years back and was forced to stand on tiptoe to see him because he insisted on sitting on the floor to play guitar. Lord only knows where he got that idea from. Here's more:



and finally, some Devandra Banhart - because contrary to what you might think - I like them both. I can't wait for Banhart to plug in and get all glam. That's going to be excellent. Oh, he has.



Dear James,

One of your most entertaining posts ever, thank you. In John Peel's semibiography he or his wife tell how John Peel was good friends with Mark Bolan until the latter got famous and ignored him. Bit like you, really, only without the ignoring. Or the fame. Devendra played here in November 2006. He was supposed to be playing at the awful club which used to be called Buenos Aires News but is now Crobar, I think this clip is from that.



As you can see, it didn´t go down too well. I like to think Devendra´s main objection was to playing at a festival sponsored by a mobile phone, though two years later Kaiser Chiefs didn't care too much. He then went and played an impromptu gig at the club round the corner from Bangalore, a gig to which I was completely oblivious until I read about it two weeks later. Garry was in England at the time, if he'd been here I would've found out about it. It's all Garry's fault. Sadly I lost all track of Devendra Banhart after his second album, when he started releasing albums every three months. This was the last I saw of him: