Telegram Sam

Bolan wrote it, and it was the first single on his own T. Rex Wax Co. label, released on 21 January 1972. It was recorded at Rosenberg Studios in Copenhagen in November 1971, along with its B-sides Cadilac and Baby Strange. The words run through a cast of characters, Bobby, Golden Nose Slim, Jungle Faced Jake and Purple Pie Pete, while the singer stays loyal to his main man, Sam.

It was T. Rex's third UK number 1, with two weeks at the top. In the US it reached number 67, their last charted single there. Alexis Petridis wrote that its melody sounded like a playground chant. Bauhaus released it as a single in 1980, with a cover of John Cale's Rosegarden Funeral of Sores on the 12 inch, and it reached number 12 in New Zealand.