As retro crooner Tony Christie claims his sixth week at the top of the UK singles charts, keeping Elvis Presley in second place, speculation is growing that Marc Bolan could be next in line for a shot at 21st century stardom.
Christie's song (Is This The Way To) Amarillo - resurrected by Bolton comic Peter Kay for Comic Relief 2005 - also saw off competition from Bodyrockers and Nine Inch Nails, both new entries inside the Top 10.
However, almost 28 years after the car crash that claimed Bolan's life, his career looks set to return to the heady days of Ride a White Swan and Get It On.
Pop mogul and part-time clairvoyant Dandy Wizard is behind the amazing comeback and claims to have communed with the brooding star from beyond the grave.
"Marc came to me several months ago and suggested we re-issue his last ever song - "Celebrate Summer" - to try and inject some class into the charts of today. He originally introduced the iconic song on his television show "Marc" in August 1977 and it seemed destined to be a chart success. It's haunting refrain - "summer is heaven in ‘77" - took on a retrospectively poignant feel given Marc died shortly after that very summer ended."
Wizard - real name Keith Achilles McArthur - said he believed the new wave feel of the piece would go down very well with today's eclectic music fans.
He went on: "Put it this way, here we are in 2005 and two-bit pub crooner Tony Christie has beaten Elvis Presley to number one in the UK national charts. Christie is basking in the UK's current hunger for nostalgia and all things retro completely unchallenged by the calibre of artistes that were around in his day. However, if faced with some of his contemporaries it may spell the end of his incongruous presence at the top of the charts.
"If the King can still pull this kind of stunt off almost 30 years after his death, I'll eat my hand-stitched leather y-fronts if Marc can't. I believe this will pave the way for other mortally-disadvantaged stars to stage fabulous comebacks - which can only be a great boost to the music business."
From his top floor recording studio in Soho, Wizard also claims to be in talks with a host of other departed stars who are "lining up" on the other side to have another shot at fame.
He added: "Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, Janis Joplin and John Lennon have all been in touch but there's been no sign of Hendrix to date, which is a bit disappointing. Bob Marley is also keen to re-release "Buffalo Soldier" but has yet to give me the nod - I'll keep you up to date on any developments there."
Wizard is currently engaged in talks with the Yorkshire-based label - "Voices from Beyond" - fronted by reclusive record producer Mervin J Halliday. The deal was made on the strength of Halliday's success in having a sample of "When I'm Cleanin' Windows" included in a recent underground hit for the Chemical Brothers.
