Although a famous Vogue magazine cover shot by Patrick Lichfield of Marsha Hunt, naked, with a huge Afro, as a London cast member of Hair is an indisputably and quintessentially iconic image of the 1960s, Hunt remains under the radar of most music fans. For one (quite good) reason, there are exactly zero CDs of her music on the market currently and there is nothing on iTunes or Spotify either. This is too bad, because she made some worthwhile music during her career. However, some pretty great clips of her live on European TV have been popping up on YouTube and many of her better known singles have made it to some audio blogs as well, so there’s plenty for me to illustrate here what still makes Hunt the object of cult fascination. Eventually, I have no doubt, she’ll be rediscovered by music nerds. It’s about time…
 

 
Hunt, an insanely gorgeous, highly-intellectual 19-year-old model, originally from Philly, went to UC Berkeley, smoked pot, dropped acid and marched alongside Jerry Rubin protesting the Vietnam war. She moved to swinging London in 1966 and married Mike Ratledge of the Soft Machine so she could stay in the country (and is still married to him to this day, although they have not been together for decades). She sang backup vocals for blues great Alexis Korner and became a cast member of Hair, playing “Dionne” in the West End production. A photo of Hunt by Justin de Villeneuve was used on the poster and Playbill of the London production.
 

 
There’s very, very little surviving footage of the London production of Hair—which opened on September 27, 1968, one day after the abolition of theatre censorship, allowing for nudity and profanity onstage—but I did find this amazing clip of “Black Boys/White Boys.” Marsha Hunt, looking stunning, comes into view at about one minute in:
 

 
My favorite Marsha Hunt track is easily “(Oh No! Not) The Beast Day.” To my ears this sounds way, way, way ahead of its time, reminding me (a lot) of Demon Days by the Gorillaz or mid-career Talking Heads. Turn this up LOUD, you’ll be really glad you did:
 

 
Next up, a clip of Marsha Hunt performing her explosive cover version of Dr. John’s “I Walk on Gilded Splinters” (apparently) in 1969. This is pure sex!
 

 
Another “Gilded Splinters” from French television:
 

 
Hunt fronted several different groups, including The Ferris Wheel and one called White Trash, which was organized by former Deep Purple bassist, Nick Simper. In the below clip you can see an interview with Hunt and a performance of the Supremes’ “My World is Empty Without You” at the Bilzen festival in 1969:
 

 
Her iconic association with Hair aside, Hunt had other roles that assure her a place in rock history, such as the fact that “Brown Sugar” by the Rolling Stones was inspired by her (“and other things” as she put it) and that she is the mother of Mick Jagger’s eldest daughter, Karis Jagger. Marsha Hunt also had a passionate affair with Marc Bolan—and recorded with him—after they were introduced by a mutual friend, producer Tony Visconti:

“She showed up one night while we were recording Unicorn. The two of them just looked at each other and it was like magic. You could see the shafts of light pouring out of their eyes into each other. They were eating each other up alive. We finished the session unusually early, and Marc and Marsha walked out into the night hand in hand.”

Here’s a wild performance of Bolan’s “Desdemona” from 1969. I’d have to think that this must have been the very first ever Bolan cover.
 

 
Bolan’s “Hippy Gumbo,” the b-side to her single release of “Desdemona”:
 

 
Marsha Hunt and Marc Bolan duet on his “Stacey Grove”:
 

 
“Hot Rod Poppa”—the b-side to her “Gilded Splinters” single will amaze and delight you:
 

 
Above, with dancers on Italy’s Teatro 10 television program in 1972. Below, a performance of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Keep the Customers Satisfied”:
 

 
Hunt went on to a career on stage and in film—she’s in the “swinging London” Hammer horror Dracula A.D. 1972 and she recorded a few disco numbers in the late 70s. In the 80s and 90s she reinvented herself as a documentarian and novelist. She is a proud cancer survivor and on the cover of her 2005 autobiography, Undefeated, appeared naked just weeks after having her breast removed, recreating the famous Vogue cover, again with Lord Lichfield. At age 69, Marsha Hunt is still wicked hot.