Born to Boogie

BORN TO BOOGIE is a real 'find'--though a rock fan for nearly thirty years, I only first saw the film a few days ago, and rank it among the top rock films of all time; the music's terrific (the cream of T. Rex) and the visuals consistently exciting and unusual, leaving this viewer craving any more past directorial efforts of Ringo Starr, who did a fine job here. If you love the music, you'll be in T. Rextasy throughout, as Marc Bolan really is the star of the piece, front and center. Even the fact that some songs are repeated doesn't matter a bit: different venues, costuming, musical arrangements, and bizarre visual concepts are all used to lend different textures and a great deal of upbeat humor to what could have ended up as 'only' a concert film in other hands. As rich and full packed as BORN TO BOOGIE is, the film's only about an hour long, but what is there is totally satisfying. Therein lies my only criticism--the video package states something like 71 minutes, and at least one online source claims the film to be 67 minutes, but apparently it's more like 61 minutes of rocking fun.

After struggling for a few years to get a hold of this on video, I was left a little bit confused and disappointed. I love Marc Bolan, but this was a little much. Very disjointed and very much a piece of its time, I couldn't even bring myself to watch the whole thing again before selling it. If you are a big Bolan fan and get a chance to see this, be warned that you may be left scratching your head.

Marc Bolan was a true glam star, a great singer, excellent guitarist an a very outstanding song writer. He created so many genre-defining albums that to see him n film and on stage would've been a wild dream. Was it? Nope, sadly. Incredible fact is that no matter how cool Bolan was alive, on a silver screen he is plain boring whiff, his antics are laughable and his band is sturdy but nowhere beyond being just plain.

The worst aspect of this film is the non-concert parts with Bolan being just a buffoon. Ringo Starr helps a bit as well as tremendous Elton John but they fail to save this movie from a more of mediocre haze...sadly so/ So, watch this once and then discard easily.

So I'm steaming through Tony Visconti's autobiography "Bolan, Bowie and the Boy from Brooklyn" and felt I had to go back and put a little Marc in my heart by watching this mostly in-concert movie, directed by Ringo Starr, at the height of T. Rextasy in 1972.

Bolan looks great in it, before he filled out a little not long afterwards (I'm one to talk!). He preens, bops and boogies his way through all of his hits up to that point, bar "Ride a White Swan", most of which he elongates with extended guitar soloing which in truth doesn't add much to the recorded versions. You also really come to appreciate the Visconti studio-production touch, the strings and vocal arrangements he brought to the records, not that the rest of the band are any slouches. It's just that I think Visconti's mini "Wall of Sound" especially on that great run of T Rex singles from 1971 to 1973 , at which time he finally walked away from Bolan's ever-increasing excesses, is so much more noticeable than on his Bowie productions.

First (and last!) time director Ringo films the London Empire shows in time-honoured fashion, the camera pretty much staying on Marc throughout, with only occasional shots of the rest of the band and cutaways to the adoring audience, which comprise a surprising number of young guys as well as the expected horde of screaming young girls.

There are a few silly interludes with Bolan in an open-topped car with Ringo in a walrus suit and a magically appearing wizard and a hungry dwarf, then hosting a mad-hatter's tea party, whose number include Geoffrey "Catweazle" Bayldon, where he plays a medley of his hits on acoustic guitar backed by a live string section and a few indulgent takes of him and Ringo fluffing the intro to Elvis's "Let's Have a Party".

I did like the studio jam featuring Ringo and Elton John playing along to "Children of The Revolution" as well as the in-concert sit-down acoustic interlude recalling his pre-electric hippy phase, which may just have influenced Paul McCartney to do something similar on his massive Wings over America tour some years later.

I never took the chance as a lad to see Bolan in concert but on the strength of this and my love for the records, I now rather wish I had.

I love me a bit of Bolan boogie and I'm glad this movie, brief and rudimentary as it undoubtedly is, exists, capturing him at the high water mark of his success.

Panned by critics at the time but loved by the fans, this film has now become a classic. Mixing supposedly 'surreal' footage shot at John Lennon's home among other places with live footage of Marc Bolan & T.Rex at their very best, this film is not just a must for everyone who's liked Marc Bolan but gives a fascinating insight into the era.

These were the times when Marc was hobnobbing with the likes of Ringo Starr of the Beatles [who directed it] and you can even find a brief spot from one Reg Dwight [Elton John to you] bashing the ivories in an amazing [and never officially released] version of Tutti Frutti and rocking and ballad versions of Children Of The Revolution.

There's also wonderful scenes featuring Chelita Secunda [said to have 'created glam rock' with her use of glitter etc], Mickey Finn and even the actor from Catweazle!!

The best scene for me is in the garden when Marc leaves the dining table, sits down cross-legged in front of a string section and knocks out acoustic versions of classics such as Get It On and The Slider.

Highly, highly recommended!! FIVE stars [out of five].

Rory